SEE BELOW FOR LIST OF ‘SECRET’ DONORS’ WHO SUPPORTED EFFORT TO THWART GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER DURING PANDEMIC
“NO ONE WILL KNOW” EMAILS DISCLOSE ‘DARK MONEY’ FUNDING BEHIND ‘UNLOCK MICHIGAN’
The COVID cacophony of 2020-2021 may have ended, but the discordant melody lingers on.
Republican state lawmakers opposed to the way Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unilaterally assumed executive powers to enforce her controversial lockdowns and criminalization of any defiance of her edicts, without input from the Legislature, fought back. They launched an initiative petition drive to repeal a 1945 law that Whitmer used to enforce her authority during the pandemic. The petition effort was successful, and the GOP-controlled Legislature dutifully approved it with Whitmer having no ability to veto it. The “Unlock Michigan” initiative, later upheld by the state Supreme Court, was bankrolled by Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility (MCFR), a nonprofit that did not have to publicly identify donors.
However, those who supported Whitmer’s emergency powers and who opposed the “Unlock Michigan” initiative, as well as campaign finance reformers (often they were one and the same), claimed that the MCFR scheme was a “dark money” effort that violated Michigan’s campaign finance laws. Two of these pro-Whitmer, anti-Legislature protagonists, retired attorney Bob LaBrant and former Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer, filed complaints with the state that have led to, so far, the convictions of two handmaidens in the “Unlock Michigan” enterprise — Heather Lombardini and Sandy Baxter.
Most recently, LaBrant filed another complaint with the Secretary of State on July 22 against Land & Co., a Wyoming-based company owned by Dan Hibma, the husband of former SoS Terri Lynn Land. The complaint alleges that a $25,000 contribution by Land & Co. to the “Unlock Michigan” effort was a clear violation of Michigan’s campaign finance law.
In open court, Assistant Attorney General Stine Grand and an A.G. investigator this past June 4 read to Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Wanda Stokes from a list of the names of 2020 contributors and the amount they funneled through MCFR, whose president and treasurer is Lombardini, who is a Lansing-based political consultant.
MCFR communicated to want-to-be-donors that, as a 501 C(4) organization, any funding given to them would not be publicly disclosed. Names are redacted on MCFR’s IRS Form 990 that are open for public inspection. MCFR and state Senator Mike Shirkey, in these recently released emails obtained under subpoena, assured donors to MCFR that those funds would be passed on to the ballot question committee, Unlock Michigan, which had been formed to conduct a petition drive to begin the repeal of the 1945 law granting Michigan’s governor emergency powers that were then used by Whitmer at the outbreak of the COVID pandemic five years ago.
Using MCFR to fund Unlock Michigan allowed contributors and their lobbyists to respond positively to a solicitation received from Shirkey, who was Senate Majority Leader at the time, without having that funding publicly disclosed. This gave MCFR’s more than 44 contributors what they perceived as necessary ‘cover’ and ‘plausible deniability’ to any inquiry from those close to the governor if they were giving financial support to Unlock Michigan.
Attorney General investigators obtained that list after receiving a subpoena by going to district court after Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson made a criminal referral to Attorney General Dana Nessel following MCFR’s refusal to enter into a conciliation agreement and pay a civil penalty to resolve a campaign finance complaint. Had MCFR signed the conciliation agreement, it would have been a complete bar to further civil or criminal liability — but MCFR declined to sign it.
The complaint was filed nearly five years ago by LaBrant, who at the time was a 74-year-old retiree living in Perry, after more than 40 years of direct involvement in state politics when he was a vice-president and legal counsel for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.
LaBrant had read a Detroit News article, under Craig Mauger’s byline, questioning who was the source of the “mystery money” given to Unlock Michigan by MCFR?
After reviewing Unlock Michigan’s July 25, 2020, campaign finance disclosure report that disclosed multiple contributions within days of each other totaling nearly $600,000 from MCFR, LaBrant filed his complaint with the SoS Bureau of Elections against MCFR.
That complaint was followed with a second one in May 2021 when LaBrant joined with Brewer, now an election lawyer, that expanded the complaint against MCFR to also include Mike Shirkey’s 501 C (4) Michigan! My Michigan! (MMM), which in a series of contributions in 2020 passed along another $550,000 to Unlock Michigan to bring the dark money total from MCFR and MMM to Unlock Michigan to $2.4 million.
MMM’s 2020 IRS Form 990 showed they had 34 contributors whose names were redacted.
Lombardini was in court on June 4 represented by her Miller Canfield attorney, Thomas Cranmer, at a hearing on his motion to quash the lawsuit (People v Lombardini) that currently awaits a trial date. Judge Stokes concluded the hearing saying she would rule on the motion to quash within a month. She denied that motion last week.
Lombardini was charged in February 2024 with the felonies of fraud and ‘uttering and publishing’ for allegedly filing a false affidavit back in 2020 that responded to LaBrant’s campaign finance complaint. In her affidavit, Lombardini denied that she, or any agents acting on behalf of MCFR, engaged in any fundraising whatsoever in 2020.
