The 49th Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, had to know that this was coming. During the pandemic, you can’t try to sneak away on a chartered plane, and you are yelling and expecting no one to notice.
seriously.
To quickly review the achievements of the governors, let’s review an article I wrote earlier this spring about Whitmer’s love of using private jets. Gretchen Whitmer likes private jets and even took a plane to Biden’s inauguration. From that article…
According to a new report, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s transition fund paid for the private jet she took to attend the inauguration of President Biden in January.
Whitmer has faced scrutiny because she used the transition period to pay for most of the trip to Florida-she initially lied about the trip.
Michigan reporter Charlie Le Duff reported on Friday’s radio program No BS Newshour that the Michigan Transformation 2019 Fund also used nearly $21,000 (marked as a “gift” by the Fund) to charter flights for the governor to attend Biden’s inauguration and Her family is in Washington, DC.
LeDuff pointed out that prior to reports that Whitmer went to the Sunshine State in violation of his travel advice, the page of Michigan Transition’s 2019 document was “in the dark for many years.”
It is unclear whether Whitmer’s January chartered plane is the same as the plane she used to charter with Michigan Airlines AirEagle, LLC to visit her father in Florida.
Whitmer’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News’s request for comment on Le Duff’s report.
Now the governor says she must go on a four-day trip to Florida to visit her father, who fell ill in March. Understandable. For safety reasons, she took a “private jet” because she was so concerned about “safety” that she did not notify the Florida police that she would be in the state, which is usually an agreement that requires more protection. Even if she feels that her team has protected her well, it is also polite to let other officials know, just in case.
I’m sure there is no exchange of terms or twisting arms at all, so that the Governor can use a private jet to imitate Ric Flair in order to mix with the unwashed crowd.
There is now news that an organization called Operation Michigan Rise has filed a complaint with the Michigan Election Bureau for violating campaign finance laws. In the complaint filed just today, it said so.
Operation Rise of Michigan forwarded the accompanying campaign finance complaint to the Secretary of State, detailing that Governor Whitmer personally took the private charter flight paid for her campaign to directly violate the Michigan Campaign Finance Law and shall be subject to all applicable fines and penalties.
Eric Ventimiglia, Executive Director of Operation Michigan Rise, said: “Governor Whitmer has been trying to escape her secret flight to Florida for months. She has repeatedly tried to cover up her hypocrisy, which will only lead to More scandals and legal troubles.” Ventimiglia continued, “Whitmer recently tried to use this personal trip as a campaign expense as a campaign expense. This is clearly in violation of Michigan’s campaign finance law. She has to help her repeatedly. Take responsibility once and for all for violating ethics and the law.”
Whitmer faced major criticism for her secret trip to Florida, when she advised Michiganans not to travel, and in the face of the Michigan lockdown and the surge in COVID cases in Michigan.
At first, Whitmer refused to disclose the details of the trip, trying to keep the public a secret. Associated Press reports:
“Whitmer has repeatedly refused to provide details about the trip, including when and where she went, how she got there and how she paid for security reasons. She only said that the taxpayer’s money was not used to pay. It lasted’two full days or less’, and she went more than a month before April 19, when news of the trip was leaked.”
Once found that this story will not disappear, Whitmer tried to shirk responsibility, announcing that this personal flight was at the expense of a non-profit organization. Unfortunately for Whitmer, this violated the rules surrounding non-profit expenditures for personal use, which is why Michigan’s Rise Action quickly filed a complaint with the IRS about Governor Whitmer. Subsequently, Whitmer announced that she intends to transfer the expenses to her campaign, which is also the source of today’s official complaint.
The Michigan Rising Action complaint alleges two violations of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act: Section 21a—Illegal use of Candidate Committee funds under the guise of “miscellaneous fees” to fund candidates’ personal expenses, and Section 33—Intentionally Submit inaccurate statements or reports. Potential penalties include prohibiting Gretchen Whitmer from holding public office and receiving compensation from public funds, as well as requiring Gretchen Whitmer to reimburse unauthorized expenses.
Now, I am not a legal scholar, and I will not even pretend to be a legal scholar here or on the WAAM 1600 AM and 92.7 FM shows in Ann Arbor. However, this complaint made by Ventimiglia and Operation Rise of Michigan is justified. For any elected official, how can this type of pull be used and everything is going up?If you happen to be a legal scholar, please tell me what you think about it [email protected], Because I can’t find a legitimate reason to show that this is not some kind of violation. If not, then all elected officials can use their positions for free for personal gain.
This should also be a big issue for Whitmer’s re-election campaign next year, but fortunately, the people of Michigan’s Rise Action did not wait until next year to take action. They are now doing watchdog work, which is exactly what is needed.
Let us reduce corruption in Michigan.
