Dana's Dispatch: Prosecuting Abusers, Negotiating Settlements, Preserving Democracy & More!

--------------------------------------------------------------- Corrupt Lawyer Matt DePerno running to be Michigan Attorney General My opponent Matt DePerno's career has been riddled with controversy and client complaints. Even members of his own party have said he has "no ethics at all" and "should be disbarred." DePerno is too dangerous for Michigan. He cannot be trusted as our state's top cop. [READ MORE]( Dana Nessel, Dana Nessel on YouTube (October 18, 2022) Corrupt Lawyer Matt DePerno running to be Michigan Attorney General Retrieved from: [Corrupt Lawyer Matt DePerno running to be Michigan Attorney General]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Why Voting for Your State Attorney General Makes A Difference | Breaking Down the Ballot Attorneys general play a huge role in ensuring the safety & security of our elections. Election deniers & their dangerous rhetoric are too extreme to fulfill that role. Watch Crooked Media's breakdown of the AG's role in elections & more. [READ MORE]( Pod Save America, Pod Save America on Youtube (October 21, 2022) Why Voting for Your State Attorney General Makes A Difference | Breaking Down the Ballot Retrieved from: [Why Voting for Your State Attorney General Makes A Difference | Breaking Down the Ballot]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Michigan AG Nessel: “We could honestly lose our democracy.” The stakes could not be higher. Once you lose your fundamental right to vote or the right to have autonomy over your own body, it's likely you'll never get it back. Research, make a plan & VOTE on or before Nov. 8 to make your voice heard. The Big Lie continues to spread among the Republican Party, and according to the New York Times and Washington Post, election deniers make up the majority of GOP candidates in this year’s elections. Yet as Election Day nears, Republicans have focused people’s attention “on wedge issues that really don’t impact people’s everyday lives,” says Michigan’s Attorney General Dana Nessel. It’s part of a strategy to distract the public from larger issues, she says. “Inflation will go up and down in the course of our lifetimes but once you lose the fundamental right to vote, once you lose the right to have autonomy over your own body, it’s likely that it’s never coming back.” That’s a potent point in Michigan, where people will vote on a ballot measure this November to codify Roe in the state’s constitution. But Nessel cautions that the fight for abortion rights won’t end there. “If this ballot proposal were to pass…it’s going to be challenged,” Nessel tells Ali Velshi. “And guess who has to defend it? The Michigan Attorney General.” [READ MORE]( Ali Velshi, MSNBC (October 22, 2022) Michigan AG Nessel: “We could honestly lose our democracy.” Retrieved from: Michigan AG Nessel: “We could honestly lose our democracy.” --------------------------------------------------------------- GOP: Crush the Opposition, but First the Dissenters | Breaking The Vote I started my department's first-of-its-kind Hate Crimes & Domestic Terrorism Unit to stem the tide of hateful violence plaguing our state. Instead of prosecuting domestic terrorists, my opponent and others like him praise them. [READ MORE]( Vice News, Vice News on YouTube (October 21, 2022) Crush the Opposition, but First the Dissenters | Breaking The Vote Retrieved from: [Crush the Opposition, but First the Dissenters | Breaking The Vote]( --------------------------------------------------------------- From Tinder match to scam victim: AG warns of ‘pig butchering’ crypto con SCAM ALERT: Bad actors are reaching out through text and messaging apps, posing as a long-lost friend to gain the trust of their victims. Remember, if something seems fishy, it's probably a scam. Contact my office to be sure. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Moore, MLive Random messages from people with unknown numbers acting as an old friend or apologizing for a wrong number may not be as innocuous as they seem, according to the Michigan Attorney General. Scammers have been luring in potential victims with the promise of being a long-forgotten friend, a new friend, a wrong number or lover via text messages and social media apps, according to the attorney general’s office. It is called “pig butchering” and combines a romance scam with an investment spin. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the term “pig butchering” refers to a time-tested, heavily scripted, and contact-intensive process to “fatten up the prey before slaughter.” In these cases, the scammer has convinced the fraud victim to invest on a bogus cryptocurrency website. The long con allows the victim to make small gains on the fake investment and even withdraw these gains a couple times to prove the legitimacy. The scammer persuades the victim to invest larger sums, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars, into the fake website. Then the scammer vanishes along with the money. The Attorney General’s office notes scammers know consumers are getting savvy about online scams, and this is why developing a friendship or romantic relationship has become common place in fraud. [READ MORE]( Lindsay Moore, MLive (October 20, 2022) From Tinder match to scam victim: AG warns of ‘pig butchering’ crypto con Retrieved from: [From Tinder match to scam victim: AG warns of ‘pig butchering’ crypto con]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Attorneys General Elections Take Center Stage Post-Roe My opponent Matt DePerno has vowed to prosecute women & doctors for abortion with NO EXCEPTIONS — not even to save the mother's life. He said protections for birth control should be overturned & wants to ban Plan B from the state. His extreme positions are too dangerous for MI. Barely 10 years after women finally secured the right to vote, at a point in the early 1930s when Prohibition was the law of the land, an otherwise undistinguished session of the Michigan Legislature passed a sweeping ban on access to abortion. Then, in 1973, the US Supreme Court rendered the law meaningless with its Roe v. Wade decision. But in the wake of the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Michigan’s ghost law, which lingered on the books for more than 90 years, is haunting the present. The law, which threatens abortion providers with felony manslaughter charges, has been embraced by Michigan Republicans, including their nominee for attorney general, Matthew DePerno. DePerno says, “We will enforce the 1931 law unless it’s modified or changed by the state legislature when I’m elected.” He also promises to treat Plan B as a drug that’s “no different from fentanyl.” Just as prosecutors charge those who traffic illegally in the highly-addictive synthetic opioid drug, he would encourage those same prosecutors to go after anyone who violates a ban against safe and effective emergency contraception. Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel, who has spoken openly about her own abortion, is unequivocal about the state’s antiquated abortion law. “I will not prosecute women, girls, or their doctors for seeking or providing abortion services,” she said in June after the court issued its Dobbs ruling. When a Michigan judge issued an order blocking enforcement of the 1931 law, Nessel vowed that she would not appeal the ruling. At the same time, she has actively campaigned for a popular statewide ballot initiative that would establish a state constitutional right to reproductive freedom. But if Nessel were to lose to DePerno, the Democratic incumbent warns that her Republican rival would use the office to challenge court rulings and ballot initiatives and, were decisions to go his way, “would have the authority to charge people in every county across Michigan.” [READ MORE]( John Nichols, the Nation (October 19, 2022) Attorneys General Elections Take Center Stage Post-Roe Retrieved from: [Attorneys General Elections Take Center Stage Post-Roe]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Two men charged for deaths of Alpena County women There is no charge or punishment that will alleviate the grief felt by the families and loved ones of these two women, but I am committed to holding responsible their killers, and I'm happy to lend the community the support of my department to see justice delivered. Two men have been charged for the deaths of two Alpena County women who disappeared in 2021, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Wednesday. Last April, Brad Srebnik, 36, and Joshua Wirgau, 35, were sentenced to serve two years in prison for kidnapping a tow-truck driver in September 2021. Abby Hill, a third person originally charged in the kidnapping case, was found dead in Alpena Township in October 2021. Michigan State Police opened a criminal investigation into the disappearance of Brynn Bills in August 2021. Investigators say Abby Hill was the last person to see Bills alive. "Facebook Messenger and eyewitness testimony both support that Bills was picked up by Hill in the early morning hours of August 2, 2021," the Attorney General's Office said. "The prosecution alleges that Bills was killed by Srebnik, and her body was buried in the backyard of Wirgau's home shortly after she was last seen alive." The prosecution believes that Hill "was executed on that property to stop her from revealing information about the killing of Bills, and that Hill’s body was left at the site," the AG's Office said. If convicted for the premeditated homicide charges, Srebnik and Wirgau both face possible life sentences without the possibility of parole. [READ MORE]( Josh Kurman & Brandon Chew, Up North Live (October 19, 2022) Two men charged for deaths of Alpena County women Retrieved from: [Two men charged for deaths of Alpena County women]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Coach accused of sexually abusing Michigan youth soccer player for years My department is committed to ensuring victims of sexual abuse and assault receive justice, and this case is another example of that commitment. Last Friday, the senior center hosted a fraud prevention presentation given by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who shared information about prevalent scams and how the state is working to protect seniors from falling prey to fraud and abuse. A Texas man is facing charges stemming from allegations that he sexually abused a child while coaching them in Michigan. Andrew Olnhausen, 34, is charged with four counts of criminal sexual conduct, one count of child sexually abusive activity, three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, two counts of using a computer to commit a crime, one count of children – accosting for immoral purpose, five counts of child sexually abusive material – possession, one count of distributing sexual material to a minor, and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. While he was a coach with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Olnhausen is accused of sexually abusing a player from when they were 11 until the child was 16. An investigation by the Adrian Police Department led to these charges. The investigation included searches of his cellphone and social media accounts, where authorities discovered dozens of naked images of the victim as well as other evidence that Olnhausen was having an inappropriate sexual relationship with the victim, authorities said. Olnhausen was arrested in Texas and is awaiting extradition to Michigan. "I am committed to ensuring victims of sexual abuse and assault receive justice," Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said. [READ MORE]( Amber Ainsworth, Fox 2 Detroit (October 19, 2022) Coach accused of sexually abusing Michigan youth soccer player for years Retrieved: [Coach accused of sexually abusing Michigan youth soccer player for years]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Settlement reached in lawsuit alleging false accusations of unemployment fraud The state has reached a $20 million settlement, honoring my commitment to ensure those falsely accused of filing fraudulent claims receive fair compensation for their suffering. It's time to put this to rest & deliver a meaningful resolution to those MI residents who were harmed. A class action lawsuit alleging Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) falsely accused recipients of fraud has been settled for $20 million. The settlement was announced Tuesday, Oct. 20 by Attorney General Dana Nessel and Pitt, McGehee, Palmer, Bonanni & Rivers, the Royal Oak-based law firm representing the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit. In 2015, plaintiffs sued the UIA for using an automated system known as MIDAS to falsely accuse thousands of Michiganders of unemployment fraud, resulting in the