Is the Flint City Hall break-in the Michigan version of “Watergate”???
Last December, a Flint government staffer returned from the Christmas break and discovered that an office in City Hall had been broken into. So far as anyone knows, only a television was stolen. However, that same office was used to store documents related to Flint’s water system and Flint’s new mayor doesn’t know if any of them are missing:
Officials say a recent city hall break-in occurred in an office containing documents related to the city’s water system.
Flint police previously reported a break-in at City Hall, 1101 S. Saginaw St. over the holiday break, butinformation released Monday, Jan. 11, confirmed the break-in happened at a vacant executive office in the mayor’s suite that contained documents related to the city’s water system.“The office that was broken into is where some water files are kept,” Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said. “However, at this point it’s hard to tell if any files were taken. The only thing we know for sure was stolen is a TV.”Flint Police Chief James Tolbert said investigators were working to discover if any documents connected to the city’s water system were taken. […]“The video doesn’t show anything,” Tolbert said. “Officers are now doing a security survey.”
Oddly, no other offices were broken into, even those containing computers, laptops, and other far more valuable items than a single television.
I’m also told that the investigation has been taken out of the hands of local law enforcement and has been taken over by the State Police which is, of course, a government agency that is part of the Snyder administration.
Those of us who are old enough can remember the Watergate Hotel break-in in the early 70s. The subsequent cover-up and then explosive investigation and trial uncovered all manner of shady practices and “dirty tricks” by the Nixon administration and led to his eventual impeachment and removal from office.
With the Snyder administration stalling and stalling and stalling to keep federal officials from investigating what happened in Flint that led to poisoned drinking water, this has a very familiar whiff of scandal emanating from it.
Call it Watergate II, the Flint Edition.
Governor Snyder could put much of this to rest by simply opening the books and doing away with the law that allows him to hide behind executive privilege and evade
