Governor Whitmer spent $155,506 in taxpayer money attempting to buy the former health director’s silence.
March 9, 2021
Prosecutor Says Criminal Charges Possible Against Governor Whitmer Over Nursing Home Deaths
WXYZ Detroit reports tonight that “Criminal charges could be in the works against Governor Gretchen Whitmer over putting COVID patients inside nursing homes used as hubs early in the pandemic.” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido is encouraging families of potential victims to go to “the nursing homes and gather the vital information surrounding deaths and take it to local police to file a wrongful death report.”
Lucido tells 7 Action News, “If we find there’s been willful neglect of office if we find there’s been reckless endangerment of a person’s life by bringing them in then we would move forward with charges against the Governor. Of course, we would. Nobody’s above the law in this state.”
News of possible criminal charges against Whitmer comes just days after the Michigan media reported that Whitmer made a hush-money severance payment of $155,506 to the state’s former health director Robert Gordon who resigned abruptly after overseeing nursing homes policy and data during the pandemic. Gordon also issued his own emergency orders keeping many of Whitmer’s restrictions in place after the supreme court determined her executive action was unconstitutional.
The separation deal between Whitmer and Gordon required both parties to maintain confidentiality surrounding the circumstances that led to his departure.
Whitmer dodged answering Jake Tapper’s question about nursing home data during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. Detroit News Editorial Page Editor Nolan Finley stated:
As she did throughout the interview, Whitmer dodged an honest answer. She replied she had released a “tremendous” amount of information on COVID-19 in nursing homes. That’s a long way from “all.”
Governor Whitmer spent $155,506 in taxpayer money attempting to buy the former health director’s silence. Now she’s potentially facing charges for her reckless nursing home policy while questions and motives regarding policy decisions and data remain unanswered. – Tori Sachs, executive director of Michigan Rising Action