The Republican-led Michigan House Oversight Committee approved a slew of legislative subpoenas Tuesday directed at state departments, including the Attorney General’s office.
The oversight committee has aggressively used its subpoena power in this session to squeeze agencies in an executive branch controlled by Democrats.
The committee authorized two subpoenas demanding records related to the end of a criminal investigation by the Attorney General’s office into a Democratic Party fundraiser.
Attorney Traci Kornak is a former Michigan Democratic Party treasurer was investigated for insurance fraud in 2022. The department set up internal firewalls due to Kornak’s relationship with Nessel, but GOP committee members say there appears to be evidence that Nessel was kept informed of progress on the inquiry and may influenced the decision to drop it.
Representative Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay), chair of the oversight committee, said the subpoenas were necessary to help come up with improvements to Michigan’s campaign finance laws, but also hinted impeachment could be on the table.
“The House has the power to ability to impeach civil officers of the State of Michigan where corrupt conduct in office occurs,” he said. “In order to faithfully exercise its responsibilities in this regard, the House is entitled to investigate the Department of Attorney General’s decision to decline issuing criminal charges in this matter.”
Another subpoena asks for records and communications with the Department of State related to a campaign committee to include LGBTQ protections in Michigan’s civil rights law.
Tuesday’s round of subpoenas also includes records from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources on its regulation of game ranches and its program for euthanizing Canadian geese as a wildlife control measure.
The committee demanded an in-person appearance by Michigan Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel, who is a member of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s cabinet.
“House Republicans have raised serious questions for months about troubling reports involving MDHHS — including children sleeping on floors, young people being placed in unvetted out-of-state facilities, instances of welfare and Medicaid fraud, and taxpayer-funded services being extended to individuals without legal status,” said Representative John Roth (R-Interlochen) in a written statement.
“Our goal has always been to work collaboratively behind the scenes to investigate these concerns, but unfortunately, we have not been able to secure the cooperation we had hoped for from the department," Roth said.
GOP members of the committee accused Hertel and the MDHHS of stonewalling their inquiries and said she has declined multiple invitations to appear. A healthj department spokesperson said there was a scheduling conflict, but she was not dodging the committee.
“A subpoena was not necessary to compel the director to appear before the committee,” said MDHHS spokesperson Lynn Sutfin, sharing a letter where Hertel requested an alternate date and a list of topics to be covered in her appearance.
