Gov. Snyder just ran out of 'relentless positive action' in Flint water crisis probe

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click to enlarge Gov. Snyder just ran out of 'relentless positive action' in Flint water crisis probe
Michigan Municipal League, Flickr

As governor, Rick Snyder ran on what he called "relentless positive action," but what others might just call putting a cheerful face on overseeing his administration's biggest atrocity — the Flint water crisis. But now that his role as governor is over and the attorney general's office is ramping up its probe into Flint, it seems that Snyder's relentless positive action tank is running low.

He tweeted as much Tuesday night following news that the AG's office "seized" his state-owned cellphone as part of the probe, saying he was "dialing back the RPA a bit today" in response to the "sloppy and misleading" reports.


Snyder says there was no "seizing" — he voluntarily handed over his phone to the office on his way out the door. In reality, the AG's office chose to execute search warrants to obtain Snyder's phone from its own storage — along with those of 66 other top aides and government employees — as part of the investigation. (Search warrants offer prosecutors more protection.)

So it seems to be an issue of semantics here: "Seize" is perhaps too sensational of a word. Then again, we're talking about the accidental poisoning of an American city with lead here.

Kelly Rossman-McKinney, a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, had this to say: "Mr. Snyder knows darn well why search warrants are being executed. It's the pursuit of justice for the people of Flint, pure and simple."

According to the AP, the investigation into Snyder alone has produced more than 3,000 documents.

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About The Author

Lee DeVito

Leyland "Lee" DeVito grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, where he read Metro Times religiously due to teenaged-induced boredom. He became a contributing writer for Metro Times in 2009, and Editor in Chief in 2016. In addition to writing, he also supplies occasional illustrations. His writing has been published...
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