LANSING, Mich. (AP) – A Flint resident is asking for a grand jury investigation of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s decision to use at least $2 million in state funds for his legal representation related to criminal probes of the city’s water crisis.
The complaint, filed Tuesday, alleges that the governor broke the law by violating conflict-of-interest prohibitions and “unilaterally” spending taxpayer money for personal benefit without the authority to do so. It requests that the Ingham County Circuit Court, based in Michigan’s capital city, convene a one-judge grand jury to investigate.
Keri Webber, who brought the complaint with assistance from Democratic attorney Mark Brewer, said the lead-contaminated water sickened her family. Her 16-year-old daughter sustained liver damage, her 21-year-old daughter contracted Legionnaires’ disease and her husband lost vision in one eye due to a stroke she attributes to high blood pressure associated with lead.
“It’s one more salt in the wound. …He’s taking our money to pay for his legal defense,” Webber, 46, told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “That money should be going back into the city of Flint. It should be going back into medical care, psychological care, all of these things.”
Snyder has apologized for his administration’s mistakes that caused and prolonged the man-made disaster, which began while Flint was under state financial management. Eight state employees and one Flint worker have been charged in Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s ongoing probe.