Lombardini’s September 9, 2020, affidavit said all their contributions to Unlock Michigan from MCFR during June, July into August 2020, had come from existing funds they had on-hand back on December 31, 2019. That stance was later documented to be false twice.
First, when Unlock Michigan filed their 2020 annual campaign finance report on January 31, 2021, it showed MCFR contributed a dozen times to Unlock Michigan in 2020. Those contributions, totaling $1.8 million, far exceeded the $715,000 MCFR had reported to the IRS it had on hand at the end of 2019.
Second, when MCFR’s 2020 IRS form 990, after being granted extensions, eventually was filed in November 2021, it disclosed that MCFR raised in 2020 $1.8 million, not the zero that Lombardini professed in her sworn affidavit.
Both these filings undercut MCFR’s claim they had not solicited contributions specifically for a ballot question committee. MCFR, by failing to register itself as a ballot question committee, allegedly violated Section 3(4) of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act, which requires the disclosure of its contributors.
Here are many of the 2020 “mystery” contributors to Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility disclosed in emails between Lombardini and Shirkey that documented checks collected or wire transfers received by MCFR that appear in the transcript of the September 8, 2024, Lombardini preliminary examination court hearing. This list of 52 donors to MCFR does not total up to $1.8 million, so that still leaves hundreds of thousands of dollars more from undisclosed MCFR contributors that are expected to be disclosed at trial, whenever that is set by Judge Stokes:
Richard DeVos, Jr. — $50,000
Dan DeVos — $50,000
Doug DeVos — $50,000
Susan Devos — $50,000
Bill Young — $180,000
Hayworth, Inc. — $100,000
Larry Hines, Hines Corporation —$20,000
Central Concrete — $3,300
Bay Aggregates — $3,300
Fisher Concrete — $3,400
John Butterfield — $1,000
Rich Baird — $1,000
Ron Geisman, Lomar Manufacturing — $1,000
Timothy Easterwood — $50,000
JC Huizenga — $25,000
Ed Levy — $30,000
Michigan Energy First (DTE funded) — $100,000
Health Alliance Plan (HAP is a Henry Ford Health affiliate) — $20,000
Switch, LLC — $50,000
Land and Company, Dan Hibma (Husband of former SOS Terri Land) — $25,000
Sean Cotton — $150,000
Jon Cotton — $150,000
Meijer — $ 20,000
Michigan Manufactured Housing Association — $3,000
John Kennedy, Autocam — $100,000
Tony Soave — $50,000
Caster Concepts, Bill Dobbins — $2,500
Norman Winterstein — $1,000
Vantage Plastics — $2,000
Howell Manufacturing — $10,000
Garber Management Group —$20,000
Ron Boji — $25,000
Michigan Auto Dealers Association — $20,000
Michigan Restaurant Association — $10,000
Blue Cross/ Blue Shield of Michigan — $10,000
Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers — $10,000
Churro’s — $5,000
II Gemini — $500
That’s actually only 39 donors, but the transcript also disclosed that 13 Republican state senators, already on record as supporting Unlock Michigan’s effort to block Whitmer, sent Lombardini checks totaling $72,100. That’s a total of 52.
Remember, a hefty percentage of the state’s population will hail these donors as heroes, especially today, even if many others won’t.
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Bill, you’ve done the state an excellent bipartisan service in revealing this flaunting of our election laws, as has Bob LaBrant
Nice article, Bill. Good to see you on last week’s Off The Record.
I don’t know most of the names, but I suspect a few of them own restaurants, and were really upset that the lockdowns seriously crippled their business models and plans.
Hmm, you write, ATTORNEY GENERAL INVESTIGATORS OBTAINED THAT LIST AFTER RECEIVING A SUBPOENA BY GOING TO DISTRICT COURT AFTER SECRETARY OF STATE JOCELYN BENSON MADE A CRIMINAL REFERRAL TO ATTORNEY GENERAL DANA NESSEL FOLLOWING MCFR’S REFUSAL TO ENTER INTO A CONCILIATION AGREEMENT AND PAY A CIVIL PENALTY TO RESOLVE A CAMPAIGN FINANCE COMPLAINT. HAD MCFR SIGNED THE CONCILIATION AGREEMENT, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A COMPLETE BAR TO FURTHER CIVIL OR CRIMINAL LIABILITY – BUT MCFR DECLINED TO SIGN IT.”
Oops. Either Shirkey and Company got some bad legal advice there, or they took an extra dose of stupid pills that morning and mistook nothin’ muffins for stud muffins for breakfast. Of course, it could be that the conciliation agreement may have been exceptionally onerous and making it untenable. Not sure how many of the donors regret their donation(s), but that is something we might probably see in the next election cycle and who they’ve taken off their Christmas card list.
The money from DTE might be an argument used by one of the petitioners you referenced in last week’s TBR to try and get signatures and use in ads should they get the requisite signature for ballot access. Though the PSC might ask questions about that donation at a PSC meeting if they realize their job is to regulate the utilities and not use their positions as a job interview format (editorial comment on my part).
