(WWJ) FBI agents Wednesday morning executed search warrants at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, as well as at the homes of Detroit City Council members Scott Benson and Janae Ayers.
Reporting from the scene, WWJ's Charlie Langton shared video showing federal agents on the 13th floor of the building, carrying out boxes of documents.
FBI Special Agent Tim Waters with the Detroit Field Office said the operation is part of a federal corruption investigation ongoing in the city.
"Why are we doing these search warrants? Because the citizens of Detroit have a right to a city government that is free from corruption, alright?" said Waters.
He added, however, that no one is being charged at this time.
"Simply what we're doing today is collection evidence, which will be presented to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Michigan," Waters said, in brief remarks to WWJ's Jon Hewett and other reporters.
Waters said the FBI takes all allegations of public corruption "exceptional seriously," and that the FBI needs the public's in investigating these matters.
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Late last month, Detroit Councilman Andre Spivey was charged with conspiracy to commit bribery. Investigators claim Spivey took more than $35,000 from people connected to an industry under review by the council.
Earlier this year, now-former Councilman Gabe Leland was indicted on federal bribery charges, but those charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal in which Leland pled guilty to state charges of misconduct in office.
However, corrpution charges against Benson, Ayers, or anyone else are not expected anytime soon... if at all.
"The feds have a history of taking a lot of time in investigating any type of criminal activity," said Langton, who doubles as a legal analyst for WWJ. "I would not just jump in (and assume) that these two city council members are going to automatically be charged with anything."
"In fact, just the opposite. Just because the feds are investigating, executing search warrants.... we don't know the subject matter of the search warrants, and so I would not hold anyone's breath at this point in time that these two will be charged," Langton added.
"Now, would I like the FBI to be at my house, looking at stuff and executing search warrants? No. It's probably not a good thing. So, we'll just have to see how this all plays out."
Anyone with information about public corruption in Detroit, or anywhere in Michigan is urged to call the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALLFBI (225-5324). You can also submit tips online at www.fbi.gov/tips.
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