NEW YORK POST – A prosecutor in Michigan suggested that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer could face criminal charges over her handling of deaths at nursing homes in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic as the state attorney general launched a probe into the fatalities.
The news comes as Republicans in the Michigan legislature said they will hold hearings into a $155,000 confidential separation agreement made to former Health Department director Robert Gordon amid accusations that it may be a “hush payment.”
Macomb County prosecutor Peter Lucido said he’s unable to get information about the deaths at nursing homes and long-term care facilities because of strict laws that shield patients’ health care information.
Lucido told ABC 7 WXYZ on Monday:
“If we find there’s been willful neglect of office, if we find there’s been reckless endangerment of a person’s life by bringing them in, then we would move forward with charges against the Governor.
“Of course, we would. Nobody’s above the law in this state.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel will examine the state coronavirus nursing home policies, according to ClickonDetroit.com.
Whitmer’s office blasted Lucido in a statement to WXYZ, calling his comments “shameful political attacks based in neither fact or reality.”
The statement also said Lucido’s Republican colleagues confirmed they “have not seen any evidence or testimony that says that a nursing home was forced to take someone against their will.”
Her office said the state “prioritized testing” of nursing home staff and residents “to save lives.”
The statement said:
“Early in the pandemic, the state acted swiftly to create a network of regional hubs with isolation units and adequate PPE to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within a facility. In addition, we have offered 100 percent of nursing home residents priority access to the vaccine.” …
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