EXCLUSIVE | State Auditor responds to controversy over state seal, says it was approved by Sec. of State
Delaware Secretary of State Jeff Bullock appears to have approved the altered seal that caused controvery for State Auditor Kathy McGuiness, who says the Secretary’s change in position is the result of her “fan club” causing a commotion after noticing her name was in the seal months after it was approved.
State Auditor Kathy McGuiness acknowledged Secretary Bullock’s change in position while appearing on the Mike Bradley Show Monday morning.
“I have acknowledged Secretary Bullock’s change in position, and we were notified Monday afternoon, going forward, to please use the seal that just says ‘Auditor of Accounts – State of Delaware,'” McGuiness explained.
When asked to speculate as to why the Secretary changed his position, McGuiness credited her “fan club.”
“Honestly, I believe there were some people, I call them my fan club but they’re not, and for whatever reason they didn’t like that my name was in there,” McGuiness said. “I’ve welcomed someone aboard to the staff and they’ll make little comments like ‘I don’t like your shoes.’ Ya know, there’s just that group out there.”
McGuiness stressed how hard she and her staff are working and that moving forward they will not let this distract them from their mission to identify fraud, waste, and abuse in Delaware to protect taxpayer dollars.
“We’re working really hard,” McGuiness said. “Moving forward, we respect and acknowledge the change in position.”
WGMD News reached out to the Secretary of State’s Office for clarification on the matter, who cited confusion and miscommunication during the approval process.
“The Auditor’s office reached out some time ago and asked the Secretary’s office to review the image in question, but there was some confusion at the time,” explained Department of State spokesman Doug Denison. “When the image was brought to our attention this week we contacted the Auditor’s office and provided clarification.”
When asked if the Secretary approved the image when he shouldn’t have, Denison said, “No, I’m not saying that our office ‘approved the seal and shouldn’t have.’ That would not be an accurate statement. I don’t have anything further to add.”
