Years after a complaint was filed against Tony Sutton and the Minnesota Republican Party, the MNGOP will finally be held accountable for their shady accounting:

The Minnesota GOP has agreed to pay a federal penalty of 170-thousand dollars because of illegal funds transfers and financial reporting omissions.

The penalty comes as a result of a Federal Elections Commission complaint filed in 2007 by the Washington, DC, nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics. The FEC found the Republican party of Minnesota failed to disclose nearly $100,000 in debt in 2006. The same year, the party withheld retirement contributions totaling nearly $8,000 to four employees. Also that year, state Republicans made illegal excessive transfers totaling more than 560-thousand dollars from its non-federal account to its federal account.

It’s worth noting that Tony Sutton, currently the chair of the GOP, was its treasurer at the time. It’s also worth noting that Sutton exerts a lot of control over his party’s caucuses in the legislature. Sally Jo Sorenson at Bluestem Prairie notes the connection between Sutton and his party’s financial mismanagement:

Given the way Sutton and Deputy Chair/Senate Majority Leader Mike Brodkorb keep a tight, disciplining hand on the majority legislative caucuses, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that those legislators brought forth the sort of state budget agreement that relies on shifting money from school payments to the general fund and borrowing with tobacco bonds.

Your Republican Party, Minnesota — paragons of fiscal responsibility.