Larry Hogan’s ex-chief, Roy McGrath, defended in books mysteriously published after his disappearance
Misty Severi
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Two books defending Roy McGrath, former Gov. Larry Hogan’s onetime chief of staff who died on Monday after a confrontation with the FBI, were released in the days after his disappearance on March 13.
The self-published books, Betrayed: The True Story of Roy McGrath and Betrayed: The True Story of Maryland Environmental Service, were apparently written by a man named Ryan Cooper. The books paint McGrath as a “hard worker” who had “no record of wrongdoing.” They call Hogan an antagonist who orchestrated McGrath’s prosecution to avoid political blowback.
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“In this day and age, anyone can publish a ‘book’ and repeat bizarre and baseless accusations, including fugitives from justice who are facing multiple counts of fraud,” Hogan’s spokesman David Weinman told WBAL-11 News.
The first book was mysteriously released 10 days after McGrath disappeared. The second was released a couple weeks later. McGrath was declared a fugitive last month. He was found in Tennessee after a federal manhunt that resulted from his failure to appear in federal court in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 13. Gunfire broke out when McGrath was found by the FBI, and he later died on Monday night after a weekslong manhunt. It is unclear if McGrath died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound or if he was shot by an agent.
McGrath faced an eight-count federal indictment on charges including wire fraud. He was accused of securing a $233,648 severance payment equal to one year of salary as the head of the Maryland Environmental Service and faced fraud and embezzlement charges for roughly $170,000 in expenses.
The first book in the series, which was 52 pages, focused on the theft allegation. The book claimed Hogan approved the six-figure severance for McGrath to leave the Maryland Environmental Service and join him in the governor’s office, but Hogan denied the claim. The book characterized Hogan as secretive and back-stabbing, and it nicknamed him “Lyin’ Larry.”
The book also claimed Hogan used the secure messaging app Wickr to contact McGrath. The book states that Hogan wrote: “I know you did nothing wrong. I know this is unfair. I will stand with you.”
A spokesman for Hogan told the Washington Post that the message was sent before Hogan learned about how McGrath got the severance package.
The book included multiple handwritten notes that Cooper claimed were from the former governor, and it cites a press release from Hogan.
The second book, released on Friday, centered on McGrath’s tenure as the executive director of Maryland’s Environmental Service. It went into why the role played an important part in the prosecution of McGrath.
“In this second entry of the Betrayed series, we’ll look at the [Maryland Environmental Service] story and why it was so central to the decision by Lyin’ Larry Hogan to collude to persecute and prosecute Roy McGrath,” the description reads.
Not much is known about the author of the books. Cooper describes himself as someone in their 60s but does not give his exact age. He says he is “semi-retired,” but he does not specify what he does for work. He says he is in “development” and “capital investments,” according to the Baltimore Sun. He also says he used to live in Hagerstown, Maryland, and now lives in Florida.
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McGrath’s wife Laura Bruner claimed she did not know Cooper and had never met him. She was aware that the book was being written, according to Cooper. Bruner’s attorney said she was aware McGrath was contemplating writing a book.
The book was written by Cooper, and he has denied rumors that he is actually McGrath, but a lot of the language in the books mimics McGrath’s writing style.