Dana's Dispatch: Upholding Election Integrity, Combatting Robocalls, Elder Abuse Sentencing & More!

--------------------------------------------------------------- In Defense of the Vote: Democratic AGs and the Fight for America’s Elections These are the facts: If it weren’t for the AGs who fought to protect your vote, Donald Trump might never have left office. Democratic Attorneys General Association put together a video explaining how the Big Lie took root & what's at stake in November. The Democratic Attorneys General Association has produced a short-form “mini doc” chronicling how Democratic state AGs prevented Republican operatives and elected officials from effectively stealing the 2020 election for Donald Trump. The former president’s attacks on the integrity of the election began months before Americans began casting their votes. From protecting mail-in ballots from Postmaster Louis DeJoy, to fighting back against an unlawful attempt by Republican AGs to throw out the legally cast ballots of millions of voters in swing states, Democratic AGs functionally ensured that if you voted, your vote would be counted. Unfortunately, future elections remain at risk as Trump allies at all levels of government continue to embrace strategies of disenfranchisement, suppression, and sham legal frameworks to affect the outcome of American elections. It has never been more important for voters and communities to understand the tools and levers they have to prevent these attacks on democracy — and that includes who they elect as their State Attorney General. [READ MORE]( Democratic Attorneys General Association, Democratic Attorneys General Association on Youtube (March 24, 2022) In Defense of the Vote: Democratic AGs and the Fight for America’s Elections Retrieved from: [In Defense of the Vote: Democratic AGs and the Fight for America’s Elections]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Attorney General Dana Nessel appears on PBS’s Off the Record The Office of Attorney General represents the State of Michigan in some-40,000 lawsuits. You need somebody who knows what they're doing. The panel discusses President Trump's visit to Michigan. The guest is Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel. Panelists Lauren Gibbons, Ben Solis and Dave Boucher join senior capitol correspondent Tim Skubick to discuss the week in Michigan government and politics. [READ MORE]( Off the Record, Off the Record (April 1, 2022) Season 51 Episode 40 Retrieved from: [Season 51 Episode 40]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Michigan AG: First Person Charged In Boy Scouts Of America Investigation Arraigned We appreciate our ongoing partnership with MSP to reach this point in this important investigation. These charges are only the beginning. We remain committed to securing justice for survivors of abuse. A man charged in a Boy Scouts of America (BSA) investigation was arraigned Monday morning, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced. Earlier this month, Mark Chapman was charged with eight counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Chapman, who previously lived in Michigan, was extradited back to the state from New York. In June 2021, Nessel announced a joint investigation with Michigan State Police. Nessel said the department is examining 5,000 claims sent from BSA national for review. Completed review of 550 claims resulted in about 60 inquiries set to state police for investigation. Anyone with information about the Boy Scouts of America related to possible abuse can call the investigation tip line at 844-324-3374 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tips can be left anonymously. [READ MORE]( DeJanay Booth, CBS Detroit (March 28, 2022) Michigan AG: First Person Charged In Boy Scouts Of America Investigation Arraigned Retrieved from: [Michigan AG: First Person Charged In Boy Scouts Of America Investigation Arraigned]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Attorney General Nessel Joins Coalition Urging More Control for Parents on TikTok, Snapchat I'm very concerned about social media's impact on the mental and physical health of our young people. When everything is shared on social media, it fosters a comparison culture in which our kids are constantly exposed to unrealistic beauty standards and hateful rhetoric spewed by those who hide behind keyboards. Attorney General Dana Nessel and a bipartisan coalition of 44 attorneys general have written to TikTok and Snapchat to urge them to give parents the ability to monitor their children’s social media usage and protect them from online threats using parental control apps. In addition to joining the coalition, Nessel previously joined investigations into TikTok and Meta (formerly Facebook). Nessel also remains firm in her stance that Instagram should not launch a platform specifically for kids under the age of 13. Research shows the negative impact that social media can have on the physical, emotional and mental well-being of children and teens. These range from decreased self-esteem and greater body-image dissatisfaction to increased exposure to cyberbullying and sexual predation. In their letter, the attorneys general state, “Parental control apps can alert parents or schools to messages and posts on