Warnock tells WLBT he embraces audit, but will there be a full investigation?

Rudy Warnock has told WLBT that he welcomes an audit of his engineering firms dealings with Madison County. But if, as Warnock says, all the subcontracts through the county have been approved, then is it likely the smoking gun exists elsewhere? If there are subcontracts outside of the scope of the Board of Supervisors approval, then will the investigation go further beyond the Madison County Courthouse to find them?

Of course Warnock can be welcoming. He already knows what they're going to find in Madison County's records. As has always been the case, the question isn't whether there were approved subcontracts. The question is whether there are UNapproved subcontracts.

A Madison County engineer said he welcomes an audit of his engineering firm by the state auditor's office.

After an independent audit was done on Rudy Warnock by a group of residents, Madison's mayor wanted to take a closer look at fees he charged her city.

That audit was done by engineer Richard McAfee of Florida.

In his report he claimed to have found multiple instances of excessive charges to the City of Madison and questionable payments to the Warnock and Associates Engineering Firm.

After examining the report, Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler said she believes Warnock sub-contracted much of the work out for a lower fee.

She also accuses Warnock of redesigning road projects simply to increase his profit.

In a press release Tuesday, Warnock stated "I have done absolutely nothing wrong and I embrace this examination by the state auditor."

Warnock went on to say he is looking forward to the results and will be waiting by the phone for the mayor's apology when it is over.

It's not like there isn't already proof of the willingness to skirt the rules of Open Meetings Law as the Madison County Journal reported in October 2009.

the Mississippi Ethics Commission hearing officer found that Northern District Transportation Commissioner Bill Minor and Southern District Transportation Commissioner Wayne Brown did "knowingly and willfully" violate the Open Meetings Act when they met with District 2 Supervisor Tim Johnson and County Engineer Rudy Warnock at Nick's Restaurant on Aug. 10.

MC Journal: Secretary of State's order shuts charity, fines director $25K

The Secretary of State's office ordered a Ridgeland-based charity to close Wednesday and issued $50,000 in fines against the organization and its executive director.

Fine Arts Institute of Mississippi, or FAIM, was ordered to close Wednesday after Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann issued a final order in an ongoing investigation into alleged fraud.

Madison County Journal

Despite declining support, Steele keeps digging the hole.

Peter Flaherty of the conservative National Legal And Policy Center relays a conversation with Angela Sailor, the Republican National Committee's director of coalitions:

RNC Chair Steele Refuses to Cancel Speech at Sharpton Event

"Angela Sailor, the Republican National Committee’s Director of Coalitions, called me today to inform me that Michael Steele will speak as scheduled at the annual conference of Al Sharpton’s group, the National Action Network (NAN). On April 4, NLPC asked Steele to withdraw from the event, which takes place tomorrow through Friday in New York City. When I went through each of our objections, Ms. Sailor gave me some permutation of the following: 'Chairman Steele is going to New York to speak to 500-1,000 people in a ballroom to ask them to support Republican candidates.' When I asked if Steele might have better luck elsewhere, she claimed that many of the attendees are 'independent,' who she characterized as 'swing voters'. When I queried whether most attendees, who are paying for travel and New York hotel rooms, were more likely activists committed to Sharpton’s message, Sailor stuck to the script. She responded: 'If we take time to talk to folks in a ballroom, they will support our candidates if we go and ask them.'"

On Feb. 26, 2009, the 41-year-old Sailor was named director of the RNC’s coalitions department, an office charged with evaluating “every outside constituent organization in the country at the local, state and national levels.” The department is integral to fulfilling Steele’s goal to reach out to minority voting groups on a full-time basis, not just during election season. It also strives to connect to young voters through social media, and trains grassroots activists about using new media to advance the GOP's agenda.

To show he meant business, Steele made the coalitions group an independent departmentwithin the RNC, complete with its own budget and a handsome salary for Sailor.

Is this starting to sound like a Chairman playing loose and goosey with RNC money? It should, because he is.