Secretary of State Diego Morales has been regularly critiqued for what some view as excessive travel. But a recent reimbursement receipt shows that at times, state taxpayers were also paying thousands for his wife Sidonia Nicolae’s travel, a violation of state policy.
In multiple cases, the trips were paid for by the office’s Chief Legal Counsel Jerry Bonnet out-of-pocket and later reimbursed by the state, records obtained by IndyStar show. When the trips appeared in the office’s annual travel report required by a 2025 state law, they were not itemized, obscuring the fact that part of the cost was for Morales’ wife.
Bonnet eventually paid back the state for travel and other expenses, but only years later, after they were flagged as “improper.” The more than $5,000 repayment came in May, exactly one day after a credible Republican candidate entered the secretary of state’s race last minute, siphoning away support from big names like U.S. Sen. Jim Banks.
The years-old receipts were brought to the attention of the state examiner, Paul Joyce, by an anonymous tip earlier this year, he told IndyStar. Upon reviewing the receipts, Joyce said he found that the expenses were “improper” because they were for people who were not state employees — a violation of policy.
Neither Bonnet nor a spokesperson for the Office of the Indiana Secretary of State directly answered a list of IndyStar questions.
“Unfortunately, at the moment our office is heavily engaged in ongoing recount proceedings, requiring significant staff attention and being rushed today due to concerns about an impending weather emergency,” spokesperson Lindsey Eaton said on June 17. “As a result, we need additional time to research your questions to provide accurate and thorough responses.”
The money Bonnet returned to the state included the cost of three separate flights and three conference registration fees for Morales’ wife, in 2023 and 2024, hearing aids for Bonnet and conference registration fees for two non-employees, including one with the last name Morales, in 2023. The secretary of state’s office did not answer a question about the office’s relationship to the two non-employees.
But an IndyStar review of dozens of receipts submitted for reimbursement within the office found other expenses that critics found concerning.
Morales has long faced criticism for his travel, including an unannounced trip to India in 2025 and a visit to Hungary for the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2023. Morales has said that neither trip was paid for by taxpayer dollars.
But the secretary has been a big spender when it comes to taxpayer-funded travel as well, topping the list for the most spent of any state official in fiscal year 2025. It’s part of a string of controversies that have led top GOP leaders to drop their support for Morales’ re-election bid in favor of a relative newcomer, Max Engling, and could be a factor in a potential Republican convention upset June 20.
“This follows the pattern that we have been raising concerns about for the last three years at least,” said Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, who serves as an alternate on the State Budget Committee.
Records shed light on 2024 trips
Receipts and expense records obtained by IndyStar show that Morales often traveled with his wife when conducting business for the National Association of Secretaries of State, where Morales served as co-chair of the securities committee from July 2023 to July 2024.
In an email requesting reimbursement for a trip to Washington, D.C. for a NASS conference in February 2024, Bonnet wrote that Nicolae and Morales’ then-chief of staff, Elina Kupce, needed to accompany the secretary because NASS “expects wives and staff of the members of its executive committee…to fulfill assigned roles facilitating conference administration.” Bonnet used that claim, along with security-related concerns, the need to accommodate other meetings and overlap with another trip, as justification for not going through the Indiana Department of Administration’s travel department.
But while NASS told IndyStar in an email in June that spouses and staff are encouraged to attend the conferences, the organization said they are not required to help facilitate.
Records also show that Kupce, who left the office in April and has since become the subject of criticism for registering to vote as a non-citizen, was reimbursed for a series of Uber rides across D.C. during the conference. She appears to have traveled to addresses associated with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, and embassies for Italy, Latvia and Hungary. The office did not share if Morales and/or his wife accompanied Kupce on these trips or what state business Kupce was conducting that made the expense reimbursable. The Uber reimbursements have not been flagged by the state as improper.
The visit to the Hungarian embassy came nearly a year before Nicolae became honorary consul of Hungary in Indiana.
Julia Vaughn, executive director of the government accountability nonprofit Common Cause Indiana, said Kupce’s visits appeared to be political in nature and not connected to the official business of the secretary of state’s office, making it an “obvious misuse of public resources.”
The recent reporting on the citizenship status of Kupce, who was born in Latvia, only increases Qaddoura’s concern about whether national or state security was compromised on the visits, he told IndyStar. He said the full details of those visits should be disclosed.
Later in 2024, Morales and Nicolae returned to D.C., records show. In an email requesting reimbursement for flights, Bonnet writes that Morales and his wife each had official diplomatic functions to attend, and that Nicolae also needed to assist Morales with scheduled NASS and Department of Homeland Security briefings.
Nicolae’s October flight was one of the three flights Bonnet repaid to the state in 2026. But the state also paid $4,000 for a four-night hotel stay for Morales and a second, unknown guest, records show, even though Morales’ flight receipt and social media indicate he was only in D.C. for the first two nights of the hotel booking.
His wife’s return flight, however, was two days later, on the checkout date for the hotel booking. The secretary of state’s office did not answer a question about what kind of state business Nicolae, who is not a state employee, could have been conducting during the two days in D.C. without her husband. The office also did not share the identity of the second guest in the room, and the expense has not been flagged by the state.
The third flight for Nicolae that the state paid for was a July 2024 trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the summer NASS conference.
When asked about Nicolae’s travel, Vaughn said that Hoosiers should not be footing the bill for Morales and his wife’s “getaways” and questioned what benefit Nicolae’s presence provided to taxpayers.
State employees are required to follow Indiana Department of Administration policy when booking travel, though separately elected officials outside of the governor’s administration like Morales have more discretion than typical employees. IDOA policy stipulates that employees can only be reimbursed for well-documented, reasonable expenses incurred during the course of state business.
Morales’ office did not say why the office paid for what was later deemed “improper.”
“As a general matter, the office’s policy is that expenses are paid on behalf of employees conducting official state business,” Eaton said in a statement. “However, there are circumstances where exceptions may be made for reasons such as urgency, logistical coordination, emergencies, safety issues, cost savings, and operational efficiency.”
The state can recover reimbursements if it was paid out due to fraudulent documentation of the expense or “the mistaken belief” that the expense complied with IDOA policy.
Vaughn said more could be done to increase accountability with travel expenses, including an independent ethics agency. It’s possible that lawmakers, who had tried to increase transparency with their 2025 travel reports law, could revisit the issue.
Morales faces Engling, Knox County Clerk David Shelton and former gubernatorial candidate Jamie Reitenour at the June 20 GOP convention. Whoever wins will face Democrat Beau Bayh, Libertarian Lauri Shillings and Greg Ballard, so long as he secures enough valid signatures, on the November ballot.
Contact breaking politics reporter Marissa Meador at mmeador@indystar.com or find her on X at @marissa_meador.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Diego Morales’ wife traveled on the state’s dime. Years later, the state found it ‘improper’
Reporting by Marissa Meador, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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By Marissa Meador, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