your platforms that have the potential to be harmful and dangerous. Apps can also alert parents if their child manifests a desire for self-harm or suicide. On other platforms where these apps are allowed to operate appropriately parents have received notifications of millions of instances of severe bullying and hundreds of thousands of self-harm situations, showing that these apps have the potential to save lives and prevent harm to our youth.” [READ MORE]( 9 & 10 News Site Staff, 9 & 10 News (March 30, 2022) Attorney General Nessel Joins Coalition Urging More Control for Parents on TikTok, Snapchat Retrieved from: [Attorney General Nessel Joins Coalition Urging More Control for Parents on TikTok, Snapchat]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Attorney General partners with FCC on robocall investigations Michigan residents have received more than a billion robocalls since 2018. My department’s partnership with the FCC means our state will benefit from the long reach of the commission’s resources and allow us to better protect residents from these intrusive calls. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined a new robocall investigations partnership with the Federal Communications Commission. The Memorandum of Understanding establishes information-sharing and cooperation between state and federal robocall investigators looking into robocall scam campaigns. Last August, the FCC proposed a $5.1 million fine against individuals Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl, who are awaiting trial for intimidating voters in Detroit and other cities with a robocall before the November 2020 election. The Memorandum provides enforcement staff in talking to witnesses and examining consumer complaints to target robocall incidents. [READ MORE]( Brandon Chew, Up North Live (March 29, 2022) Attorney General partners with FCC on robocall investigations Retrieved from: [Attorney General partners with FCC on robocall investigations]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Michigan farm accused of contaminating water sources with animal waste Water is one of our most precious resources, whether it is in the lakes and rivers we swim and fish in, the aquifers we drink from, or the groundwater flowing beneath us all. Any company that chooses to pollute these shared resources instead of responsibly following environmental laws will pay a price for selfishly putting their own bottom line above public health and safety. Holloo Farms, a large concentrated animal feeding operation in Calhoun County, is the target of a civil action filed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. She said the company has a history of noncompliance with the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, as well as with the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. Nessel’s new complaint, which was filed in Ingham County Circuit Court, says Holloo Farms’ actions threaten to “impair the natural resources of Calhoun County by overloading the Kalamazoo River, Lake Allegan, and related water bodies with nutrients and introducing bacteria and other pathogens from animal waste into the waters of the state.” By failing to manage waste properly at its headquarters and a satellite site, the farm could cause serious environmental and public health dangers linked to drinking water and recreational surface water, according to authorities. Excess nutrients could harm aquatic life and contribute to algae blooms that render surface water unsafe for drinking or recreation, Nessel said. Humans can also become sick from being in water contaminated with E. coli or eating fish or shellfish from that water. Nessel’s is seeking an order for civil fines and to enjoin Holloo Farms from unlawfully discharging waste into waterways and groundwater. [READ MORE]( Derick Hutchinson, Click on Detroit (March 29, 2022) Michigan farm accused of contaminating water sources with animal waste Retrieved from: [Michigan farm accused of contaminating water sources with animal waste]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel speaks about driver’s license restoration, job training during Dearborn Heights event What I vowed when I took office was to have a team not just represent the State of Michigan, but represent the people of the State of Michigan, and work our hardest to make everyday struggles better for everybody who couldn’t afford to have an attorney represent them personally. Photo courtesy of Sue Suchyta, MediaNews Group Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel spoke about driver’s license restoration and job court training initiatives during the recent Dearborn Heights Women’s Leadership and Community Service Awards in Dearborn Heights. Nessel said it is important for people to know that there are 300,000 Michigan residents who were not eligible to have a legal driver’s license, and who now are eligible because of a change in the law. “There were a lot of people who couldn’t afford the fines that were levied, or couldn’t afford the cost of insurance, so they drove with no license or a suspended license,” she said. “Even if they were convicted of really petty things that had nothing to do with their ability to drive well, they lost their driver’s licenses and sometimes haven’t had them