1,056 Sq. [3] Chatfield, along with Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, met with Trump on November 20, 2020, as Trump and his campaign attempted to overturn the results of the presidential election, in which Trump was defeated by Joe Biden (both nationally and in Michigan). Staff Writer Beth LeBlanc and Politics Editor Chad Livengood contributed. More:Ex-House Speaker Lee Chatfield's ties to marijuana industry getting scrutiny from investigators. Price information. In 2017, the nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency said the Detroit Salt Company was the only business of four road salt suppliers with state contracts that would have benefited from the change. Todd McInturf / The Detroit News. "I dont know if we ran out of time or what the real reason was," said Hauck, whose district includes the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe's Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant. Elected at age 30; he was believed to be the youngest House speaker in recent memory. 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Search warrant affidavits The Detroit News obtained this month revealed that investigators for the Michigan Attorney General suspect Chatfield of being involved in a "criminal enterprise" involving embezzlement, bribery, tax evasion and misconduct in office. "It's not unusual for a multi-client lobbying firm to have many clients with divergent interests and the city saw no reason to object to that engagement.". One of those firms is Governmental Consultant Services, Inc., also known as GCSI. Anne Minard's day job is event planner for the Michigan House Republican Caucus, a gig paid for with $40,000 of our tax dollars. Under Michigan law, the age of consent in 16, however it is illegal for teachers to have any type of penetrative sex with a student under the age of 18. "Theres enough there," Thomas said. They "ran that whole church and school," she said. Nearby homes similar to 1370 Chatfield Pl have recently sold between $252K to $362K at an average of $235 per square foot. The night before the wedding, while Rebekah was crying inside of the Chatfields home, she alleged Lee offered to comfort her, before forcing her into a closet for a sex act. 5 bedroom house for sale at Lot 35128 Souter Avenue (Cloverton), Kalkallo, VIC 3064, $793,008. But Shields, a longtime Republican political consultant, said the Little River Band's use of GCSI and LaPorte for lobbying on the casino project "was reported and transparent. Amber McCann, Nessel's spokeswoman, declined to comment on whether the former speaker's ties to GCSI are part of the ongoing investigation. In 2018, Orlene Hawks, wife of GCSI leader Mike Hawks, was on the arts center's board of directors. Sales Representative. More:5 revelations in the Chatfield investigation search warrant affidavits. Lee Roberson Chatfield (born May 25, 1988) is an American politician and a Republican former member of the Michigan House of Representatives. He denies wrongdoing. Samantha has 8 jobs listed on their profile. Soon after GCSI got involved, Chatfield joined the campaign for the project. If the attorney general's affidavit is accurate, Chatfield also funded his lavish lifestyle with money from people who wanted to make friends with one of the most powerful elected officials in Michigan. Stephen Mayne sat down with him for this week's Chairman interview - the first of 2018 . Toward the end of 2020 during Chatfield's final months in office before term limits forced him out rumors percolated at the Capitol that the speaker was going to have the House take up a resolution in favor of the casino, said state Rep. Roger Hauck, R-Union Township, an opponent of the plan. It's more than four times what they spent on Wentworth, who succeeded Chatfield as speaker. But it is Minard's role as one of the principals of Victor Strategies that transformed her from political insider and fundraiser extraordinaire to the key that could unlock former Speaker Lee Chatfield's treasure chest of secrets. She went to the immediate jurisdiction that she thought was appropriate, White said. Rebekahs mother, Debbie Newberry, claimed to have seen a change in her daughters behavior in her later teenage years as Lee allegedly began to groom her daughter. