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Bevin Inquiry Alleges Democrats Coerced Worker Contributions

AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley

An investigation by Republican Gov. Matt Bevin is relying on interviews with 16 anonymous state workers to conclude officials in the previous Democratic administration committed "wholesale violations of state law."

The 18-page report is the first to emerge after Bevin awarded a state contract for up to $500,000 to an Indiana-based law firm to investigate the administration of former Gov. Steve Beshear. The report asserts seven officials in the Beshear administration illegally pressured some state workers to donate to Democratic candidates and causes in 2015 and earlier or risk losing their jobs.

During a December press conference, Bevin told reporters the scope of the overall probe is broader than any one administration.

"It isn't targeted at any one individual. I don't care what party. I don't care what role. I don't care what cabinet. The fact is if people are inappropriately using resources from the taxpayers in this state, that should end and people who have done it in an illegal way should be held to account," the governor said.

Beshear called the report "a joke" and a "waste of taxpayer money."

It cites 16 people who reported being pressured, but does not name any of them and offers no corroborating evidence. A request for transcripts of those interviews was denied.

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