Snyder: Referral to FBI of complaint about AG Schuette 'a serious matter'

Paul Egan | Detroit Free Press

LANSING – Gov. Rick Snyder said Monday it’s a “serious matter” that a county prosecutor has forwarded to the FBI a request for a criminal investigation of Attorney General Bill Schuette.

“This is clearly a serious matter if the local prosecutor felt it should be referred to the FBI for investigation,” Snyder said in a statement released by his communications director, Ari Adler.

“It’s important that the FBI be allowed to do a thorough investigation without any undue influence and let the facts take them wherever they lead.”

The Free Press reported Tuesday that Ingham County prosecutor Carol Siemon had referred East Lansing attorney Mike Nichols’ concerns about possible criminal wrongdoing by Schuette to the FBI.

Nichols wrote Siemon on June 28, requesting a state grand jury or other criminal investigation of allegations Schuette improperly used state resources.

The FBI has not confirmed that it has opened an investigation. FBI spokesman Tim Wiley declined comment on Monday.

Schuette officials have denounced the Nichols letter as a political attack.

"This isn’t a law enforcement issue," Schuette spokeswoman Andrea Bitely said Monday. "This is a phony attack from a disgruntled trial lawyer who is playing politics with the judicial system."

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Stu Sandler, a spokesman for a pro-Schuette Super PAC, said that Siemon's referral of the Nichols letter to the FBI was "a prosecutor's polite way of passing the buck."

Snyder, who has clashed with Schuette on several issues in the past, has endorsed Lt. Gov. Brian Calley for the Republican nomination for governor. Schuette is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

Calley issued a statement Tuesday that accused Schuette of wrongdoing and asked "when an indictment might occur."

“I’m thankful that Bill Schuette’s illegal use of taxpayer-funded employees to facilitate multi-million dollar offshore land deals has been referred to the FBI," Calley said in the statement released by his campaign.

"The Attorney General broke the law by using taxpayer resources for personal gain and that warrants a federal investigation. The main questions now are if Bill Schuette will be held to the same standards he applies to others and when an indictment might occur.”

More: Brian Calley alleges AG Bill Schuette violated 'blind trust' pledge

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Nichols, who represented former state representative Cindy Gamrat and saw the misconduct in office charges Schuette brought against Gamrat in 2016 dismissed by a district court judge in Lansing, said Schuette attempted to hold Gamrat to higher standards than those he observes.

In his letter to Siemon, a Democrat, Nichols cited Schuette’s use of state employees to witness personal real estate transactions in his state-funded office and his hiring of Republican campaign operatives to taxpayer-funded civil service posts in the run-up to his current campaign for governor.

In May, Calley accused Schuette of continuing to have a hands-on role in his business dealings after saying publicly he placed his assets in a blind trust. Calley's campaign released records showing Schuette's signature on multimillion-dollar real estate transactions related to family-owned property in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Schuette vigorously denied that his family real estate should have been placed in a blind trust but his officials acknowledged that staffers signed as witnesses some of the transactions while at work.

In December, the Free Press obtained records under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act that showed Schuette, in advance of his September announcement that he was running for governor, hired as civil servants four "constituent relations representatives," also known as "executive office representatives," who are all Republican activists or experienced GOP campaign operatives. The state constitution and civil service rules prohibit partisan consideration in state hiring.

The Free Press also reported that Schuette used no-bid state contracts to pay more than $130,000 to two influential Republicans — one of whom has been active in the tea party movement that is important in winning a Republican primary.

The Michigan Democratic Party applauded the latest development.

“Even Gov. Rick Snyder is throwing Bill Schuette under the bus because there’s absolutely no excuse for his schemes and misuse of taxpayer funds that are now on the FBI's watch," party Chairman Brandon Dillon said in a news release.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.