Did a lawyer lie? Branstad insists no hush money was paid

Gov. Terry Branstad is standing by a state director who testified before lawmakers that his department offered no hush money in Iowa's secret settlement scandal.

That's significant since documents made public in the Sunday Des Moines Register suggest otherwise.

"Wait a minute, what you're doing is assuming as fact the attorney for the dismissed employee. That is just one person's opinion," Branstad said this morning when asked about how he reconciles Iowa Department of Administrative Services Director Mike Carroll's testimony with the newly disclosed document.

Branstad continued: "I specifically asked director Carroll about this matter, and he assured me that is not true. He also went before the committee and said the same thing. And I believe him."

Carroll made the statements before the legislature's Government Oversight Committee Thursday in reference to some of the 24 confidential settlement agreements the state made with employees since Branstad resumed office in January of 2011.

Carroll's testimony directly contradicts statements made Wednesday by two ex-employees of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services who said that as their settlements were being negotiated, administration officials offered them more money if they would keep their deals secret.

One, Dean Ibsen, said he rejected the state's attempt to keep his settlement secret. The other former state worker, Carol Frank, testified that she was offered and accepted $5,000 more to keep the agreement confidential.

On Friday, Ibsen provided the Register with a copy of a document written by his attorney, Theodore Craig of Des Moines. In the letter, Craig tells Ibsen that Department of Administrative Services attorney Ryan Lamb had offered to pay more money if Ibsen would agree to a settlement that contains a confidentiality clause.

"(Ryan Lamb) asked a separate question — how much would you charge DAS for a confidentiality clause as a sort of addendum or 'change order' as he put it, to the settlement agreement," Craig wrote to Ibsen in the letter dated Feb 25, 2013 , which was about a week before Ibsen signed his $70,826 settlement.

Craig declined to answer questions from the Register last week but acknowledged the authenticity of his letter to Ibsen.

Frank has additionally insisted that her testimony is accurate. Calls to her attorney Charles Gribble of Des Moines were not returned last week.

Branstad today said if he is convinced that any of his appointees have lied about hush money that they would be disciplined. He also said he had not given permission to Carroll prior to a reorganization that led to Frank and Ibsen losing their jobs.

Multiple employees – including Ibsen and Frank – have accused the Branstad administration of widespread cronyism where they brought in their friends to state positions under a guise of reorganization.

"First of all, I don't micromanage agencies," Branstad said about state reorganizations. "… I would point out that this happened in a lot of other departments and agencies as well."

Branstad's spokesman Jimmy Centers sent a clarification to the governor's statements about 30 minutes following today's press conference. In it, Centers said that Branstad was in fact aware of the reorganization but not of the personnel specifics.