Michigan Creates a Web Tip Line to Stop State Weaponization, Overreach, and Corruption

The Michigan House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of Government has set up a website tip line to collect citizens’ stories of abuse at the hands of the state

Demonstrators hold a "Free Michigan" sign as they take part in a rally demanding the reopening of businesses, in Lansing, Mich., on April 30, 2020. Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images

Angela Rigas, a Michigan state representative, this week announced the launch of a digital tip line designed to collect information and suggestions for upcoming investigations by a House Oversight subcommittee aimed at rooting out and rectifying what the committee sees as abuses of power by Michigan’s government.

The Michigan House Oversight Subcommittee on Weaponization of State Government said on its website: “Over the past two years, there have been too many troubling examples of state government operating with little oversight. We’ve seen millions funneled into projects tied to the Chinese Communist Party, hush money deals covering up government missteps, dozens of audits left on a shelf, and a lack of real transparency in decision-making.”

Rigas, a Republican and chair of the subcommittee, said, “I want to hear the stories of each and every Michigan resident who’s been victimized by government overreach and get them the justice they deserve.”

“We’re going to look at everything from deadly COVID mishandlings to government corruption. Our constituents deserve to know what their tax dollars have been funding, both good and bad.”

Rigas said the subcommittee will prioritize investigations into alleged misconduct and malfeasance by the state over the past several years.

“We have received hundreds of emails. Most deal with permitting and licensing problems involving agencies like the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, and the Department of Natural Resources,” Rigas told The Epoch Times.

“These are not partisan issues. Many Democrats have some of the same concerns. This is about doing what’s right for the people of Michigan.”

Rigas views the emails already received as the tip of the iceberg.

“A lot of stories have not been heard. These are just as important to me as the stories that make the headlines,” she said.

Rigas, a hairstylist from Caledonia, a small town in Western Michigan, said she ran for office because of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID-19 lockdowns and what they did to small businesses like hers.

“Michigan reminded me of a foreign country. Businesses, churches, and schools shut down. People banned from visiting loved ones in nursing homes. Nursing homes forced to admit COVID patients,” she said.

“I vowed, ‘Never again!’”

Republican State Rep. Angela Rigas. Courtesy of Angela Rigas

Since regaining the majority in the Michigan House in November, GOP lawmakers have been using the authority of the Oversight Committee to build the apparatus needed to conduct wide-ranging investigations into alleged governmental abuse.

According to the website, the House Oversight Committee is made up of six subcommittees; the Weaponization of State Government, Child Welfare System, Corporate Subsidies and State Investments, Public Health and Food Safety, Homeland Security and Foreign Influence, and State and Local Public Assistance Programs.

Neither of the two Democrats on the five-member weaponization subcommittee responded to a request for comment.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and Attorney General Dana Nessel also did not respond to a request for comment.

Critics describe the subcommittee as a fishing expedition or a witch hunt.

“I don’t have to fish very hard,“ Rigas said. “Should the government be able to abuse the taxpayers of our state without repercussions?”

“People across Michigan are asking tough questions but getting few answers,“ the subcommittee’s website states. ”That lack of accountability has eroded trust in government. The people deserve answers, and they’re going to get them.”