A June court filing has revealed a 2021 email from Michigan Energy Department consultant Andy Leavitt to Kara Cook, a top advisor to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, expressing "major red flags" about the administration's response to a south Michigan water crisis was written in Greek.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, the coded message would have been hidden from any public records request that contained the word "Flint" or "red flags" had it not been for the class action suit brought on behalf of Benton Harbor, Michigan, residents alleging the government lied to residents "despite having clear information that there were increasing levels of lead in Benton Harbor’s municipal water."
The court filing in the class action suit against Whitmer’s government said the use of Greek letters instead of English ones was a move that "appears to be calculated to conceal statements."
The message decoded read, "Hot off the presses. As I warned there are some major red flags. It seems like we are back at square one having not learned from Flint."
"I haven't seen it before, but it doesn't surprise me," a veteran of public records research told the outlet about the decoded email. "Agencies play games to fight requests all the time. If they're doing it here, where else are they doing it?"
Whitmer's office is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) despite previously vowing to revise the policy and be more transparent. During her 2018 campaign, the Michigan governor said, "Michiganders should know when and what their governor is working on."
The Flint water crisis referenced in the email began in 2014 after the city changed its supply from the Detroit River to the Flint River and it was later discovered to have high amounts of lead after residents complained about foul-smelling, discolored, and off-tasting water which caused skin rashes, hair loss, and itchy skin in some residents. The state paid a partial settlement of $626.25 million for more than 85,000 residents at the end of 2021.
Whitmer defeated Republican candidate Tudor Dixon in the 2022 Michigan governor's election and the Democrat party took control of both chambers of the State legislature. She was notorious for being one of the strictest governors on COVID lockdowns in 2020 while being caught violating her own measures on multiple occasions.
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