Cassidy Hutchinson taking her oath at the House Select Committee hearing today.
Nick Lyon, former director, Michigan DHHS
On January 14, 2021, nearly 18 months ago I wrote the following:
Attorney General Dana Nessel is planning on bringing criminal charges against 10 people including former Governor Rick Snyder, former Director of Health and Human Services Nick Lyon and Snyder aide Rich Baird for their role in the Flint water crisis. Former Director of Health and Human Director Jim Haveman, who I know personally and have tremendous respect for is quoted in the Detroit News as saying, “If Gov. Snyder can be prosecuted, any public official can be prosecuted,”
This prosecution is a slippery slope. What is preventing a superintendent of schools from being prosecuted for cutting the schools security for financial reasons even though the director of security asked them not to for safety reasons and then a student is seriously harmed because of the lack of security? What if a mayor reduces winter maintenance of roads in the city because of financial concerns and then a car slides through an intersection and causes a major accident in which someone is killed? Can the mayor be prosecuted? Where does it stop? I don’t know the answer, but I feel like Attorney General Nessel’s move is politically motivated.
Since then, I have written many times about AG Nessel’s unconstitutional practices and politically motivated prosecution of Lyon and others. Through the endless work of Jim Haveman, I have provided updates on Nick Lyon’s case as it slowly worked its way through the courts, overcoming every roadblock Nessel and her team threw at him.
From the beginning I had two major issues with this case. One, is that it was not a criminal case and it had already been settled in a civil court for $650 million, and two, I was concerned it would set a precedent in which government officials could be prosecuted because of decisions they made in the normal course of doing their job.
Although I knew of Nick Lyon, I had never met him when I started writing about Nessel’s case against him. Fortunately, Nick, received a copy of my blog and reached out to me last November. We met for the first time at Paesano’s in Ann Arbor. We spent most of the lunch getting to know each other. We talked very little about his case. I walked away from that lunch wondering how Nick could be so positive, when facing 9 counts of manslaughter. I also felt terrible about what he and his family were having to endure because of a politically motivated AG. It was clear to me that Nick Lyon cared about all people of our state, and he would always put the people of Michigan before any personal gain. After that meeting, his case became personal to me. Nothing was going to stop me from speaking up about the injustice of AG Nessel pursuing criminal charges against Nick and others. A big thank you to former DHHS Director, Jim Haveman for keeping me informed.
Today, eight years after the Flint Water Crisis, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that all charges against Nick be dropped, and that the use of a one-person grand jury, violated Governor Snyder and others right to due process, including a pre-trial hearing. I am overjoyed for Nick and his family. I am overjoyed that a terrible precedent has been avoided. Governor Snyder’s and the others’ cases have been returned to the lower courts. Snyder and the others will be filing motions very soon for their cases to be dropped. Hopefully, AG Nessel will put her political motivation aside and save the taxpayers’ money by dropping the charges.
After listening to and reading Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony today to the House Select Committee on the January 6, 2021, insurrection, I cannot fathom how anyone can still support former President Trump as the leader of the Republican party or as the Republican presidential candidate in 2024. Hutchinson is showing bravery and courage that McConnel and McCarthy appeared to show on the evening of January 6, 2021, when they were appalled at what happened. Unfortunately, whatever bravery and courage they had that night quickly disappeared within days. Cassidy’s courage is like the courage John Dean, White House Counsel showed during the Watergate investigation.
In my opinion her testimony on the behavior of Trump on January 6, 2021, is not surprising. Desperate people do desperate things. However, the implications of witness tampering, shows how desperate Trump and his team have become. Witness tampering is what happens on the “street”. It is not something that should happen in our government.
The surprise hearing today promised to be a blockbuster and it was. Cassidy Hutchinson is an American hero and a true patriot.
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Elections Matter. Pray for peace and tolerance. What are you doing to stop the violence?
Orchids of the Day: Cassidy Hutchinson for her testimony today and the Michigan Supreme Court for dropping the politically motivated charges against Nick Lyon.
Onion of the Day: The Russian government for their continued detaining of WNBA player Brittney Griner
Quote of the Day: “It was unpatriotic. It was un-American. We were watching the Capitol building get defaced over a lie,” Cassidy Hutchinson, January 6, 2021
Question of the Day: When the denials come contradicting Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony today, are you going to believe Hutchinson or the denials?
Video of the Day: In place of the Video of the Day, I am sharing Nick Lyon’s statement following today’s Michigan Supreme Court decision.
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| Larry C. Willey Charles E. Chamberlain, Jr. Britt M. Cobb Peter A. VanGelderen Julia A. Kelly Brian D. Kremers | June 28, 2022 | 300 Ottawa Avenue, N.W., Suite 810 Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503-2314 Telephone: (616) 458-2212 Facsimile: (616) 458-1158 www.willeychamberlain.com |
Statement of Nick Lyon
Today’s decision from our Supreme Court is a victory for public service in Michigan. State employees should not be prosecuted or demonized for just doing their job. It is a great injustice to allow politicians—acting in their own interests—to sacrifice government servants who are performing their roles in good faith under difficult circumstances.
I am grateful that the Court took the extraordinary step of finding time to hear our case, and I am particularly satisfied that the decision to dismiss all the charges against me was unanimous.
I want thank Michigan’s 47,000 state employees for their dedication to the people of Michigan, especially those within public health, whose professionalism is second to none. As a career state employee, who started as an entry level analyst in the attorney general’s office 32 years ago, it was a great honor to serve as director of both the Department of Community Health and the Department of Health and Human Services.
I want to thank my many supporters and friends from across all parts of the political landscape for their steadfast belief that the only just and right result was dismissal which has now occurred.
Most of all, I want to thank my wife and children, whose emotional support helped me through this, who continue to be a source of inspiration. Their resilience and love were unshakable throughout this nightmare of seven years. I owe them everything.