New Report Reveals Craig Has Been Giving Paid Speeches While His “Public Accessibility Since Announcing His Candidacy Has Been Limited”
LANSING — Yesterday, MIRS broke the news that gubernatorial candidate James Craig owns and operates a company for the purpose of “offer[ing] himself up for speeches and expert advice.” According to the report, Craig established ‘JC Entertainment and Consulting’ in May and has been giving paid speeches.
Craig alleges that “he’s given few speeches” since May, but did not disclose “if he gave any speeches during the period of time he was exploring a run for governor last summer.” And as has become standard in any story about the MIGOP insider favorite, MIRS noted that “Craig’s public accessibility since announcing his candidacy has been limited.”
This raises the following questions for James Craig to answer immediately:
- Who has he given speeches to and where?
- What sort of compensation, benefits, and perks has he received from clients?
- What special interest groups has he given paid speeches to behind closed doors and what promises has he made to them?
- Between the listening tour that “apparently never materialized” and “limited” public accessibility, is he traveling to give paid speeches instead of talking to Michiganders?
- Will he commit to being transparent and releasing all past and future paid speaking clients?
MDP spokesperson Rodericka Applewhaite issued the following statement:
“James Craig pledged to hold a listening tour to hear from Michiganders about issues impacting their lives and never did. Instead, he’s launched a paid speaking company and failed to disclose his clients. Michiganders deserve to know who is lining his pockets and what special interests he’s been meeting with behind closed doors.”
