All –
I was informed earlier today by my staff about the significant amount of false information being spread on this blog regarding myself and my former Deputy. Since this remains the subject of an ongoing internal investigation by our office, this will be my only statement regarding this matter. First, my relationship with my former Deputy has been and will continue to be professional and as a friendly colleague. As a supervisor, my job is not to get involved in her personal life and I am in a very serious relationship with someone who recently moved to Delaware so we can take the next steps in our relationship. From the perspective of the Treasury, we are in the midst of a very serious investigation relating to the state credit card process and no public statements will be issued until all the facts are ascertained. We are not going to respond to lies and falsehoods about Ms. Benner’s personal life, her former relationship with Rep. Trey Paradee or any other matter that is outside the scope of our office.
Second, with respect to the football game, Ms. Benner has stated publicly that she went to the game with a family member. It is my understanding that she has chosen not to disclose the name of the family member, because the individual did not know that she purchased the tickets with her state card and she does not want that individual to have any repercussions at their place of employment. The family member involved in this matter is not relevant to our investigation, since she has accepted full responsibility for this matter and the monies have been repaid. Any claims relating to me regarding the game or anything else are just false and lies.
Third, I am very upset to learn that certain individuals have falsely asserted that Ms. Benner received her employment at our office for purposes other than her abilities and skills. I believe such post are very degrading to female executives and quite frankly are very inappropriate. From the outset of this process, Ms. Benner has been upfront, cooperative and helpful in our investigation and I believe the report will answer all questions regarding this matter. She helped the state achieve over $30 million in market value in our portfolio during her tenure. Any statements to the contrary are just plain false.
Finally, with respect to the statements by her ex-boyfriend Rep. Trey Paradee on this blog regarding our interaction, he is aware of his unsolicited and unprovoked statements made toward me and my team relating to his proposed bill and I responded accordingly. Quite frankly, it was very inappropriate for him to try to work a bill relating to our office when the individual assigned to the bill was his girlfriend (or ex-girlfriend). We have taken steps in our office to ensure that practice involving a lawmaker will never happen again. As stated earlier, we are already conducting an internal investigation involving multiple state agencies and while Rep. Paradee may have some issues relating to Ms. Benner ending their relationship, we are not going to direct state resources to achieve personal actions against former individuals involved a relationship. Rep. Paradee should be grateful for our professionalism since a majority of Ms. Benner’s credit card transactions occurred while the two were dating (using the date he referenced in this blog). In our work, we do not assume and we base our decisions upon facts and evidence, not gossip. Our Treasury remains focused on our economy and please know that I do not personally know El Som. or any of the individuals on this blog claiming that they have the inside knowledge of me or my team. If they had such knowledge, the correct information that I just shared with you would have been in the blog.
Again, thank you for this opportunity to respond to these false statements and I hope that this website can return to the discussing the important policies facing the First State.
Yours Truly,
State Treasurer Chip Flowers