Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is facing a new legal challenge over her use of a private email account for official business, according to a lawsuit filed this week by former Attorney General Mike Cox and Michigan attorney Kevin Kijewski. The suit, filed in the Michigan Court of Claims, asks a judge to order Benson’s office to release records that were previously redacted without explanation.
The filing comes as Benson, the Democratic nominee for governor, prepares for an election now just weeks away. According to reporting by the Gateway Pundit, ballots are set to go out in six days, and the election is 46 days out.
The Gmail Account and the SPLC Connection
At the center of the dispute is an email address that Benson’s department blacked out from records requested under Michigan’s public records law. According to the lawsuit, Benson used a private Gmail account for Secretary of State work, including communications with the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization where she previously served on the board. The SPLC is currently under federal indictment on eleven counts, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Its trial is scheduled to begin in October, the month before Michigan voters head to the polls.
Kijewski, who joined Cox as co-counsel this week, announced the amended complaint on X. “Former Attorney General Mike Cox asked for those records 113 days ago. He got thirty pages and a $5,154.97 bill. Unacceptable. What’s being hidden?” Kijewski wrote. He added that the filing asks the Court of Claims to order the remaining records produced before ballots go out next month.
According to the lawsuit, when Cox and Kijewski demanded records related to Benson’s connections with the SPLC, her department redacted them without citing any legal exemption. The department also waited 49 days to respond to the request, the filing states.
A Rochester Hills clerk reportedly turned over a similar document in two business days: an official multi-state election meeting notice that had been sent directly to Benson’s Gmail. That is the only private address documented on paper so far, and no evidence has been presented to show it is the only one.
Twenty Questions, Admit or Deny
In a follow-up post on X, Kijewski said Benson “has 20 questions to answer. In her own name. By October 14.” Among the questions listed in the filing:
QUESTION 7: Is the blacked-out address the Gmail?
QUESTION 11: Has she used the Gmail to communicate with the Southern Poverty Law Center?
QUESTION 20: Has she DELETED state business from a private account since April?
The lawsuit does not answer those questions — it demands that Benson do so, in writing, filed with the court. As Kijewski put it, Benson “can admit the Gmail, or she can deny it. What she cannot do is pretend the secret account was never used for state business.”
The Gateway Pundit, which first reported on the filing, has characterized the allegations as part of a broader pattern of secrecy. The outlet noted that a private inbox is not a public file: when state work leaves the state server, the public cannot see it, and the department never has to search it.
Political Stakes and the Broader Michigan Landscape
Benson’s name will appear on the ballot next week as the Democratic candidate for governor. The Gateway Pundit’s report frames the lawsuit as an attempt to force transparency before voters cast their ballots, noting that Benson’s eight-year tenure as the state’s top election official has been dogged by controversy.
The outlet also highlighted a broader Michigan political context, pointing to Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, describing him as a “radical, extreme Islamic Socialist.” The Gateway Pundit further claimed that both Benson and El-Sayed have been funded by members of the Soros family, and warned that electing either would continue Michigan’s “downward slide in trust in elections, education, and economic growth.”
The lawsuit itself does not address those political claims. It focuses narrowly on whether Benson’s office violated Michigan’s public records law by redacting the email address without an exemption and by failing to produce records in a timely manner. Cox and Kijewski are asking the court to review the blacked-out pages itself — rather than allowing Benson’s staff to decide what the public is allowed to see — and to order the remaining records released before ballots go out.
Benson’s office has not publicly responded to the lawsuit as of the Gateway Pundit’s report. The filing represents the latest legal headache for the secretary of state as she runs for governor, and it ensures that the question of her private email use will follow her through the final weeks of the campaign.
The case is pending in the Michigan Court of Claims.
Source: www.thegatewaypundit.com — https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/09/hillary-2-former-michigan-ag-kevin-kijewski-join/