Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer may face AG investigation
Calls from state Republicans to investigate the governor are gaining momentum amid allegations that she paid $ 155,000 in secret money to a former director of the state’s health department. Congressman Steve Johnson’s reaction to Fox & Friends First.
A county prosecutor in Michigan told a local news station on Monday that Governor Gretchen Whitmer could face charges for dealing with asylums and other long-term institutions during the coronavirus pandemic.
Peter Lucido, the Macomb County prosecutor, told WXYZ.com that he is limited in his own investigation into deaths in nursing homes, but if it is revealed that there was “intentional neglect of the position” or “reckless danger in the life of a person “, can be criminal charges.
Lucido, a former Republican state senator, appealed to people in the state who may have lost loved ones to the virus who were in nursing homes to seek information about the deaths. He said that HIPPAA laws prevent his office from obtaining some information from the patient.
Whitmer’s office did not immediately respond to an out-of-hours e-mail from Fox News.
His office issued a statement to WXYZ and called Lucido’s comments “shameful political attacks based on no fact or reality”. His office said one of Lucido’s former Republican colleagues admitted that “they saw no evidence or testimony to say that a nursing home was forced to receive someone against their will”.
“The administration’s policies carefully monitored the CDC’s guidance on asylums and we prioritized testing of residents and staff at the nursing home to save lives,” the statement said. “At the beginning of the pandemic, the state acted quickly to create a network of regional centers with adequate isolation units and PPE to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within a facility. In addition, we offer 100 percent of access home residents. priority to the vaccine. Both the former head of AARP, as well as an independent study by UM, praised our work to save lives in nursing homes. “
She told CNN on Sunday that her state “has released an incredible amount of data. We comply with federal requirements. Every step of the way.”
Last week, Charlie LeDuff, a state investigative journalist, told Fox News that he is suing the state’s Democratic governor after trying for months to get answers about COVID-19-related deaths linked to nursing homes.
“You can’t get them. I’ve been asking for months,” he said.
Dana Nessel, the state attorney general, is reportedly examining the state’s “nursing home policies”, according to ClickonDetroit.com.
Republican state lawmakers called for investigations into how the governor deals with asylums and other long-term institutions during the early days of the pandemic.
Michigan state senator Jim Runestad led the movement.
“Governor Whitmer’s regional hub policy has placed patients with and without COVID-19 in the same facility and may have exacerbated the death toll at these facilities,” Runestad said in a February statement.
Calls to investigate Whitmer come as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who faced impeachment requests – a growing scandal about how his state has dealt with deaths in nursing homes, compounded by sexual harassment charges.
Republicans also want an investigation into the state separation agreement for Robert Gordon, the former director of the Department of Health and director of human services, according to Detroit News. Gordon also signed a confidentiality agreement “in the interest of protecting deliberations between government officials”, in accordance with the agreement reached through an application opened by the News.
Gordon resigned in January and is expected to be paid $ 155,506.
In December, Gordon said he did not disagree with critics who question the good sense of allowing positive patients to return to their homes where they are isolated until they fully recover, but the “deeply imperfect” strategy is “working reasonably well”.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
He also said that claims that Michigan forced nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients from hospitals in the spring are “false”. In April, the department quickly heard concerns about a clause in a Whitmer order and did not implement it, he said.
Evie Fordham, Charles Creitz, Houston Keene and Fox News Associated Press contributed to this report