UPDATE: 3:20 p.m., 4/19/2016

To read Governor Bevin's full statement download the PDF attached to this story.

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1:35 p.m.

Former Gov. Steve Beshear released this statement in response to Governor Bevin's press conference today.

"At some point, Matt Bevin has to realize there is a time to campaign and a time to govern. Attacking me in an effort to distract the public from his Benefind debacle and his plan to strip away healthcare from hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians will not work. Today's accusations, which have absolutely no basis in truth, continue this pathetic spectacle. There was never any attempt to pressure employees to make political contributions, and we followed both the spirit and the letter of procurement laws. Furthermore, I made my tax returns public all eight years I was governor, something Gov. Bevin refuses to do even after promising to do so. Kentuckians deserve better."

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1:30 p.m.

Kentucky's Democratic Attorney General says Republican Gov. Matt Bevin's decision to hire a private law firm to investigate his predecessor is overstepping his authority under state law.

Bevin announced Tuesday he will hire a private law firm to assist the Finance Cabinet in investigating potentially illegal procurement practices by former Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear.

Attorney General Andy Beshear, Steve Beshear's son, says the Executive Branch Ethics Commission should be the one to examine any allegations of wrongdoing.

Bevin also is calling on Andy Beshear to return campaign contributions from Tim Longmeyer, a former official in Steve Beshear's administration who is facing federal bribery charges. Andy Beshear says he did not know of Longmeyer's activities and plans to donate any left over money from his campaign to Common Cause, a government watchdog group.

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Kentucky's Republican governor says he will hire a private law firm to investigate his Democratic predecessor for what he says were potentially illegal procurement practices.

Gov. Matt Bevin said in a news conference Tuesday that former Gov. Steve Beshear's administration forced state workers to make political donations, issued no-bid contracts to benefit friends and improperly awarded benefits to volunteer firefighters.

Bevin says the law firm will have the power to subpoena witnesses and records. Representatives for Beshear did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The announcement escalates the political war between the two administrations. Beshear started a nonprofit to criticize Bevin's health care policies. And Beshear's son, Attorney General Andy Beshear, has sued Bevin over his mid-year budget cuts. A hearing in that case is scheduled for Thursday.