If you’re in the mood for a cobbled-together, bad-talking-point-riddled bit of rank hypocrisy, you should check out Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette’s column in the Detroit News today.
Schuette says state elected officials should be compelled to disclose “personal financial information” just like those at the federal level and then follows up by saying the same of tax returns.
Yet Schuette, an ardent Trump supporter, has refused to call for Trump to release his tax returns.
In a recent response to that very fact, Schuette dodged responsibility, saying, “My focus is on the state of Michigan.” That’s not true, though, because Schuette has met with Trump in D.C. and voiced support for his backward policies, waged crusades against national issues like water and air protections, and has headed up the Republican Attorneys General Association.
It’s hypocritical to give a call (albeit a weak one) for more transparency from statewide elected officials and not hold the president of the United States to the same basic standard of honesty and integrity.
Moving further into Schuette’s column, he brings up the Freedom of Information Act, and says it’s “good news” that legislation has been introduced to improve Michigan’s FOIA laws by opening the legislature and the governor’s office to policy.
But what Schuette fails to mention is that he is currently being sued by Progress Michigan in court over his use of private emails for public business and his refusal to disclose those emails to the public through FOIA. Progress Michigan found nearly two dozen examples of Schuette and his top staff misusing emails for state business. That’s on top of prior revelations that his office used the “fee approach” to discourage citizens from filing records requests by levying exorbitant fees.
Bill Schuette is not interested in real reforms that improve accountability and transparency in Michigan. He’s only interested in furthering his own political career. Don’t buy his lip service. Schuette is in it for himself and his wealthy campaign contributors like the DeVos family.