wrongful seizure of their paychecks, income tax refunds, and other assets without due process, the Michigan Attorney General’s office said. The case, Bauserman v. Unemployment Insurance Agency, resulted in two decisions from the Michigan Supreme court. In April 2019, the court ruled the class action was timely filed in accordance with the Michigan Court of Claims Act but only those claimants who had money collected from them for the first time on or after March 9, 2015 could be included in the potential class. In July 2022, the court ruled the plaintiffs in the case could seek monetary damages from the state based on the alleged violation of the state constitution. Earlier this year, the parties worked with a neutral mediator to negotiate a resolution of the class action. According to the attorneys, the mediator had access to detailed records and information to determine how many people were affected by the auto-adjudication system, how much of their money was seized, and how much money had already been refunded by the state since the fraud auto-adjudication system was discontinued. The Michigan Attorney General’s office said based on the Supreme Court’s 2019 decision, the number of claimants who will be eligible for settlement payments was decreased. Notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s ruling, class counsel anticipates settlements for eligible claimants will be fair and equitable. In the coming months, the parties will submit the settlement to the Court of Claims for approval. [READ MORE]( George Castle, WNEM (October 20, 2022) Settlement reached in lawsuit alleging false accusations of unemployment fraud Retrieved from: [Settlement reached in lawsuit alleging false accusations of unemployment fraud]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Arab American News Endorses AG Dana Nessel for Re-Election Proud to be endorsed by The Arab American News! Regarding the MIGOP's newfound interest in Dearborn: "Our community’s support for Democrats is about opportunity, about a seat at the table...the GOP has suddenly appeared to court us...by attempting to legitimize bigotry, ignorance & vitriol." As the nation’s longest-running Arab American newspaper, we have also received questions about why our endorsement slates are full of Democrats. Let’s be clear, The Arab American News has endorsed some major Republican candidates in the past. This include former President George W. Bush. Other notables are Spencer Abraham for U.S. Senate, John Engler for governor and Mike Bouchard for State Senate and Oakland County Sheriff. Our endorsement have included numerous state level candidates, including one in the last primary. Our community’s support for the Democratic Party is about opportunity, about a seat at the table, about inclusivity and representation. This party has also supported us against bigoted attacks and has given us a chance at political power. Arab Americans have found important positions in the county and state thanks to this support. While Republicans wage war on environmental regulations, our most vulnerable in south Dearborn continue to bear the brunt of corporate pollution. While they attack social services and immigration, our community keeps fighting to empower our newly-arrived. The GOP has suddenly appeared to court us once again, but through the back door and by attempting to legitimize bigotry, ignorance and vitriol. Compare this to Democratic incumbent nominees this November, like Governor Whitmer or Attorney General Dana Nessel, whose Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud become the first Arab American woman to argue a case in the U.S. Supreme Court. The people’s lawyer, she has consistently pushed for inclusivity and fairness. The record speaks for itself and it’s why The Arab American News is proud to echo AAPAC’s endorsement of the following candidates, and proposals, for the Nov. 8 general election. [READ MORE]( The Arab American News, the Arab American News (October 21, 2022) Arab American News Endorses AG Dana Nessel for Re-Election Retrieved from: [Arab American News Endorses AG Dana Nessel for Re-Election]( --------------------------------------------------------------- The November Races That Will Determine If The 2024 Election Is Fair "Democrats would have to win numerous razor-thin races in order to pull off a clean sweep of swing state contests against the GOP’s most prominent conspiracy theorists" — including all three running for top offices in MI. #GOTV to preserve democracy. Photo courtesy of Chris McGonigal, the Huffington Post A cadre of election deniers used this year’s primary contests to almost completely take over the Republican Party. Such candidates won more than half of the GOP’s primaries, including 11 for secretary of state positions and 11 more in attorney general contests ― roles that in most states would give them a direct hand in the oversight and management of elections. The problem is particularly stark in places like Arizona, one of three swing states ― along with Michigan and Nevada ― where election deniers won GOP nominations for both secretary of state and attorney general. Matt DePerno, who won Trump’s endorsement in the Michigan GOP AG primary, is currently under investigation from the state attorney general’s office, which in August alleged that he helped orchestrate a scheme to improperly access and tamper with election machines in three Michigan counties. A special prosecutor is overseeing the case. As attorney general, DePerno could “wreak havoc” on Michigan’s contests, Nessel said, leaving the state vulnerable to the sort of conspiratorial election challenges that DePerno helped lead in 2020. “This is a man that has spread more misinformation and disinformation in his career than any attorney that I’ve ever seen. He was hand-selected by Donald Trump in order to do his bidding,” Nessel said. “This is a man who does not even believe in the basic concept that we’re a democracy, that the person who gets the most votes wins an election. And he’s demonstrated that over and over again.” [READ MORE]( Travis Waldron, the Huffington Post (October 23, 2022) The November Races That Will Determine If The 2024 Election Is Fair Retrieved from: [The November Races That Will Determine If The 2024 Election Is Fair]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for being a part of Dana's re-election campaign! 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