December 28, 2021
ICYMI: Dana Nessel Heads Into 2022 As High-Profile Investigations Crumble
Lansing, Mich., December 28, 2021 – With 2021 drawing to a close, Dana Nessel is entering the last year of her term in complete disarray. The Flint water and Larry Nassar investigations are in complete shambles, due to Nessel’s ineptitude and inability to effectively perform the duties of Attorney General. In the AG’s hyper-politicized Flint water investigation, the defendants’ court costs and the taint team appointed to review the AG’s shoddy work alone will cost Michigan taxpayers over $50 million, money that could have gone towards replacing pipes in Benton Harbor. The Wall Street Journal reports:
“The state is obligated to pay Mr. Snyder’s legal costs, which his defense team tells us will likely total $6 million to $8 million before the case goes to trial. Add $45 million for an outside taint team. All of this could pay for replacing Benton Harbor’s aging water pipes—or hiring hundreds of more police to curb the surging violence on Flint’s streets. The Democratic Flint prosecutions look on all the evidence like a political prosecution that deserves to be bounced out of court.”
As Nessel’s politicized investigation in Flint hangs on by a thread, last week the Attorney General had another high-profile case get thrown out by a Michigan Court of Appeals. The court unanimously voted to uphold the decision to dismiss charges against former MSU president Lou Anna Simon surrounding the Larry Nassar investigation after Nessel provided zero evidence. One judge described Nessel’s investigation as a sham.
“The Flint water and Nassar investigations have been the two biggest investigations Nessel has conducted as AG, and each has resulted in complete failure,” said Eric Ventimiglia, Executive Director for Michigan Rising Action. Ventimiglia continued, “Much like the Flint investigation, Nessel’s tenure will be remembered as a hyper-politicized disaster.”