He is also well armed so-to-speak with this bevy of lawyers to defend his sorry
ass at the public trough when the little people don't get such access to
justice and legal support for even minor offenses.
----- Original Message -----
From: Frank Ventura
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2016 6:29 PM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: more public money down the legal rathole
Just think how many families can be fed with SNAP for 1.2 million. I assume
the governor is well fed.
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of joe harcz Comcast
Sent: Tuesday, March 8, 2016 4:52 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] more public money down the legal rathole
Snyder's outside legal bills for Flint water hit $1.2M
Gov. Snyder answers questions about the federal government's response to the
Flint water crisis and reaffirms that he will not resign.
Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau 4:09 p.m. EST March 8, 2016
635930336299522089-Rick-Snyder.jpg
Gov. Rick Snyder(Photo: The Associated Press)
LANSING - The costs of the Flint drinking water crisis continued to climb
Tuesday as Gov. Rick Snyder asked the State Administrative Board to approve
contracts
worth up to $1.2 million to cover his outside legal bills and Attorney
General Bill Schuette asked for approval of a $1.5-million contract with
attorney
Todd Flood to cover the cost of his investigation into the public health
disaster.
Snyder's request Tuesday increases the estimated cost of his outside legal
fees from just under $500,000 to more than double that, with up to $400,000
going
to civil attorney Eugene Driker and up to $800,000 going to Brian Lennon, a
criminal defense attorney who Snyder officials say has been hired in an
investigative
role to research and process e-mails and other records.
Also Tuesday, Schuette asked the board to expand to a value of up to $1.5
million what is currently a $249,000 contract with Flood Law PLLC. A Royal Oak
attorney, Flood is the lawyer Schuette tapped to head his investigation into
whether any state laws were violated in the lead contamination of Flint drinking
water, which has led to state and federal emergency declarations and
instructions to Flint residents not to drink tap water without using a lead
filter.
The contracts were approved Tuesday by the finance and claims committee and
now go to the full State Administrative Board on March 15. The board, which
has representatives from the governor's office, the attorney general's
office, the lieutenant governor, the secretary of state, the treasurer, the
superintendent
of public instruction, and the director of the transportation department, is
generally an administrative rubber stamp for state contracts worth $250,000
or more.
DetroitFreePress/635920773777685361-RickSnyderAPCarlosOsorio
DETROIT FREE PRESS
Gov. Snyder retains outside attorneys over Flint water
Snyder's bills are controversial because they are in addition to the costs of
attorneys from Schuette's office who are defending him in a raft of civil
suits related to the Flint crisis. Schuette's selection of Flood to lead his
Flint water investigation has also been criticized by Common Cause in Michigan
and Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Brandon Dillon because Flood has been
a campaign donor to both Snyder and Schuette.
"It's beyond outrageous that Snyder wants to take $1.2 million from Michigan
taxpayers to pay for defense attorneys over his involvement in the poisoning
of Flint's water," Dillon said. "That money should go toward replacing lead
pipes and getting safe drinking water to Flint families, not for Snyder's
defense attorneys."
"Instead of conducting a truly independent investigation into the cause of
the Flint water crisis, Bill Schuette is funneling $1.5 million in taxpayer
dollars
to Todd Flood, who has contributed thousands of dollars to Bill Schuette, and
thousands more to Rick Snyder -- the man he is supposed to be investigating,"
Dillon said. "The people of Flint deserve better."
Snyder spokesman Ari Adler said the legal contracts are being increased
"based on the anticipated billing for work already completed and the workload as
we look ahead at the processing of all e-mails and documents related to the
Flint water crisis.
"Between the executive office and the state departments, we have an enormous
amount of data to go through to ensure we are releasing everything that is
relevant to the Flint water crisis but also protecting personal and other
information that is never released, even under FOIA," he said.
"The Governor's Office and the state departments are processing this data as
part of numerous requests but are unable to complete the work needed in a timely
manner without outside assistance. This work is being done to ensure that
state government is being transparent, so the use of state dollars is
appropriate."
Schuette spokeswoman Andrea Bitely said the $1.5-million contract with
Flood's law firm is intended to cover "the costs of the entire team of
prosecutors
and investigators," including former Detroit FBI director Andrew Arena and
about 24 other attorneys, investigators and assistants. The contract also
"anticipates
reasonable expenses for the team going forward," she said.
"The attorney general is running an independent, broad-based investigation
team that will leave no stone unturned," Bitely said. "That is what the citizens
of Flint, and Michigan as a whole, want and deserve."
Contract costs also include establishing a computer system for the
investigation that is isolated from the systems of both the state of Michigan
and the
Flood law firm, she said.
"With a crisis of this magnitude making families' daily lives a struggle and
shaking the trust of citizens in their government, we will not do a half-baked
investigation on the cheap," she said. "We will get answers."
Driker, of Barris, Sott, Denn and Driker in Detroit, specializes in complex
business litigation and alternative dispute resolution and has represented many
of Michigan's largest corporations, including DTE Energy, Dow Chemical, Ford
and General Motors, according to the firm's website. He has also represented
the state of Michigan and served as a mediator in the Detroit bankruptcy case.
Lennon, of Warner, Norcross & Judd in Grand Rapids, specializes in criminal
defense law, especially health care fraud and other white-collar and drug
offenses,
corporate internal investigations and compliance issues, according to the
firm's website. He is a former federal prosecutor in Virginia and in the western
district of Michigan.
Attorney Todd Flood, with AG Bill Schuette (to Flood's left), describes
charges that could emerge from the Flint drinking water investigation.
Videolicious
DetroitFreePress/635906058624749474-Bill-Schuette
DETROIT FREE PRESS
Schuette pushes for funds for Flint probe, restitution
Flint's drinking water became contaminated with lead in April 2014 while the
city was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has acknowledged it failed
to require the addition of needed corrosion control chemicals to the water.
As a result, lead leached from pipes, joints and fixtures into an unknown
number of Flint households, causing a spike in the levels of toxic lead in an
unknown number of Flint children.
Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, also criticized Snyder's legal
bills in a statement issued Tuesday.
"Paying more for high-priced lawyers than we are for school nurses or fully
refunding victims is another kick in the teeth to taxpayers and my community,"
Ananich said. "Our priority should be sending every resource we can to
removing pipes and protecting kids, not covering legal fees."
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. Follow him on Twitter
@paulegan4.
Source:
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/03/08/snyders-outside-legal-bills-flint-water-hit-12m/81476922/
