Posted on 08/02/24
| News Source: FOX45
Baltimore, MD - Aug. 2, 2024 - (FOX45) The head of the Maryland Republican Party publicly called Thursday for Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. to resign from office and withdraw from the race for the 2nd Congressional District, citing reporting from The Baltimore Sun.
The state GOP said in a news release that Olszewski, the Democratic nominee to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, should drop out, following Sun reporting that his administration had secretly paid a former firefighter $83,675 when the firefighter, Philip Tirabassi, asked to transfer retirement credits from his city service time to his county pension. Olszewski told The Sun the county agreed to pay Tirabassi after he threatened to sue for breach of contract despite county officials warning that the payment could violate state and local law.
Maryland Republican Party chairwoman Nicole Beus Harris called Olszewski “corrupt” in the news release, and said he had “no business” serving as either county executive or in Congress.