Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer faces renewed scrutiny over Florida trip: Report

Another Democrat, another scandal.

Breitbart reported on Friday that new developments surrounding a “secretive” trip Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took to Florida at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic have reignited questions about whether the Democrat may have used her office for personal gain.

The backstory

Reports had previously indicated that while urging Michiganders to stay home in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Whitmer headed to sunny Palm Beach, Florida, where she was said to have visited her father.

At first, Whitmer faced claims that taxpayer money may have been used to pay for the personal trip. But after a denial from Whitmer, those accusations were swept under the rug.

Now, however, the Democrat state leader is facing renewed scrutiny after Deadline Detroit‘s Charlie LeDuff revealed in a Wednesday report that Whitmer had “asked a group of wealthy Detroit businessmen to provide a private plane they share” for her excursion. “Those businessmen,” LeDuff said, “have major dealings in and with the state of Michigan.”

The latest

The question then becomes: What did Whitmer give these business leaders in return for use of the plane, if anything? LeDuff reports: “It is unclear whether Whitmer reimbursed the company…[a]nd, if so, at what price and from which bank account?”

Still, Breitbart notes that “other politicians” have faced charges under “similar circumstances.”

One of the plane’s owners, speaking with LeDuff on the condition of anonymity, said he was surprised Whitmer even asked, rather than book a private charter flight.

“You can’t tell a governor no. Who needs that kind of trouble?” the source said.

The governor weighs in

Asked by reporters on Thursday to comment on the latest developments, Whitmer was curt in her response.

“I’ve said everything I am going to say about my trip to go check on my father,” she said, according to Breitbart. “It was a quick trip. It was an important family reason for doing it. And I have nothing to add.”

Try as she might to stifle them, however, it doesn’t seem that questions about Whitmer’s Florida trip will be going away any time soon.

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