LANSING (WKZO-AM) — A lot of people have wondered how Attorney General Bill Schuette could be both charging state staff with violating the law in their handling of the Flint water crisis, filing friendly court briefs with groups that are suing the state, while at the same time performing the job he was elected to fill which is defending the state and its taxpayers from those suits.
Federal Judge David Lawson has now ruled that The Attorney General has to pick a side. He has rejected Schuette’s brief submitted to support a suit by the Concerned Pastors for Social Action.
Schuette has claimed he has a “firewall” between his Flint investigators, a team hired from outside state government, which have already cost taxpayers $2.3 million, and his staff who are tasked with opposing the suits.
Judge Lawson said since both groups answer to Schuette, there is no real wall between them.
The Judge calls it an ethical conflict that could get the Attorney General, his staff and his hired guns thrown off both sides in a number of cases.
The Judge has also opined that it appeared that the Attorney General might have been working more towards his own benefit than the benefit of the State of Michigan or its taxpayers.Spokesperson Andrea Bitely says the office is reviewing the ruling.
