Federal Criminal Investigation Into Flint Water Snafu Well Underway

Flint residents showing Rick Snyder their tap water (image courtesy Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)
Flint residents showing Rick Snyder their tap water (image courtesy Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)

The other shoe may have dropped in the contamination of Flint, Michigan’s drinking water. Late Tuesday afternoon, federal prosecutors in Detroit announced that they are mounting a criminal investigation into this tragedy.

Gina Balaya, a spokeswoman for the U. S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, revealed that “a multi-agency investigation team” is probing the water crisis. The cooperating agencies include the Detroit office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U. S. Postal Inspection Service, and two divisions of the EPA–the Office of Inspector General and Criminal Investigation Division. She made the disclosure when asked if there should be any cause for concern about several controversies about the EPA’s handling of the crisis. Notably, an EPA regional director has been forced to resign.

It turns out that the investigation has been underway for the better part of a month. On January 5, the U. S. Attorney’s office said it was helping the EPA in the investigation, but didn’t let on about whether it was either a civil or criminal matter. However, we already knew that this tragedy was a criminal act. Last week, I told you that state workers based in Flint got access to purified water a full ten months before Governor Rick Snyder acknowledged that the water from the Flint River was contaminated. The obvious conclusion–someone knew, or had reason to know, that the water was unsafe even as officials were publicly telling concerned residents that it was safe.

Apparently the man who made the decision to stop buying water from Detroit, then-emergency manager Darnell Earley, knew this bomb was about to explode. Earlier on Tuesday, Earley indicated that he was not going to testify at a U. S. House hearing into the crisis. Earley, who is now the emergency manager for Detroit Public Schools, is leaving that post on February 19. For now, anyway, the governor’s office maintains this has nothing to do with the decision not to testify. In case you missed it, Earley’s predecessor as Flint emergency manager opted not to switch Flint’s water source to the Flint River. However, after someone in the governor’s office overruled that decision, Earley decided to make the switch after all.

If I were Earley, or anyone else in the governor’s office at the time this decision was made, I would have a lawyer on speed dial. The area U. S. Attorney, Barbara McQuade, has already shown that she isn’t at all afraid to go after big tigers. McQuade, for those who don’t know, is the woman who helped blow the lid on Farid Fata, a Detroit-area cancer specialist who masterminded one of the largest health care frauds in history. He bullied 550 people into getting chemotherapy regimens they didn’t need and stuck Medicare and private insurance with $34.7 million in fraudulent claims. His spree was only exposed when one of his patients broke her leg, and another doctor at his practice discovered she didn’t have cancer.

On paper, Fata had the resources to drag this case out for years. However, McQuade’s investigation uncovered enough evidence to put Fata at risk for deportation had he gone to trial. He pleaded guilty in 2014, but McQuade was in no mood for mercy. After hearing about how many of Fata’s patients suffered as a result of his perfidy, McQuade sought to have him sentenced to 175 years in prison, the maximum possible penalty. He ultimately got 45 years–at his age, a life sentence. However, it was well deserved for what McQuade called “the most serious fraud case in the history of the country.”

Considering that the stench from this could potentially reach all the way to Snyder himself, I had hoped that some federal or state prosecutor would recognize this for the horrible crime this potentially was and take this on. We should be glad that McQuade stepped up on this one. Hopefully this will be the first step in getting justice for the people of Flint.

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.