{"id":246020,"date":"2021-03-18T10:00:24","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T14:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=246020"},"modified":"2021-03-18T10:00:26","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T14:00:26","slug":"after-whitmer-ally-rejects-call-for-investigation-gop-hints-at-funding-special-prosecutor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-whitmer-ally-rejects-call-for-investigation-gop-hints-at-funding-special-prosecutor\/","title":{"rendered":"After Whitmer Ally Rejects Call For Investigation, GOP Hints At Funding Special Prosecutor"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fafter-whitmer-ally-rejects-call-for-investigation-gop-hints-at-funding-special-prosecutor%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=246020&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-1770.jpeg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>After Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat and close ally of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D), rejected a call from the state GOP for an investigation into Whitmer\u2019s handling of nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic,&nbsp;saying an investigation would \u201cabuse the investigatory powers of this Department,\u201d the GOP legislator leading the call for an investigation hinted this week that he might call for a special prosecutor to look into the issue.<\/p>\n<p>In late February, Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) and some Senate Republican colleagues sent letters to Nessel and the Department of Justice. Runestead <a href=\"https:\/\/patch.com\/michigan\/across-mi\/mi-gop-wants-investigation-whitmers-nursing-home-policies\">stated<\/a>, \u201cGov. Whitmer\u2019s regional hub policy placed patients with and without COVID-19 in the same facilities and may have exacerbated the death toll in those facilities. Questions remain regarding the accuracy of data, compliance with CDC guidelines and compliance with our state\u2019s Freedom of Information Act. There is a critical need for a full investigation into these matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2021\/03\/15\/ag-nessel-wont-investigate-whitmers-nursing-home-policies\/4707958001\/\">Detroit News<\/a> explained:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"13.346666666667\">\n<p><em>Whitmer\u2019s administration created&nbsp;21 regional hubs in April to help care for nursing homes residents with COVID-19. The hubs were existing nursing homes that were supposed to have the isolated space, equipment and personnel to care for those with COVID-19 who were being discharged from hospitals or resided in other facilities that couldn\u2019t properly handle them.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>But Republican lawmakers repeatedly called for the creation of entirely separate facilities to care for those with the coronavirus to stem its spread among a vulnerable population. Nearly half of the nursing homes that Michigan initially selected to serve as regional hubs to care for elderly individuals with COVID-19&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/local\/michigan\/2020\/06\/23\/hubs-picked-care-covid-19-seniors-have-low-quality-ratings\/3244493001\/\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">had below-average quality ratings&nbsp;<\/a>from the federal government.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cAt least 5,551 residents of Michigan\u2019s long-term care facilities have died from the virus since the start of the pandemic, according to the state\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/coronavirus\/0,9753,7-406-98163_98173-526911--,00.html\">latest available<\/a>&nbsp;reporting,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bizpacreview.com\/2021\/03\/18\/michigan-ag-says-it-would-be-abuse-of-power-to-grant-gop-probe-into-gov-whitmers-handling-of-nursing-homes-1044407\/\">Biz Pac Review<\/a> noted.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, Nessel rejected the call for an investigation, writing, \u201cI see no evidence in your letter or elsewhere to suggest that Governor Whitmer\u2019s efforts to contain COVID-19 in Michigan\u2019s nursing homes resulted in increased deaths. To the contrary, a recent report by the Center for Health and Research Transformation at the University of Michigan concluded that, overall, Michigan\u2019s strategy to contain COVID-19 nursing homes \u2018performed well.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no information in your letter to distinguish your observations from anything more than good faith reporting errors \u2014 if errors at all,\u201d she continued. \u201cIf reporting guidance from the state or federal governments has been confusing or incomplete, an investigation by the state\u2019s top law enforcement official is not the appropriate remedial mechanism to improve policy in this regard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThough I will not hesitate to act when justified, I also will not abuse the investigatory powers of this Department to launch a political attack on any state official, regardless of party or beliefs,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n<p>She concluded, \u201cI appreciate that you and your colleagues have policy disagreements with Governor Whitmer\u2019s response to COVID-19. But an investigation by my office is not the mechanism to resolve those disagreements. You have provided insufficient indicia that any law has been violated and thus no investigation is warranted at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Runstead responded on Tuesday, indicating he might urge the appointment of a special prosecutor to pursue the investigation.<\/p>\n<p>He <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickondetroit.com\/news\/local\/2021\/03\/16\/michigan-republicans-hint-at-pursuing-special-prosecutor-on-nursing-homes\/\">asserted<\/a>, \u201cI think we\u2019re going to have to do some things with the budget whether it\u2019s funding a special prosecutor or we\u2019re talking about a lot of different issues right now in terms of what we can do because the people of the State of Michigan need to have answers. \u2026 There are so many families that want to get to the bottom of the data, what happened with this decision to put COVID infected patients in with uninfected patients in a nursing home. Only five states did this and this was a disastrous policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat and close ally of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D), rejected a call from the state GOP for an investigation into Whitmer\u2019s handling &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2310732,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-1770.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"After Whitmer Ally Rejects Call For Investigation, GOP Hints At Funding Special Prosecutor","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-1770.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"After Whitmer Ally Rejects Call For Investigation, GOP Hints At Funding Special Prosecutor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2310732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}