HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT
REP. JAY DEBOYER
CHAIR
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
9:00 AM
Room 352, State Capitol
Building
The House Committee on Oversight was called to order by Chair DeBoyer.
The Chair requested attendance to be called:
Present: Reps. DeBoyer, Bierlein, Meerman, Paquette, Carra, Bruck, Rigas, Schriver,
Woolford, St. Germaine, Miller, Pohutsky, Conlin, MacDonell, Mentzer, Tsernoglou and
Wegela.
Absent: Rep. Jaime Greene.
Excused: Rep. Jaime Greene.
Due to Representative Jaime Greene being absent, the Chair elevated Representative St.
Germaine.
Representative Mentzer moved to adopt the meeting minutes from November 04, 2025. There
being no objection, the motion prevailed with unanimous consent.
Representative Rigas moved that the House Oversight Committee authorize the Chair of the
committee to execute a subpoena to Ms. LaResha Thornton.
Members of this committee have been investigating several issues involving the Michigan
Department of Corrections. The House Oversight Committee and, more broadly, the House of
Representatives, has a clear legislative purpose in examining the conditions at MDOC facilities.
Depending on the findings of such an investigation, members of the House may desire to sponsor
legislation to address the treatment of individuals in MDOC custody.
Ms. Thornton is a former employee of the MDOC, and she has agreed to testify before this
Committee. However, she has asked to be subpoenaed by this body.
The party to be subpoenaed is Ms. LaResha Thornton, to appear and testify before the
House Oversight Committee.
The motion prevailed 16-0-0:
FAVORABLE ROLL CALL
Yeas: Reps. DeBoyer, Bierlein, Meerman, Paquette, Carra, Bruck, Rigas, Woolford, St.
Germaine, Miller, Pohutsky, Conlin, MacDonell, Mentzer, Tsernoglou and Wegela.
Nays: None.
Pass: None.
The Chair laid before the committee a report on subpoenaed documents from the Office of the
Attorney General.
Catherine Edwards, Kasey Markarian, and Omar Shajrah, representing the Michigan House Legal
Counsel, provided a report on the subpoenaed documents from the Office of the Attorney General.
Questions and discussion followed.
Chair DeBoyer moved that the House Oversight Committee authorize the Chair of the
committee to execute a subpoena to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
In accordance with the Oversight Committee’s Special Rules, I state the following in
support of the motion:
1. The information being sought is necessary to the work of the Committee because:
The two previous subpoenas from this Committee to the Department of Attorney General
involved criminal investigations that presented issues regarding conflicts of interest between the
Department of Attorney General and the suspects of the criminal referral and criminal
investigation. The Michigan House of Representatives has an interest in obtaining documents
regarding these closed investigations, as the House examines and debates whether to enact
legislation addressing how conflicts of interest such as this should be regulated by statute.
Furthermore, the House has the ability to impeach civil officers of the State of Michigan,
where corrupt conduct in office occurs. In order to faithfully exercise its responsibilities in this
regard, the House is entitled to investigate the Department of Attorney General’s decision to
decline issuing criminal charges in these matters, which involved either a family member of the
Attorney General, or a high-ranking officer of a major political party of this state.
2. Previous efforts made to obtain the information being sought are as follows:
To pursue this committee’s investigation into the conduct of the Attorney General, the
committee’s investigators have taken a deep dive into the cases that the Attorney General’s office
was supposed to investigate. It has come to the committee’s attention that the Department of
Health and Human Services is in possession of records pertinent to this committee’s investigation
of the Attorney General. On November 13, 2025, the House Deputy General Counsel requested
those records from DHHS. On November 14, 2025, the DHHS’s legislative liaison replied that the
Legislature was required to file a FOIA request in order to obtain any documents sought from
DHHS.
On November 15, 2025, the Deputy General Counsel forwarded the request and the initial
DHHS response to the Division Director of the Operations and Assistance Legal Division of
DHHS, in the Bureau of Legal Affairs. On November 22, 2025, the Chief Operating Officer of the
DHHS replied, and stated that a written request for documents from the House Deputy General
Counsel did not count as a written request from the legislature, and that the documents could not be
disclosed, unless DHHS receives either a FOIA request or a subpoena from the House of
Representatives. To date, no documents have been disclosed by DHHS to the House of
Representatives or the House Oversight Committee.
3. The party to be subpoenaed is Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and
the record keeper for the Adult Protective Services division.
4. The subpoena will be for all documents in the possession of Adult Protective Services
related to a deceased individual, Rosalene Burd, and the subpoena will specify that those
documents are to be provided without redaction.
