Flint is what happens when we dismiss science. Flint is what happens when we dismiss people. Flint is what happens when saving money is more important than public health. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha
Mona Hanna-Attisha’s parents, both of whom were scientists, fled from Sadaam Hussein’s Iraq in the 1970s to England, where Mona was born. The family ended up settling in the state of Michigan. Like her science trained parents, she became a pediatrician and public health advocate. It was not until September of 2015 when she shared her research about the unfolding inhumane and dangerous pollution of the water supply in Flint. Her research sparked widespread fury about the yellowish-brown water flowing from the impoverished community’s tap water. Republican leadership in the state were to blame in an apparent effort to save costs. In a glaring case of the fox guarding the hen house, the GOP led investigation over three years passed light sentences, and in many cases not even a fine issued, as punishment for killing twelve people and poisoning thousands of others along with a coverup. Elections have consequences, and on January 1, 2019, Democrat Dana Nessey became attorney general.
Now newly elected Democratic Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel has taken over the investigation from 1 January. She enters office after a 2018 campaign in which she labeled the prosecutions “politically charged show trials” designed to benefit her predecessor, Republican Bill Schuette, who ran for governor last year.
Though Schuette’s special prosecutor, Todd Flood, initially charged suspects with felonies like involuntary manslaughter and false pretenses, he ended up negotiating seven plea deals for misdemeanors as minor as “disturbing the peace at a public meeting”.
xAttorney General Nessel announces executive team, says, "today’s appointments show a diverse cross-section of Michigan. I am proud of the team we have built to advocate for and protect all Michiganders." https://t.co/ti1YzEvJRgpic.twitter.com/JcGzhoEz09
— Michigan Attorney General (@MIAttyGen) January 15, 2019With Democrats now investigating Flint, there’s a sense among many activists and community leaders that Michigan is finally serious about seeking justice for victims. The Republican-led investigation “was never about the state taking responsibility and making sure that the health of Flint’s families was the focus,” said Michigan senate minority leader and Flint resident Jim Ananich.
“It was about trying to protect the governor’s image and do public relations, and now it will be about getting Flint the justice it deserves, and making families whole,” he said.
The shift may also highlight the failure of the Republicans’ austerity measures in Michigan that many say are the crisis’s source. In November 2012, voters repealed governor Rick Snyder and the Republican-controlled legislature’s controversial emergency financial manager law. But Republicans reworked the law and rammed through a new version two months later, paving the way for Snyder to install a financial manager in Flint.
Flint resident Lisia Williams, shouts out as Governor Rick Snyder answers questions from US representatives during a hearing about the Flint water crisis on 17 March 2016 in Washington. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder “has no memory” of deleting any early emails relevant to the Flint water crisis, but his written responses to congressional committee questions “raise a whole new set of concerns about the accuracy” of his March 2016 testimony, Democratic U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland has said.No Peace for the wicked. Chairman Elijah Cummings will investiagte Rick Snyder and the other monsters that poisoned the city and than attempted to cover it up.
"It is very difficult for me to sleep at night with what happened and continues to happen to Flint — that wonderful municipality," Cummings told The Detroit News.
"I know that much has been done with regard to Attorney General Bill Schuette, but there are still questions as to whether the governor was completely honest with us when he appeared before our committee. I would love to at some point — soon — see him come back to address the committee's concerns."
snip
In his March 2016 testimony, Snyder accepted responsibility for not questioning the conclusions of state experts on Flint's water quality after the city shifted its water source from the Detroit area water system to the Flint River.
But the governor blamed DEQ officials for not telling him about lead-contaminated water, maintaining he did not know about elevated lead levels until shortly before he announced an action plan in October 2015.
He insisted that he did not learn about an outbreak of deadly Legionnaires’ disease until January 2016.
SNIP
Former House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, closed the panel's Flint inquiry in December 2016 over the objections of Cummings, who called the move premature and "inconceivable" at the time.
Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, endorsed Cummings' plan to re-examine the Flint crisis, calling it a "man-made disaster caused by the state of Michigan and its emergency financial managers, appointed by Gov. Snyder, that failed to protect public health."
“Justice for Flint families comes in many forms, including the governor testifying under oath and his administration being held accountable for their actions that led to this crisis," Kildee said.
Michigan's newly elected Attorney General kisses her wife, Alanna Maquire after her solid win over Republican Tom Leonard. The Advocate reports: “And for all of you out there that can’t handle the fact that I’m about to become the first openly gay person to hold statewide office [in Michigan]…” Nessel said and then planted a big kiss on her wife Alanna Maguire, according to OutPost magazine's Facebook page, while their son Alex looked on. 2The AP names the culprits charged by the GOP AG.
Fifteen people have been charged in an investigation of how Flint's water became contaminated with lead in 2014-15 and a related outbreak of Legionnaires' disease. Seven people have pleaded no contest to misdemeanors in deals that will leave them without a criminal record.
— Michael Prysby, Stephen Busch, Liane Shekter Smith, Adam Rosenthal, all from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
— Mike Glasgow and Daugherty "Duffy" Johnson, who both worked for the city of Flint.
— Corinne Miller of the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Charges are pending against eight people:
— Nick Lyon, former director of the state health department. Involuntary manslaughter, misconduct in office.
— Dr. Eden Wells, former Michigan chief medical executive. Involuntary manslaughter, obstructing justice, lying, misconduct in office.
— Nancy Peeler and Robert Scott of the state health department. Misconduct in office, conspiracy.
— Patrick Cook of the Department of Environmental Quality. Misconduct in office, conspiracy.
— Gerald Ambrose, former Flint emergency manager. Conspiracy, misconduct in office, false pretenses.
— Darnell Earley, former Flint emergency manager. Involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy, misconduct in office.
— Howard Croft, former director of Flint public works. Involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy.
x xYouTube Video