LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A report from the Associated Press (AP) released Tuesday says that the State of Michigan will be charging former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, along with his health director and other ex-officials, in the Flint water crisis.
According to the report, the defense lawyers of Snyder and other officials have been informed that they should be expecting court appearances. However, the report says that the AP was unable to find out what the charges are.
In 2014, the former Republican Governor was in office when state-appointed managers in the city of Flint switched the city water source to the Flint River. This decision was made as a pipeline connected to Lake Huron was under construction.
That water from the Flint River was not treated to reduce corrosion, which caused lead from the lines to seep into the water supply. Bacteria from that same water supply is also reported to have caused an outbreak of Legionnaires’.
The AP reports that the outbreak was announced by Snyder and former health department director Nick Lyon in January 2016. However, the AP says Lyon admitted to knowing the cases were being reported months before that.
Lyon later faced involuntary manslaughter charges in 2018. The following year, under Attorney General Dana Nessel, the case against Lyon was dismissed, as well as charges against seven other defendants as the probe was restarted.
The AP reports that this decision didn’t affect seven people who had already pleaded no contest to misdemeanors. Those defendants are said to have cooperated with the investigation.
The AP also reported that Snyder had said in court that he was made aware of the issues in January 2016, although his urban affairs advisor, Harvey Hollins, said that he had informed Snyder on Christmas Eve, 2015.
Additionally on Tuesday, a statement released to news outlets including WKZO was received from Attorney Randall L. Levine speaking on behalf of his client Rich Baird, who had previously served as a senior adviser under Snyder.
“At this time, we have not been made aware of what the charges are, or how they are related to his position with former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s administration,” Levine said in the statement.
Levine added that they had been made aware of the charges on Monday.
Courtney Covington Watkins, a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, also told the AP that investigators are “working diligently” and “will share more as soon as we’re in a position to do so.”
Later on Tuesday, MLive reported that Rick Snyder’s attorney had released a statement of his own, saying that any charges against Snyder are “outrageous” and “meritless,” and that the prosecutors are engaged in a “smear campaign.”
He added that the charges against Snyder are unclear at this time.
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