The motion prevailed 15-1-1:
FAVORABLE ROLL CALL
Yeas: Reps. DeBoyer, Bierlein, Meerman, Paquette, Carra, Bruck, Rigas, Schriver, Woolford,
St. Germaine, Miller, Pohutsky, Conlin, Mentzer and Wegela.
Nays: Rep. Tsernoglou.
Pass: Rep. MacDonell.
At 11:02 AM, the Chair laid the committee at ease.
At 11:16 AM, the Chair called the committee back to order.
The Chair returned to the report on the subpoenaed documents from the Office of the Attorney
General presented by Catherine Edwards, Kasey Markarian, and Omar Shajrah, representing the
Michigan House Legal Counsel. Questions and discussion followed.
Representative Woolford moved that the House Committee on Oversight recommend to the House
of Representatives that the Attorney General Dana Nessel be held in contempt of the legislature.
The motion prevailed 10-6-0:
FAVORABLE ROLL CALL
Yeas: Reps. DeBoyer, Bierlein, Meerman, Paquette, Carra, Bruck, Rigas, Schriver, Woolford
and St. Germaine.
Nays: Reps. Pohutsky, Conlin, MacDonell, Mentzer, Tsernoglou and Wegela.
Pass: None.
Chair DeBoyer moved that the House Oversight Committee authorize the Chair of the
committee to execute a subpoena to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and the Department
of the Attorney General.
The subpoenas would require Attorney General Nessel to produce unredacted documents
that were the subject of two previous subpoenas from this Committee to the Department of
Attorney General.
In accordance with the Oversight Committee’s Special Rules, I state the following in
support of the motion:
1. The information being sought is necessary to the work of the Committee because:
The two previous subpoenas from this Committee to the Department of Attorney General
involved criminal investigations that presented issues regarding conflicts of interest between the
Department of Attorney General and the suspects of the criminal referral and criminal
investigation. The Michigan House of Representatives has an interest in obtaining documents
regarding these closed investigations, as the House examines and debates whether to enact
legislation addressing how conflicts of interest such as this should be regulated by statutory law.
Furthermore, the House has the ability to impeach civil officers of the State of Michigan,
where corrupt conduct in office occurs. In order to faithfully exercise its responsibilities in this
regard, the House is entitled to investigate the Department of Attorney General’s decision to
decline issuing criminal charges in these matters, which involved either a family member of the
Attorney General, or a high-ranking officer of a major political party of this state.
2. Previous efforts made to obtain the information being sought are as follows:
On July 22, 2025, this Committee voted 15-0 to authorize a document subpoena to the
Department of Attorney General for documents regarding a criminal referral from the Michigan
Department of State for an alleged violation of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act by an
organization called Bipartisan Solutions, and any investigation into potential criminal activity
regarding that referral.
Also, on July 22, 2025, this Committee voted 17-0 to authorize a document subpoena to the
Department of Attorney General for documents regarding an investigation into potential criminal
activity by an individual named Traci Kornak.
These two subpoenas required the production of documents by August 5, 2025. The
Department of Attorney General provided documents to the House Oversight Committee on or
about September 11, 2025. However, as you have seen from today’s presentation, those
documents were redacted. Despite the communications to my office from the Attorney General’s
staff claiming that the Attorney General had no involvement in these two cases, we saw today
emails sent by Dana Nessel personally, including one email that is completely redacted.
3. The parties to be subpoenaed are and the Department of Attorney General and Michigan
Attorney General Dana Nessel.
4. The subpoenas will direct that the Attorney General Nessel produce the documents listed
on the two subpoenas previously sent by this Committee to the Department of Attorney
General, and to do so without redaction.
The motion prevailed 14-1-1:
FAVORABLE ROLL CALL
Yeas: Reps. DeBoyer, Bierlein, Meerman, Paquette, Carra, Bruck, Rigas, Schriver, Woolford,
St. Germaine, Pohutsky, Conlin, Mentzer and Wegela.
Nays: Rep. Tsernoglou.
Pass: Rep. MacDonell.
The following people submitted a card wishing to speak, but due to the time constraints were
unable to speak:
Samantha Steffey.
Chris Dardzinski.
Representative Pohutsky moved to excuse Representative Jaime Greene from the meeting. There
being no objection the motion prevailed by unanimous consent.
There being no further business before the committee, Chair DeBoyer adjourned the meeting at
11:58 AM.
Representative Jay DeBoyer, Chair
Edward Sleeper
Committee Clerk
esleeper@house.mi.gov