Group aiming to sabotage Whitmer’s Covid policies funded by dark money
Non-profit affiliated with utility DTE Energy funded effort to repeal Michigan governor’s emergency order powers
A dark money non-profit linked to power utility DTE Energy funded a group behind the effort to repeal the emergency order powers of Michigan’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, and end the state’s Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions.
Internal Revenue Service records revealing a $100,000 donation made in 2020 were not publicly available until late 2021, and show the funds were contributed to another dark money non-profit that served as a primary funder of the Unlock Michigan repeal campaign.
Industry observers say utilities generally opposed lockdowns: during the first wave of Covid restrictions, many voluntarily or were required to stop shutting off service to financially struggling customers.
Unlock Michigan was ultimately successful, complicating Whitmer’s efforts to order restrictions and ending any serious discussion of shutoff moratoriums that included DTE, the state’s largest energy utility.
“DTE is willing to use an incredible amount of money by any means that they have to try to control our state’s politics,” said Art Reyes, director for We the People MI, a consumer advocacy group that campaigns for utility industry reform.
Michigan was a global flashpoint in the cultural and political fight over how governments should handle Covid. Whitmer’s lockdowns were effective at controlling the virus’s spread, but rightwing opposition to the restrictions culminated with multiple protests and armed protesters storming the state legislature in mid-2020.
Against this backdrop, the DTE-affiliated dark money group made its contribution....
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