LANSING, Mich. (WWJ) -- Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and several city aides will not be facing criminal charges after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Wednesday her office has completed its investigation.
Nessel said the nearly two-year investigation into the City of Detroit and its involvement with the Make Your Date Detroit program -- as well as the separate investigation into Unlock Michigan and petition circulators -- did not find anyone violated any criminal statutes.
The Make Your Date Detroit investigation was opened in July 2019 following the receipt of letters by the department from two City of Detroit employees.
Make Your Date is affiliated with Wayne State University, a free maternal health program designed to prevent pre-term births for at-risk mothers in the city.
Allegations surfaced in 2019 claiming city employees deleted emails to hide a personal relationship between Mayor Mike Duggan and the director of the non-profit, Dr. Sonia Hassan.
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Over the nearly two-year investigation, the Department of Attorney General says it interviewed and re-interviewd 21 witnesses, executed and reviewed four search warrants, reviewed more than 1,500 pages of financial documents from the Detroit Health Department, Southeast Michigan Health Association and Wayne State University. Officials also reviewed more than one million documents seized with the assistance of Michigan State Police from the City of Detroit’s IT department.
Nessel’s office says after a thorough investigation, they decided against any criminal charges.
“I would like to note that the absence of adequate evidence to charge individuals with crimes does not absolve the parties of their ethical obligation to meet the expectations of public trust inherent to their roles as employees and officials of the City of Detroit,” Nessel said in a press release. “I believe there is ample opportunity to improve upon the operations of City government, especially with regard to transparency and accountability to the residents of Detroit.”
Multiple reports in 2018 and 2019 had said Alexis Wiley, then chief of staff to the mayor, ordered the destruction of emails by employees regarding their communications related to fundraising activities on behalf of the Make Your Date Detroit program. The investigation by the AG’s office ultimately focused on two conversations between Wiley and the Office of Development and Grants Ryan Friedrichs, that occurred in December 2018 and February 2019 and the deletion of emails in December 2018 and February 2019.
“The Department evaluated these instances for potential violations of FOIA, a civil offense. Criminal statutes that were considered as part of the investigation include: bribery of a public official, embezzlement by a public official, destruction of public records, and destruction of evidence in future proceedings,” a press release from Nessel’s office said.
“After a careful review of the evidence and the law that applies to this case, no criminal charge could be sustained against any City of Detroit employee.”
Nessel says a second allegation involving the misappropriation of funds regarding a federally funded program known as Motor City Match was investigated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, for which charges were not initiated by the United States Attorney’s Office.
In addition to the Duggan investigation, Nessel’s office also announced no charges would be filed after an investigation into the practices of paid petition circulators for Unlock Michigan in September 2020.
That investigation had been prompted by a request from attorney John Pirich that highlighted media reports suggesting evidence of irregularities in the way the petition circulators obtained signatures.
Nessel’s office says the investigation “found clear evidence of misrepresentations by petition circulators and questionable training by persons who recruited and supervised paid circulators,” but those incidents were not in violation of any criminal statute.
“A well-informed public is essential to the health of our democracy, and as such, I hope the review of the circumstances in the Unlock Michigan case serves as a reminder to residents to be aware of the questionable practices utilized by those presenting themselves as agents of the democratic process,” Nessel said in a statement. “It is clear from this investigation that some paid circulators may resort to unethical practices in order to fulfill the demands of their clients.”
Unlock Michigan had hired National Petition Management to lead the signature gathering process. That company in turn hired two companies -- In the Field and Let the Voters Decide. Nessel’s office says these two companies were tasked with circulating petitions on the east side and west side of the state, respectively.