Delaware election officials communicated directly with aides in Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long’s office last year amid a scandal involving her campaign finance reports. Emails obtained by The Associated Press show that Elections Commissioner Anthony Albence wanted to keep Hall-Long’s office informed about queries by the AP regarding amendments to years of campaign finance reports. These reports revealed that Hall-Long failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans.

Albence and Attorney General Kathleen Jennings, both Democrats, have decided not to pursue criminal charges against Hall-Long or her husband for campaign finance violations uncovered in a forensic audit by a former FBI executive. The audit highlighted errors in amended filings by Hall-Long.

The emails indicate that Albence and his staff kept Hall-Long’s office apprised of updates and queries from the AP. For instance, Albence sent an email to a top aide in Hall-Long’s office, Andrew Volturo, informing him of the updates. This communication was done via Volturo’s Gmail account, not his state government account. Hall-Long is seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in the Sept. 10 primary and faces New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer and former state environmental secretary Collin O’Mara.

Under Delaware law, anyone who knowingly files a campaign finance report that is false in any material respect is guilty of a misdemeanor. Jennings has stated that one reason she will not prosecute is that a defense attorney could credibly attribute the reporting violations to “carelessness.” Albence has told Hall-Long that she needs to take “prompt corrective action” by filing amended finance reports, but Hall-Long has indicated that these reports may not be filed before the primary.