Judge Stokes may have a crowded courtroom for this trial. Film at 11?
Oops. A typo on my part. And in my family name. YIKES! It should be Sullivan. Mea culpa.
Wow, but this is some big time investigative reporting by one of Michigan’s most respected senior citizens…impressive to say the least!
The irony here is that Bright Spark Strategies and its owner – Heather Lombardini – is getting more work than ever in her political consulting firm.
I saw Heather last at the Michigan GOP convention last February and she was doing great – as busy as ever.
The bottom line is that the Michigan Department of Attorney General has failed to charge anyone of import in what seems to be good investigative work done to uncover the sources of funding.
Bill, you perplex me.
What on earth possessed you to publish these names? I understand Caesar’s court system did their dastardly parts in divulging these names, that’s how they repay their handlers, but did they need to be reprinted?
Heroes? Yes, I consider all these folk’s heroes.
While New York state is plagued with the same MSM that Michigan has; and the people are plagued with the same uni-party that Michigan has. But they obviously have a better functioning anti-Caesar resistance apparatus because the whole world knows about the unenforceable crimes of ex-Gov. Mario Cuomo. So much so that Cuomo couldn’t get himself elected dog catcher in charge in NY City.
Same crimes which Gov. Gretchen Whitmer duplicated arguably on a per-person scale exceeding Cuomo. And she’s hailed as some kind of conquering hero, heaven forefend. No, you say? Tell it to the families of the seniors locked away in senior homes acting as Covid incubators. Tell it to the millions of the church faithful locked out of worship centers while bars and strip clubs partied on. Thank God for Pastor John MacArthur (bless his soul) who stood strong against evil authority in California to finally start bringing some sanity to the democratic coup that took our government away from us for 8 years.
Yes, that is why there is no difference between the democratic tyrannical empirical juggernaut and Rome’s empire so many thousands of years ago. It’s Caesar’s party reborn.
And Caesar will ensure these poor folk will pay the last mite . . . Luke 12:59 . . . backed by taxpayer misguided funding.
Please be careful with this info Bill . . . no public service here.
Your response could be summarized with the phrase “the ends justify the means.” That’s a lot of what’s behind the Trump strategy of making following the law optional.
Violating state campaign finance laws is not heroic. In this case it is actually cowardice: a lot of wealthy folks, corporations and industry associations unwilling to be identified with their political agenda.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel last month concluded the criminal case against longtime GOP fundraising specialist Sandy Baxter.
Mrs. Baxter, 65, of Caledonia, was offered a SWEET plea deal in which all felony charges were dismissed and she has pleaded to a misdemeanor offense of giving false information to a police officer with no jail time expected at sentencing.
Heather Lombardini has NOT been convicted of anything as of yet and it has taken Dana Nessel’s office almost ONE year to even obtain a preliminary exam bindover that is usually routine in most criminal cases within a few weeks.
No “big fish” in this scenario has been charged – and Dems are wondering why not?
Another prosecutorial embarrassment for Dana Nessel.
“Violating state campaign finance laws is not heroic.”
It is heroic when it challenges the evil done to Marlena Pavlos-Hackney and thousands of other small business owners across the Peoples’ Republic.
MAGA Dittos!! I’m still recovering from the completely unnecessary lock down that would make North Korean despot Kim Jong Un blush. And to think ‘that woman from Michigan’ has presidential ambitions?? How does president of Cuba sound??
This is a clear-cut reason to abolish forever all of these Stupid, Foolish, and Idiotic campaign finance laws. Political funds are like air and light; they WILL get to the desired destination come hell or high water. To think otherwise is spectacularly foolish. Ever hear of cash contributions? Besides, money is essentially free speech. We vote with our dollars daily. One Dollar = One Vote. This is why Walgreens beat Rite-Aid, Target beat K-Mart, and Amazon beat Bricks & Mortar.
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Much better to let the dollars go where they will. Restricting the free flow from fundings destination is a recipe for disaster. And it should come as no surprise that the names listed would be fully expected to contribute to a cause such as this. It’s a battle of Freedom v Dictatorship, and wHitler has been one of the most useless and corrupt clowns to live on Moores River Drive in decades.
Hey Grinch, looking forward to a complete accounting of the $20 million given to Fay Beydoun and her cronies. You won’t be able to hide behind a file folder when this debacle is unraveled. Wake up and smell the coffee—then see how it tastes after being perked on a $4,500 coffee maker.
Why can’t people just follow the damn law?
I’ll bet you inadvertently committed at least one felony and three misdemeanors before you left your house this morning.
The People’s Republic is infested with laws written by frustrated Karens determined to smother the population. And they wonder why Michigan’s population keeps fleeing to free states like Florida, Tennessee, and Texas.
The only effectual recommendation the Growing Michigan Together Council could have offered in our present legal environment is to erect a Berlin Wall around Michigan, complete with razor wire, minefields, and VoPos with shoot-to-kill orders.