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy discovered that after 10 years or a 3% reduction rate Representative Chatfield's legislation would save families who earn $0-$21k only 56 dollars a year and families that make $39k to $62k . She recalled one time where Lee allegedly visited with his wife and two children, And during my husbands soccer game, she said, he took me back to my house and assaulted me.. Minard and his wife, a fellow House staffer, controlled the finances of a dark money nonprofit linked to Chatfield, while owning a consulting firm that was paid nearly $500,000 from various funds tied to the former House speaker. Wentworth, through his spokesman, declined my invitation to explain why Anne Minard remains on the state payroll but is no longer serving as treasurer to his PACs and, based on the notation "no other vendor," appears to be persona non grata when it comes to his political funds. The photos, tweeted by journalist . Lee Chatfield has denied wrongdoing and said he had a consensual affair. Join to apply for the Sales Representative - Earn Over $100k role at SitePro Rentals. The Little River Band needed the federal government's support and the backing of Democratic Gov. 94,281 [2] Michigan's 107th House of Representatives district (also referred to as Michigan's 107th House district) is a legislative district within the Michigan House of Representatives located in parts of Cheboygan, Chippewa, and Mackinac counties, as well as all of Charlevoix and Emmet counties. And since he's term-limited and not running for another office, Wentworth doesn't even need to worry whether anything he says in the court of public opinion could be used against him. Investigations take time, but dedicated diggers will almost always turn up the truth. "What she is saying, I don't believe," Paul said, adding that "the best-case scenario is, I'm disappointed. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, accused former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, Ex-con sentenced to 37 to life in prison for brutal rape inside NYC sidewalk shed, Lawyer attacked by client who allegedly decapitated lover withdraws from case, Behind teen girls sky-high depression: Forced sex, social media, Woke LA DA suspends lead prosecutor of trans woman convicted of molesting 10-year-old girl. The tribe's lobbyist in Lansing was the multi-client firm Scofes and Associates Consulting. In 2018, Chatfield attempted to bring a loaded, unregistered handgun onto a commercial flight at Pellston Regional Airport. Rebekah said she finally told her husband, Aaron Chatfield, her mother and other family members in December, when she also notified police in Lansing, Michigan, who referred the complaint to Michigan State Police. The partnership between Wentworth and the Minards was lucrative, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to the PACs. "And it needs to stop.. As an unofficial driver for his brother, who was elected to the Michigan legislature in 2014 and served three two-year terms, Aaron told Bridge Michigan he drove Lee to strip clubs and to meet up with women, including a former staffer. Another source who declined to be identified because of the ongoing investigation said Chatfield visited a home Hawks owned in Bay Harbor on at least two occasions. Terry Burns, executive vice president of the auto dealers association, acknowledged to The News that the group never reported the arrangement because of a broad exemption in state regulations for transactions made in "the ordinary course of the lobbyist's business." Mr. LaPorte's firm, Capitol Advocacy Services Group LLC, is a registered lobbyist for other tribal casino operators, including the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, which runs the Odawa casinos in Petoskey and Mackinaw City in Chatfield's district in Emmet and Cheboygan counties. Chatfield says according to press reports he had an "affair" with his brother's wife but it began when she was an adult and denies the rape allegation. Chatfield was term limited from office in 2020. This is about the integrity of the chamber," said Rep. Joe Tate, a Detroit Democrat. Politicians sometimes create multiple PACs so that donors who hit their contribution limit to one account can essentially give as much as they want as long as there are enough PACs to which they can max out. The alleged assaults began when the then-14- or 15-year-old girl attended Northern Michigan Baptist Bible Church and Northern Michigan Christian Academy near Burt Lake, about 60 miles northeast of Traverse City, White said.The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they choose to come forward publicly. In response to the specific claims Rebekah gave to Bridge Michigan, Chartier reiterated that her client had an "affair with this woman [that] lasted for years, but they were both consenting adults over 18.". Twenty-eight players have been invited to take part in the Queensland Rugby League's training squad at the Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre in Brisbane from May 15 until May 17. The salary range is from $54,001 to $81,085. Contact him atmlelrick@freepress.comor follow him on Twitter at@elrick,Facebook at ML Elrick and Instagram at ml_elrick. [3][8] Paul Mitchell, the U.S. representative for Michigan's 10th congressional district, said that the purpose of the meeting may have been to discuss the appointment of pro-Trump electors to the U.S. Gretchen Whitmer and the GOP-controlled Legislature. That said, it is clear the attorney general's investigators believe they are peeling back the layers of an onion that will make anyone who cares about integrity and good government weep bitter tears. Anne Minard was treasurer of each of Chatfield's PACs. [2][3] Chatfield criticized Foster for supporting Medicaid expansion[3] and for supporting an extension of Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in housing and employment.