- Activity date
- 2025-08-26
- Activity key
- committee vote:2299196
- Activity role
- yea
- Activity type
- committee vote
- Bill id
- Not recorded
- Canonical name
- Angela Rigas
- Chamber sitting id
- Not recorded
- Committee meeting id
- 203
- Confidence
- 1.0
- Evidence text
- Chair DeBoyer moved that the House Oversight Committee authorize the Chair of the committee to execute a subpoena to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. 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 has stated that both of the referenced investigations are closed. However, the Department has failed and/or refused to produce the subpoenaed documents, despite having had 5 weeks to gather and produce those documents. Furthermore, the Department has refused to identify a date on which the documents will be produced, stating only that the issues referenced in the Oversight Committee’s subpoenas aren’t very important. Meanwhile, the Chief Legal Counsel for the Department of Attorney General refuses to even take a telephone call from the House General Counsel to discuss the Department’s intentions with regard to the subpoenas. It appears that the Department of Attorney General is repeatedly stonewalling the Michigan House of Representatives as its Oversight Committee seeks to investigate these important issues. 3. The party to be subpoenaed is Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. 4. The subpoena is for the witness to appear and testify before this committee on Tuesday, September 16, 2025. The subject of the testimony will include inquiry into why the Department of Attorney General is failing and/or refusing to comply with the subpoenas previously issued by this Committee. In addition, the subpoena will direct Attorney General Nessel to produce the documents listed on the two subpoenas previously sent to the Department of Attorney General. The motion prevailed 17-0-0: FAVORABLE ROLL CALL Yeas: Reps. DeBoyer, Bierlein, Meerman, Paquette, Carra, Bruck, Jaime Greene, Rigas, Schriver, Woolford, Miller, Pohutsky, Conlin, MacDonell, Mentzer, Tsernoglou and Wegela. Nays: None. Pass: None. The Chair laid before the committee presentations from Oversight Subcommittee Chairs. Representative Meerman, Chair of the Oversight Subcommittee on the Child Welfare System, gave a presentation on the work of the Subcommittee. Questions and discussion followed. Representative Rigas, Chair of the Oversight Subcommittee on Weaponization of State Government, gave a presentation on the work of the Subcommittee. Representative Woolford, Chair of the Oversight Subcommittee on State and Local Public Assistance Programs, gave a presentation on the work of the Subcommittee. Questions and discussion followed. Representative Bierlein, Chair of the Oversight Subcommittee on Public Health and Food Security, gave a presentation on the work of the Subcommittee. Questions and discussion followed. Representative Bruck, Chair of the Oversight Subcommittee on Homeland Security and Foreign Influence, gave a presentation on the work of the Subcommittee. Questions and discussion followed. Representative Carra, Chair of the Oversight Subcommittee on Corporate Subsidies and State Investments, gave a presentation on the work of the Subcommittee. Questions and discussion followed. There being no further business before the committee, Chair DeBoyer adjourned the meeting at 10:37 AM. Representative Jay DeBoyer, Chair Edward Sleeper Committee Clerk esleeper@house.mi.gov
- Roll call id
- Not recorded
- Source kind
- committee member vote