Michigan’s embattled – and possibly criminally liable – Governor Rick Snyder will finally make an appearance in front of Congress to answer questions about the Flint water crisis – a scandal he helped cause – but not under subpoena. Instead, he called to ask if he could appear. It was only after more than two weeks passed that he asked, and only after he’d refused prior invitations to testify to Congress regarding his role in the Flint, Michigan, toxic water crisis – the most recent just days before.
Who’s Responsible For The Flint Water Crisis?
Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Chairperson of the Government Oversight Committee refused to issue a subpoena to the Gov. Snyder during its first session of investigations into the Flint water crisis, but did subpoena Michigan’s emergency manager, Jerry Ambrose, who flat out refused the invite himself.
Interestingly, the Committee promised to “hunt him down,” referring to Ambrose, according to the New Civil Rights Movement – but they couldn’t be bothered to invite Gov. Snyder.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), announced a second session to hear from Ambrose and Michigan’s former emergency manager, Darnell Earley, as well as Miguel Del Toral, an Environmental Protection Agency official who brought many of the water quality problems to the forefront, and Virginia Tech researcher, Marc Edwards, who did the testing on some of the residents’ water, among other state and EPA officials.
Flint water rate questions abound on eve of switch away from Detroit and to river http://t.co/aSsBWA9uqx
— The Flint Journal (@flintjournal) April 18, 2014
Notably absent from the list of the second session is Gov. Snyder – again. Congressional Democrats “on and off the Committee” were fuming the Chairperson once again declined not to invite him, considering it was Gov. Snyder’s policies and decisions that helped poison Flint’s water with lead. To help make headway, the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee extended an invite to the governor to appear before them.
Not Gov. Snyder, Apparently
As is his usual modus operandi, Gov. Snyder refused, and the Democrats’ committee couldn’t compel him to attend because it didn’t have the same subpoena power the Oversight committee has.
The governor has either had a change of heart, or his Public Relations people finally got his script right. This idea Gov. Snyder was waiting for his PR people to hand him a script is bolstered by the fact that the governor said he’d only testify to a very narrow set of topical questions, even now. In fact, according to the governor’s office, Gov. Snyder will appear in front of Congress to,
“Address mistakes made by water quality experts that led to the current crisis of high levels of lead found in Flint residents’ tap water.”
No, see, what led to the Flint water crisis was Gov. Snyder’s decisions. Answering questions about water experts isn’t enough. Representative Elijah Cummings (D-Ma.), the ranking Oversight Committee Democrat, agrees. Rep. Cummings said, according to the Detroit Free Press, that
“The reality is that he is finally bowing to mounting public pressure to answer questions before Congress about the central and critical role his administration played in this man-made disaster.”
Gov. Snyder overrode the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s decision to not use the Flint River for quality issues lead to the current situation, as did the governor’s refusal to spend a mere $100 a day for three months to coat the pipes, a decision that’s estimated to cost at least $1.5 billion to “make things right.”
His Apologies…
Although Gov. Snyder has issued an apology to Flint residents during his January 2016 State of the State address, according to Fortune, issued a number of statements regarding the egregiousness of the situation, and promises to fix the problem. Flint residents remain skeptical.
Maybe the governor declined the Democrats’ invite believing he’d have an easy time in front of a Republican-run committee. No matter why he waited, Flint residents deserve to hear Gov. Snyder address his own failings on the issue. If Rep. Chaffetz is as hard on the governor as he was on Planned Parenthood President, Cecile Richards, the public might just get an answer.
On the other hand, if Governor Snyder walks into the Committee with script in hand, and Rep. Chaffetz or other committee members press him on topics he hasn’t agreed to talk on, he’ll likely plead the fifth. Or, as Fortune points out, anything the governor says now could be moot if he faces charges or resigns.
Featured Image: Screenshot via MLive
