Then-Republican candidate for Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales speaks during an interview in Indianapolis, Sept. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

During a meeting of Indiana’s House Ways and Means Committee last week, Secretary of State Diego Morales (R) refused to say whether he gave his family members state jobs despite previous findings showing he did.

While Morales was asking the committee for a budget increase for his office last Wednesday, Morales repeatedly dodged questions about his family members from Rep. Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis). After specifically asking if Morales hired his brother-in-law for a job paying over $100,000, Morales refused to answer.

According to a 2023 report from the WTHR 13News Indianapolis TV news station, Morales hired his brother-in-law Shawn Grady as the director of auto dealer services division, a branch under the secretary of state’s office. The position also reportedly came with an annual salary of $108,000. 13News’ report also found that Grady’s hiring did not break Indiana’s ethics rules pertaining to nepotism because “brother-in-law” is not considered a family member in the rule.

Since his election in 2019, Morales has been one of the nation’s most controversial secretaries of state. In 2022, an Indianapolis Star report found that Morales used campaign funds to purchase a $43,000 Toyota Rav4.

After the 2020 presidential election, Morales was endorsed by the America First Secretary of State Coalition, a group who publicly supported Donald Trump’s false allegations of widespread voter fraud in that election. Despite using the “Big Lie” for his own political gains, Morales may have committed felony voter fraud himself on multiple occasions, according to IndyStar reporting.