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Did Gov. Snyder lie under oath in Flint water crisis, Congress wants answers

Posted at 4:49 PM, Oct 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-09 17:13:55-04

Flint Congressman Dan Kildee is talking with members of the Congressional Committee where Governor Risk Snyder testified in March of last year. 

Did the Governor tell the truth about what he knew and when in the Flint Water Crisis and the outbreak of Legionnaires Disease? Twelve people died and dozens were sickened in 2014 and 2015 right after Flint switched water sources. 

“This is really serious. This is not something that can be just sort of sloughed off by the Governor or he can say you know, he didn’t have his timeline correct. He was very explicit when he testified,” Congressman Kildee told 7 Investigator Jim Kiertzner.

The Governor testified before the Congressional Committee on March 17, 2016, “In terms of Legionnaires, I didn’t learn of that until 2016. As soon as I became aware of that, I held a press conference the next day.” 

During the press conference in January, here’s what the Governor said, “In terms of the spike, in terms of the specific numbers, I was told about that a couple of days ago and basically, um, I thought it should be shared.”

The bombshell came out in court Friday in Flint, testimony from the Governor’s appointee to handle the Flint Crisis, Harvey Hollins. 

On the witness stand, he had this exchange with Special Prosecutor Todd Flood:

“And are you telling the truth today?"

"I took and oath,” Hollins testified. 

The testimony came in the hearing to determine if there’s enough evidence for the Director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to stand trial in front of a jury on charges of Involuntary Manslaughter and Misconduct in Office. 

The evidence is Lyon knew about the Legionnaires outbreak in January of 2015 and did not issue any health alerts. 

The Governor's office issued the following statement when asked about Rep. Kildee's questions:

If it is Democrat members issuing news releases to politicize the crisis, that is nothing new and does not warrant a response.

If we receive official communications from the full committee that ask for a response, we will comply, just as we have all along.