Jordan Chariton, journalist and cofounder of Status Coup, said on Hill.TV’s “Rising” on Friday that the misdemeanor charges against ex-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) over his role in the Flint water scandal will be “the best you’re getting.”
The day before, the Michigan attorney general’s office announced charges against nine officials over Flint, including far more serious charges of involuntary manslaughter and extortion against others, while Snyder was charged with willful neglect of duty.
“So, this new investigation by the attorney general started in 2019, they just announced nine charges. They claim the charges that they just filed do not preclude them from filing new charges as new evidence presents itself,” Chariton said.
“It’s pretty difficult after charging the governor with a misdemeanor to then, you know, after the fact say ‘hey, we found the smoking gun, now we’re going to charge him with more,’” he continued.
Chariton added that the original prosecution team also found evidence of misconduct of in office, which is a felony, and says they were “about 75 percent of the way towards charging him with involuntary manslaughter” before the investigation was restarted.
“So to Flint residents and others, [in] my opinion— I don’t want to speak for justice, I’m not from Flint — but, I would say this is the best you’re getting against Gov. Snyder,” Chariton said.
“And I think Attorney General [Dana] Nessell and her team will eventually have to explain why one investigation saw misconduct in office and potentially involuntary manslaughter, but they found misdemeanor, willful neglect.”
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