A new report from Vice claims former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and his top officials hid what they knew about the Flint water crisis for years. The outlet says its 18 month investigation turned up hundreds of documents, emails, and interviews. These are allegations from the report, and none of them have been proven in court.
According to Vice, Snyder was warned about the dangers of using the Flint River as a water source a year before the switch, and he knew about the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak earlier than he told Congress. Snyder testified that he first learned of Legionella in January 2016. Vice reports that Harvey Hollins, director of the state’s Urban and Metropolitan Initiatives office, testified that he told Snyder in December 2015.
The report also includes an account from former Flint Mayor Karen Weaver. She told Vice that Snyder approached her in early 2019 and asked her to speak with Congressman Elijah Cummings on his behalf so Cummings would back off his investigation. Weaver said Cummings had already planned to bring Snyder back to Congress for more questioning. Cummings died in October 2019, before that could happen.
On the legal side, a team led by special prosecutor Todd Flood investigated Snyder’s administration from 2016 to 2019. A source close to the probe told Vice the team found the administration “committed conspiracies of ongoing crimes, like an organized crime unit.” After Attorney General Dana Nessel took office, she replaced Flood and his team. In June 2019, prosecutors dismissed the charges against the eight remaining defendants and restarted the investigation.
Vice says the statute of limitations on new felony misconduct in office charges could run out on April 25, 2020. The attorney general’s office disputed that deadline, saying it varies by offense and date and that its investigation remains on track. A response from Snyder was not included in the coverage we reviewed.
As Flint enters its sixth year of the crisis, many residents are still dealing with the fallout and relying on bottled water, according to reports.
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