Complaint: Lucido's previous attacks on Whitmer make impartial investigation impossible
A
The complaint asks the
"As a legislator and candidate for county prosecutor,
"Now as elected prosecutor he continues to insinuate and allege that
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The attorneys who filed the complaint are:
Painter told the
He also said he has no connection with Whitmer, has never met the governor or anyone who works for her.
"Keeping prosecutions independent of partisan politics is absolutely critical," Painter said.
Lucido previously served as a Republican state senator and spoke out frequently against the governor. Now as
In the 17-page complaint, the attorneys outline a series of state and local rules for attorneys that Lucido may have violated. That includes having a conflict of interest and making statements that could prejudice an eventual prosecution.
They point to at least eight separate occasions in the last year where Lucido — either as a senator or as prosecutor — has implied or said Whitmer is responsible for COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes.
That includes the statement given in an interview with LeDuff, where Lucido said, "what our governor has done is literally cold-blooded killed the most injured parties that are out there. The ones that have compromised immune systems — cold-blooded.”
"His words and actions suggest that he seeks to vindicate his prior claims, which would be counter to the black letter and spirit of rules of professional conduct that forbid attorneys from client representations where they have a conflict of interest, and that hold prosecutors to even higher standards."
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A spokeswoman for Lucido did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last week on Twitter, Lucido defended his actions on the nursing home investigation. In the same statement, he also denied recent allegations by
In 2020, an Advance reporter, state Sen.
As a senator, Lucido and other state
Lucido, other lawmakers and the
However, at no point has anyone presented evidence of a single case where an otherwise healthy resident died after contracting COVID-19 from another patient a nursing home was forced to take. Data collected by the state and nursing homes at the start of the pandemic was haphazard, though. And critics, including Lucido and LeDuff, argue the state is withholding key records and data that may provide more details about nursing home deaths.
Despite the language in the governor's executive order, Whitmer's office argues no nursing homes were ever forced to take COVID-19 patients.
And in the fall, Lucido sponsored a bill eventually enacted into law that allowed nursing homes to continue taking in COVID-19 positive patients while beefing up staffing and infection control standards.
More: Whitmer: Nursing homes can reopen to visitors under new public health order
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During a recent press conference, Lucido said, "at this moment, no one, not any one, can establish beyond a reasonable doubt cause and effect concerning the many legal issues before me and continuously being presented to me." But he also reiterated previous comments about possible charges the governor could face as a result of the investigation.
"A reasonable observer may find it hard to distinguish between Mr. Lucido’s present conduct as an elected prosecutor and his prior statements as a political candidate and as a state senator on this matter, raising the concern that he may be subordinating the county’s interests to his own partisan political interests," the complaint states.
"This is not a case of a prosecutor promising to be 'tough on crime' and then enforcing laws aggressively in office;
Generally, any review from the commission would remain private unless it is decided someone committed professional misconduct. In that case, the commission would file a formal complaint with the
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