August 24, 2021
AG Nessel Refuses to Answer Questions About Campaign Donor Involvement in Flint Water Investigation
Lansing, Mich., August 24, 2021 – Today, Attorney General Dana Nessel nervously dodged questions regarding her unethical handling of the Flint water investigation. When asked why she has campaign donor’s handling the investigation, she hastily walked away.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Attorney General Dana Nessel spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on private lawyers to investigate and prosecute the Flint water case. Nessel hypocritically criticized former Attorney General Bill Schuette for using a similar practice. The Detroit News reports:
“Supporters of the nine former state and city officials being prosecuted by Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud’s team have cried foul over the employment of the private lawyers because Nessel criticized her predecessor, Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette, for ‘farming out’ the prosecution.”
Michigan Rising Action previously exposed the fact that Nessel’s Flint investigation is comprised of campaign donors including Michigan Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud, and even former business partners. Current Assistant Attorneys General Michael Ajami, Molly Kettler, and Alexandra Peterson are all campaign donors.
“Attorney General Nessel was quick to criticize former AG’s for farming out investigations in the past but now hypocritically handed over the Flint investigation to a team of campaign donors,” said Eric Ventimiglia, executive director for Michigan Rising Action. Ventimiglia continued, “As the people of Flint continue fighting for answers, Nessel is politicizing a vital investigation. If she thinks dodging important questions will make Michiganders forget about this transgression, she’s wrong.”