In a significant bombshell revelation, Republican leaders in the deep-blue state of Connecticut have called out top Democrats, including Governor Ned Lamont, for fostering a “culture of corruption” in their state government. In response to a $600,000 Medicaid scandal and unchecked spending in the State Colleges and Universities System, Republicans advocated for a new watchdog office to investigate waste, fraud, and abuse.

For context, a federal grand jury indicted Konstantinos “Kosta” Diamantis, a former Deputy Secretary at Connecticut’s Office of Policy and Management, and Christopher Ziogasn, a former Connecticut State Representative, on 18 counts related to corruption and canceling a state audit of Medicaid overbilling. The DOJ says that the disgraced former officials accepted $95,000 in bribes to stop the 2020 audit, which exposed their fraudulent Medicaid claims.

In any case, Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, blasted Connecticut for corrupt insider politics and blamed the Democrats for creating a culture of corruption. He said, “This is just one thing … in a line of corruption, waste, fraud and abuse that the governor’s office and Senate Democrats and House Democrats have seemingly wanted nothing to do with. This is grand juries indicting individuals. Where is the accountability?”

Supporting his argument, House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, explained how the Democrats have blocked attempts to bring these unaccountable bureaucrats to heel. This raises major questions as to how many of the top Democrats were complicit in the Medicaid scheme. He added, “Over the last two years, our proposal hasn’t even been given the courtesy of a public hearing, and we’ve waited patiently to see how some of these scandals will play out and how they will be addressed, and it’s very frustrating to see nothing has come of it.”

Deflecting the blame, Democrats, such as Governor Ned Lamont, have refused to condemn the blatant corruption and sought to minimize the significance of the case. He said that the DOJ allegation “Has no evidence at all.” He added, “They may have asked… some questions about what happened. I think they often settle those cases, but I understand in this case, they settled it before they completed the audit, and that was inappropriate, and that’s why they’re investigating it.”

Explaining the scandal, the DOJ went into the details of the case. The DOJ described a complicated network of kickbacks and quid pro quo deals. It wrote, “Diamantis, while serving at Deputy Secretary of the State of Connecticut’s Office of Policy and Management (OPM), and Ziogas, who served as a State Representative for Connecticut’s 79th Assembly District, engaged in a scheme in which Diamantis solicited and received corrupt payments …in exchange for official acts concerning a State of Connecticut audit.”

Following up, the DOJ explained how the bribery took place and the reasons that the two Connecticut Democrats were charged. The DOJ stated, “As alleged in the indictment, on March 4, 2020, Ziogas made a bribe payment to Diamantis in the amount of $20,000. After having been advised and pressured indirectly by Diamantis through officials at OPM and DSS, the DSS official cancelled the DSS audit.”