for years and years.” Nessel said that the Secretary of State’s office is here to help Michigan residents. “We are here to serve you,” she said. “We are doing expungement fairs throughout the State of Michigan, for people who have carried around old convictions for really minor offenses that has been holding them back in life, and we are going all over the state to help people with that.” [READ MORE]( Sue Suchyta, Dearborn Press & Guide (March 31, 2022) Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel speaks about driver’s license restoration, job training during Dearborn Heights event Retrieved from: [Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel speaks about driver’s license restoration, job training during Dearborn Heights event]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Montcalm County residents sentenced for stealing thousands from elderly woman When I launched the Elder Abuse Task Force, we understood that financial exploitation of seniors in our state was a significant concern. My Financial Crimes Division remains committed to securing accountability in these cases and to our priority of protecting the elderly. Three people from Montcalm County were sentenced Thursday for stealing thousands of dollars from an elderly woman. This comes nearly one month after one of the defendants, Teri Miller, was convicted on multiple charges relating to the incident, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office says. Miller was sentenced to a maximum of six years behind bars and was ordered to pay back $97,798 to the victim’s family, according to the state of Michigan. This does not include a pending charge in a separate case for resisting and obstruction. The state says Kelly Miller and Tim Riva, Teri’s husband and brother respectively, were sentenced Thursday as well. [READ MORE]( Fox 17, Fox 17 (March 31, 2022) 3 Montcalm County residents sentenced for stealing thousands from elderly woman Retrieved from: [3 Montcalm County residents sentenced for stealing thousands from elderly woman]( --------------------------------------------------------------- ‘We need to work these polls’: Trump stumps for candidates who support the big lie Trump supports candidates who will manipulate the 2024 election to his advantage. Just a handful of years ago, they would've been seen as extreme, fringe candidates who never would've gotten any traction in the Republican party. Now, they are emblematic of the Republican party. Photo courtesy of Scott Olson, Getty Images Eight hours before Donald Trump took the stage in the Detroit suburbs on Saturday, an army of canvassers darted along the line of people snaking outside the hulking sports complex where supporters of the former president were waiting to get in. “You guys think we’re gonna have a fair election?,” one canvasser asked Marco Braggion, 26 and Christian Howard, 25, who was standing in a cowboy hat and jean jacket. “We need to be able to work those polls to keep eyes on what’s going on.” It was an exchange that underscored how Republicans, stewing in doubts about the 2020 election, are organizing to take control of the machinery of elections – how ballots are cast and counted. And when Trump took the stage Saturday evening, his first visit to Michigan since 2020, that’s what he was focused on too. He was there to campaign for two-little known candidates who are seeking offices that wield significant power over voting rules in Michigan, one of the most important battleground states in the presidential election. Trump was stumping for Matthew DePerno, who is seeking the GOP nomination for attorney general, and Kristina Karamo, a Republican running to be Michigan secretary of state, the state’s chief election official. Both are seeking to earn the Republican nomination at the party’s convention in the state this month. Neither has any prior political experience and their political rise stems almost entirely from their efforts to spread misinformation about the 2020 election. Joe Biden defeated Trump in the state by just over 154,000 votes in 2020, and Trump’s efforts to throw out the election. If Karamo and DePerno were elected this fall, it would place two Trump allies in key positions from which they could potentially do what he could not in 2020: overturn an election result. [READ MORE]( Sam Levine, The Guardian (April 3, 2022) ‘We need to work these polls’: Trump stumps for candidates who support the big lie Retrieved from: [‘We need to work these polls’: Trump stumps for candidates who support the big lie]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for being a part of Dana's re-election campaign! Sending emails is a crucial way to keep supporters like you updated on Dana's fight for justice and progress. Plus, this campaign is fueled by grassroots supporters like you! [Will you chip in today to join Dana in the fight for a better tomorrow?]( [CHIP IN TO RE-ELECT DANA NESSEL >>]( KEEP IN TOUCH WITH DANA: Any donor history information in this email reflects what we have on file for this specific email address. If you have donated with a different email address, with a check, or with a spouse – thank you so much. We have that on file and cannot thank you enough for your support. 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