An Ingham County Circuit court denied a Flint resident’s request for an investigation into Governor Rick Snyder Tuesday.
Governor Snyder has said his use of tax dollars to pay for his legal counsel on issues surrounding the Flint water crisis was appropriate because the investigations relate to his official duties as governor.
But Flint resident Keri Webber filed a complaint earlier this month asking a court to appoint a one-judge grand jury to investigate Snyder for criminal wrongdoing.
Webber’s complaint said the governor unilaterally approved spending $2 million on his lawyers in violation of state law and the Michigan Constitution.
Mark Brewer is Webber’s attorney. He says they respect the court’s decision but are disappointed.
“We always knew this was discretionary with the court,” he said. “They are not required to conduct an investigation. So now, again, we will look for other avenues. We’re certainly not going to give up.”
Brewer would not say what the other avenues are but did call on the Attorney Generaland the Legislature to take action.
“Only reason we went to the court in the first place is because neither the Attorney General nor the legislature put a stop to this contract,” he said. “Both of them could stop this contract and we continue to urge them to do so.”
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—Cheyna Roth is a reporter for the Michigan Public Radio network. Contact WEMU News at734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
