House Oversight Committee Chairman Jay DeBoyer today said the committee’s unanimous approval to subpoena Attorney General Dana Nessel will deliver answers and provide people throughout Michigan with sorely needed government transparency.

The subpoena requests Nessel’s in-person testimony before the committee on Sept. 16.

“No one in Michigan should be above the law,” said DeBoyer, of Clay Township. “The Attorney General has thumbed her nose at the House Oversight Committee’s responsibilities to the people and its subpoena power. Her office previously responded to our committee’s request for documents by saying that she’d provide them on her own timeline with no firm, certain date for when they’d be coming.

“I’d like to point out that similar requests the committee made of the state’s Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Natural Resources have not encountered these roadblocks. The DNR has been cooperative. They have communicated with us regarding these requests and we have an acceptable timeline to receive documents. The DHHS Director agreed to come in and testify. Attorney General Nessel is trying to play hardball by stonewalling our lawfully issued subpoenas, and she is shirking her responsibility as an elected official by doing so. What’s there to hide?”

The committee previously issued subpoenas to Nessel in July for information on two matters. One focused on her decision to not file charges in a case referred to her by the Secretary of State’s office involving an alleged campaign finance violation by Bipartisan Solutions and an organization that included a member of Nessel’s family.

A 2022 complaint alleged that Bipartisan Solutions collected donations for the sole purpose of making expenditures to Fair and Equal Michigan, a ballot question committee. The Secretary of State’s Office investigated and referred the matter to the Attorney General’s Office for the enforcement of penalties in April of 2023, but the AG’s office has yet to take action.

The other request made by the committee in July sought documents from the Attorney General about her department’s investigation into Traci Kornak, a lawyer and former treasurer of the Michigan Democratic Party. Kornak is a friend of Nessel’s who served on the AG’s transition team when she was elected in 2018. In 2022, Kornak was accused of using the account of an elderly client to fraudulently bill an insurance company, and emails obtained through the state’s Freedom of Information Act raised questions about what role the Attorney General played during the investigation.

“These two troubling situations raise many conflict of interest questions that people would like answers on,” DeBoyer said. “Our role as a legislative committee is to ensure state government, its various departments and elected officials are operating with integrity and not abusing the public’s trust. Speaking with the Attorney General on these issues will deliver that essential layer of accountability, and we look forward from hearing from her.”