Michigan GOP demands state AG probe Whitmer's 'secret deal' with former top health official

The Michigan Republican Party has called on the state’s attorney general to investigate a reported separation deal between Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her former state health department director.

The Michigan GOP issued a statement Tuesday calling for Whitmer, a Democrat, and her former Department of Health Director Robert Gordon "to release all information" surrounding a "secret deal" between the pair after Gordon’s "abrupt" departure from his post.

Gordon and Whitmer's office reportedly agreed to a $155,506 payout following Gordon's abrupt resignation in January, with the details of his departure remaining confidential.

Republicans want Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office to "immediately open up an investigation" into the deal.

They also called on the state legislature to "issue subpoenas and hold hearings to answer a very simple question — Why is Gov. Whitmer buying the silence of a former government employee, the state’s top public health official, in the middle of a global pandemic?"

State Sen. Jim Runestad, a Republican, said the "confidentiality agreement just adds another wrinkle to the problem."

"The administration has not been forthcoming with the data or the information surrounding their COVID policies," Runestad continued. "The continued secrecy is troubling, and even more reason to investigate the Whitmer administration’s COVID policies."

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