[2]. Elrick is a Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter and host of theML's Soul of Detroit podcast. Chatfield's sister-in-law, now 26, has claimed the 33-year-old former lawmaker sexually assaulted her from the time she was 15 until July 2021, her attorney tells PEOPLE. Secretary of State lobbyist disclosure records show that GCSI spent more than $9,000 wining and dining Chatfield. Chatfield has said the relationship was consensual. For now, it would be nice for Speaker Wentworth to explain why you should continue to pay the salary of a state employee who he apparently doesn't feel is fit to continue working for his political entities. [9] Despite pressure from Trump, Chatfield ultimately declined to support passage of a Michigan Legislation to pass a resolution purporting to retroactively change Michigan's slate of electors for Trump, saying that such a move "would bring mutually assured destruction for every future election in regards to the Electoral College" and "we would lose our country forever. Complaints about lobbying are investigated by the Attorney General's office. [3] The district was created in 1965, when the . Lansing Former House Speaker Lee Chatfield repeatedly provided favorable treatment to a prominent Lansing lobbying firm's clients while receiving personal benefits in a relationship that exposes weaknesses in the state's scant ethics laws, a Detroit News investigation shows. Rebekah and Aaron were engaged in June 2014 and married two months later, according to Bridge. Her lawyer, Jamie White, confirmed the nature of the allegations first reported by Lansing City Pulse, including that Chatfield began molesting her more than a decade ago and the sexual contact continued until last year. Guest Service Representative at Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort Greater Saginaw-Midland-Bay City Area. Job Description. That money was used to support Republican candidates with donations of up to $10,000 and, no doubt, generate the kind of goodwill and support that helped Wentworth become speaker in 2021. GCSI represents Ann Arbor-based cannabis entrepreneur James Daly, who hired Chatfield's brothers Aaron and Paul as well as Paul's wife, Hannah, in 2020 to work in his Herbana marijuana retail stores. His father is pastor of the church, the school superintendent and a teacher. The investigation began in January after Lee Chatfield's sister-in-law, Rebekah Chatfield, accused him of sexually abusing her beginning when she was 15 years old. Rep. Brad Paquette, R-Berrien Springs Michigan House of Representatives Chatfield's financial activities, while he was a top lawmaker, are now under criminal investigation by Attorney General Dana . Chatfield's letter of support to the federal government was sent on the same day in July 2020 as one from Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake. "I didn't know there were options for therapy.". The schedule for office hours is as follows: Monday, September 16, 10:00-11:00 a.m. McKinley Township Hall 1820 N. U.S. Highway 31 Pellston, MI 49769 Friday, October 11, 11: . Chatfield is the speaker of the Michigan House for the 2019-2020 legislative session. Current representative: The current representative for the 107th District is Rep. Lee Chatfield (R-Levering). Students attending Chatfield High School have been very upset about the recent events regarding racial discrimination. The last payments from Wentworth's PACs to Victor Strategies were made on Feb. 5, with the notation "bookkeeping no other vendor." It's important to note that search warrant affidavits contain what investigators think they can prove if a judge authorizes a search warrant. When I reached out to GCSI CEO Mike Hawks to discuss his firm's relationship with Lee Chatfield as well as all that dough they spent spent on him GCSI Vice President Barb Farrah sent a statement that said the firm prides itself "on the highest level of professionalism and ethical conduct" and that they "comply with all campaign finance laws, lobbying requirements and required disclosures under Michigan law.". [6] Chatfield had previously introduced a bill in the Michigan House of Representatives to make handgun registration voluntary. The Michigan state legislature is working to ensure that its residents have oversight over Democratic Gov. 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