Finley: Partisan virus deal traced to Whitmer team

The spinners on Whitmer’s inept communications staff will have a tougher time making right the deceptions the administration engaged in involving the lucrative COVID-19 contact tracing contract the state gave to a Democratic operative.

When The Detroit News in April got wind of the deal reached with Mike Kolehouse, who provides technical support to the Democratic party, Whitmer denied knowledge of the contract, worth more than $194,00, and ordered it canceled.

But emails obtained by Bridge Michigan under a public records request challenge the veracity of that statement.

An email from Andrea Taverna, a senior adviser to the Department of Health and Human Services, indicates the governor’s team was on board with the contract before it was signed.

“We got the green light from EOG (the executive office of the governor) to move forward with a slightly different organizational arrangement of the contact tracing volunteer work,” Taverna wrote in an email.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/nolan-finley/2020/05/29/finley-partisan-virus-deal-traced-whitmer-team/5266625002