By Craig Anderson

DOVER — As expected Thursday, defense and prosecution attorneys presented starkly different narratives of the criminal corruption case of Delaware State Auditor Kathy McGuiness.

Representing Ms. McGuiness during closing arguments, Steve Wood spent ample time pointing to repeated false statements made under oath by chief investigator Franklin Robinson involving a search warrant seeking records and a grand jury.

“That search warrant was reviewed by a special team of investigators and lawyers, and they still got it horribly wrong,” Mr. Wood said. “Can you trust that special team of investigators and lawyers to get it right now?”

Mr. Wood also pointed to perjury he said Ms. McGuiness’ former Chief of Staff Tom Van Horn committed before a grand jury following claims made against Ms. McGuiness.

In October 2021, Ms. McGuiness became the first statewide elected official to be indicted while in office. She is charged with felony theft and witness intimidation counts, and misdemeanor charges of official misconduct, conflict of interest and noncompliance with procurement laws. She pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Ms. McGuiness, a Democrat, faces up to 13 years in prison if convicted on all charges, the Associated Press reported.

Mr. Wood described the investigation as “incomplete, incompetent and biased from the very beginning.”

Deputy Attorney General Mark Denney urged jurists not to base their decision as “simply a matter of trust” and to consider the “overwhelming” amount of witness testimony, documents and evidence presented.

The jury began deliberations at approximately 2:45 p.m. and concluded them for the day at around 4:30 p.m. They will reconvene at the Kent County Courthouse at 9:30 a.m. Friday.

In a continuing theme, Mr. Wood and Mr. Denney continued to portray the auditor’s daughter Elizabeth “Saylar” McGuiness’ casual-seasonal employment with the office far differently.

Prosecutors maintained she received preferential treatment over other employees and questioned the amount of hours she worked, among other issues.

The defense pointed to emails indicating the work being done disputed claims, maintaining that other employees had resigned of their own volition before she was hired. Mr. Wood noted that five other casual-seasonal employees were never interviewed as to their own employment conditions.

The intimidation charge was up for debate, and Mr. Wood maintained that the count was baseless since Ms. McGuiness was unaware of an investigation and thus witnesses when she allegedly committed any hostile acts.

Mr. Denney described Ms. McGuiness ruling the office “with an iron fist,” harassing and intimidating employees who she suspected might be cooperating in an investigation of her office, the AP said.

Mr. Denney pointed to the auditor’s monitoring of staffers’ emails, including one who continued to be available for view after leaving for another state agency. Monitoring state emails is permissible if a process is followed.

While Mr. Wood described an office that was apparently full of “a lot of tension” and “did not seem like a fun place to work,” he said there were also staff leaks of audit information to outside entities to consider as well.

Prosecutors, the AP reported, say Ms. McGuiness orchestrated a no-bid communications services contract for a consulting firm she had used in a 2016 campaign for lieutenant governor, then kept the payments under $5,000 to avoid having to get them approved by the Division of Accounting.

“Kathy McGuiness knew just how to play the system, and she did,” Mr. Denney said.