LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), the sidekick of Governor Gretchen Whitmer and her funding of megasites with taxpayer money, is facing a lawsuit for repeatedly refusing to release Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents to Michigan Rising Action (MRA).
In June, MRA inquired whether MEDC ever made contact with a “Chinese-based lidar maker Hesai Technology, a blacklisted military spyware company, Hesai Group, which the U.S. has labeled a security concern,” according to the complaint. MRA sent payment, but a month later, MEDC still had not responded. A message sent Aug. 29 from MEDC said they are “currently processing” the request and claimed “we are making steady progress.” In addition, MEDC said they are “actively” working on the documents but do not have an “estimated completion date.”
Abby Mitch, executive director of Michigan Rising Action, said MEDC’s conduct clearly violates Michigan’s transparency laws. “This is a willful effort to conceal from public inspection activities and discussions the MEDC is having that the public may not like,” Mitch said. “This is a fair concern, as MEDC’s two flagship investments – Gotion and Ford CATL – have received nationwide public backlash.”
She continued, “It should not take the threat of a lawsuit to get MEDC to follow the law.”
According to Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act handbook, “the public body must respond to a request for a public record within five business days after receiving the request, or within 15 business days if the statutorily permitted 10-business day extension is taken.”
Attorneys with the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation are working with MRA on the complaint Steve Delie, director of transparency and open government at the Mackinac Center called the MEDC’s delay “deeply troubling.”
Delie argued, “Public records belong to the public. They should be readily accessible in a reasonable time period and at a reasonable cost.” Delie went on to say, “The delays our client encountered make it clear that the MEDC is falling short of that standard.”
Gov. Whitmer’s partnership with MEDC to use taxpayer dollars as incentives for megasites has sparked massive backlash in those communities. Gotion, the proposed electric vehicle battery plant in Big Rapids, continues to plow ahead with its project despite its admitted ties to communist China and continuous pushback from the community.
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The Ford CATL project in Marshall is in the same boat, along with yet-to-be determined megasites in both Clinton and Genesee Counties.
Last week, U.S. Senate candidate and current Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D) flip-flopped on her Gotion position after previously praising the project and signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Michigan Rep. Curtis Hertel, a Democrat who is running for Slotkin’s Congressional seat, also signed an NDA on the Gotion deal.
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