It's about time. The attorney general of Michigan announced this morning that two officials will face criminal charges related to the Flint water crisis.
Dr. Eden Wells is charged with obstruction of justice and lying to a police officer. She is accused of attempting to withhold funding for programs designed to help the victims of the crisis, and then allegedly lied to an investigator about material facts related to the investigation.
Nick Lyon, head of the Department of Health and Human Services, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and other crimes. He's accused of failing to alert the public of a Legionnaires' disease outbreak and is also charged in connection with the death of Robert Skidmore.
Skidmore, 85, of Mt. Morris, died of Legionnaires’ disease. He was one of multiple Flint-area residents who died of Legionnaires’ following the switch from the Detroit Water and Sewer Department to the Flint River, according to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office.
Lyon reportedly knew about the Legionnaire's outbreak a YEAR before he informed the public. And good on the AG for charging Wells with withholding funding as a legal matter. She was being a stingy, austerity-addicted Republican and it caused irreparable harm for which she should be held responsible.
I agree with Charlie Pierce: "There are drug networks that have done less damage" than the officials in the Rick Snyder administration.
