Lawyer in whistleblower suit calls on Indiana governor to investigate State Treasurer Kelly Mitchell, remove her from office

(The Center Square) – The attorney representing a whistleblower in the corruption suit against State Treasurer Kelly Mitchell is calling on Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb to investigate Mitchell and remove her from office.

“The evidence is available for anyone to see,” attorney Christopher Wolcott said in a statement to the media on Wednesday. “We believe the violations of Indiana law are clear. The state treasurer has admitted to violations of state law on videotape and under oath. We are calling upon the governor to take action to protect the taxpayers by joining our call for a criminal investigation, initiating a State Board of Accounts audit, and removing those state employees who were complicit in taking the actions set forth in the complaint.”

The whistleblower is James Holden, a former employee in the treasurer’s office who was fired by Mitchell soon after she was appointed treasurer in November 2014. Holden filed a False Claims Act suit against Mitchell and other defendants in July 2020.

The suit, which was under seal for a year, alleges Mitchell rewarded campaign donors with state contracts and paid them more than $6.5 million.

The suit is being brought by Holden on behalf of the state of Indiana and names as defendants Mitchell and several members of her staff and also the Indianapolis law firm Ice Miller and several banks – Bank of New York Mellon, BMO Harris, Fifth Third Bank, Huntington National Bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, Old National Bancorp, PNC Bank, Public Trust Advisors LLC and Wells Fargo.

The firms, it’s alleged, submitted invoices between 2015 and 2020 for more than $6.5 million under contracts missing required signatures from the attorney general’s office, the Department of Administration and the State Budget Agency. They also weren’t competitively bid as state law requires, the suit alleges.

Members and former members of Mitchell’s staff who are named defendants include Chief Deputy Treasurer Michael Frick, Deputy Treasurer and Director of Operations Kimberly Logan, Director of TrustINdiana Cynthia Barger, General Counsel and Chief of Staff Ryan Locke, former Deputy Treasurer Caitlin Larson and former General Counsel and Deputy Treasurer Jillean Battle.

The Ice Miller contract was for lobbying services and awarded the firm $3,000 per month. The treasurer’s office had not previously paid any firm to lobby on its behalf, as noted in the suit, and an attorney with Ice Miller declined to say when contacted in September what work the firm did for this money.

Holden was an employee in the office of the state treasurer from 2007 until 2011 and again from 2012 to 2014, serving under three different treasurers.

He was also the campaign manager for Richard Mourdock, the state treasurer from 2007 to 2014 who defeated long-time U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar in the Republican primary in 2012 but then lost the general election to Democrat Joe Donnelly in November of that year.

In a release sent to the media Wednesday, Wolcott said Mitchell’s legal violations compel the governor and the State Board of Accounts to act – specifically “to investigate and remove the officials involved” to “prevent further financial losses to the state.”

He said the amount illegally paid out “now likely exceeds $12 million.”

“We believe the governor has an obligation to see that a criminal investigation is conducted and that the Treasurer is removed from office following any arrest,” Wolcott wrote.

Holcomb’s office did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

A spokesman for treasurer’s office also did not immediately return a call for comment.

In mid-November, the judge assigned to the False Claims Act case, Patrick J. Dietrick of Marion Superior Court, recused himself, and another judge was assigned to the case – John M.T. Chavis.

The defendants in the case have until Jan. 10 to respond to the allegations in the suit.

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