Mass GOP Pays Heavy Price to Avoid Court

For John, BLUF:  We [Republican] need to clean up the party, and condemn the "Independents" for what they are.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From The Boston Globe we have "State GOP settles with Fisher over convention lawsuit".

For those not following this soap opera, that would be Mr Mark Fisher, independent businessman, who ran for the Republican nomination for Governor last year. I didn't make the convention last year, but friends of mine who were paying attention said it was seedy.  This is embarrassing to say, but we need to pull at least one part in our Commonwealth into the open air of transparency.  This won't do it, but it will send a message of being careful in working with The People.

Here is the lede and following paragraphs

The Massachusetts Republican Party has agreed to pay former Tea Party gubernatorial candidate Mark Fisher $240,000 to settle his legal suit that alleged the party manipulated the state convention to bar him from the primary ballot.

Party chairwoman Kirsten Hughes confirmed that the GOP leadership agreed to the sum, but strongly rejected any notion that the party was conceding that Fisher’s charges were valid. She said the party’s mounting legal bills prompted them to seek a settlement.

“He didn’t have a case,’’ Hughes said. “But sometimes it is far better to take the losses and move on.”

Hughes said the party has already spent $170,000 in legal fees.

“That’s a big nut and we were going to have to spend a lot more than that to continue,’’ she said.

Fisher said it was clear to him that party leaders, who had insisted they acted properly at the convention, wanted to end the legal proceedings, which had just begun to involve sworn testimony, because evidence would show his charges were true.

“The Massachusetts GOP never wanted that testimony and the tally sheets from the delegations to come out,’’ he said. Party leaders insist that evidence would prove they acted correctly.

Fisher launched his suit shortly after the GOP’s March state convention.

Frankly, I think Globe Reporter Frank Phillips was a little unfair to Mr Mark Fisher.  His label of "Tea Party gubernatorial candidate, rather than identifying him as what he is, a Republican, was unfair, and perhaps a bit slimy.  In defense of Mr Phillips, I allow room for an editor who decided to put some political spin on the issue.  Sad.

Regards  —  Cliff