NEW: Potential conflicts of interest for MI AG @dananessel in #FlintWaterCrisis investigation —her comms director consulted for ex MI Gov Snyder's admin & Snyder's Flint emergency manager whose charges were dropped)
Nessel's comms director, a PR guru in MI, publicly supported Snyder & his admin against Flint water culpability, advised top Snyder officials on their water crisis response (& racial undertones) & donated to Snyder. This comes after our previous bombshell
Former Genesee County prosecutor Art Busch told us Nessel's comms director poses a "political problem" for her.
“If she [Nessel] has somebody that’s cheering against her from the inside of her office that kind of begs the question why she doesn’t wall that person off.”
Leading Flint activist @FlintGate on revelations about Nessel's comms director: "It just solidifies what we in Flint felt in our guts; that the actions and inaction of the current AG are nothing but political ploys to help their wealthy friends get away with the harm caused..."
This past Saturday, on the 6th anniversary of the #FlintWaterCrisis, the statute of limitations for new felony misconduct charges passed with no new charges. In 16 months, AG Nessel's office hasn't charged anyone and dropped charges against 8 top state/city officials.
Many don't realize that the ongoing #FlintWaterCrisis and #COVID-19 pandemic are connected. Flint is part of Genesee County---which has an 11.5% COVID fatality rate.
Flint/Flint Township make up 50% of the cases.
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🚨UPDATE on Lithium plant fire near "Salad Bowl of America" (produces 70% of U.S. greens): 2 weeks later, scientists find big spike in Nickel, Manganese, & Cobalt in soil 2 miles away.
NYU toxicologist tells me at high levels, metals "can get into certain produce or fruit"
🧵
Days after the fire, a Monterey County health official said it was not "prudent" to test for soil because "we don't necessarily know what we're looking for at this time."
Residents I've interviewed have suffered from nosebleeds, headaches, lung burning, asthma, fatigue, metallic taste in mouth (among other). On heavy metals being found in soil near plant, hazardous waste expert Sil Caggiano tells me...
🚨UPDATE on CA Lithium Battery Plant fire near "Salad Bowl of America" (produces 70% of our greens)
-Residents have nosebleeds, lung burning, headache, rash, metallic mouth taste
-Health official says not testing soil bc "we don't necessarily know what we're looking for"
🧵...
Other concerning developments:
-Several sources tell @StatusCoup they have observed environmental officials conducting air quality testing by slightly rolling down their car windows and sticking out a handheld device for less than a minute.
...
-Vistra, owner of the Northern CA Lithium Battery plant, is using CTEH as its contractor to conduct air testing. Controversy has followed CTEH for over a decade as its testing practices and data have been called into question related to BP oil spill, Hurricane Katrina, and more motherjones.com/environment/20…
🧵Unlike 99% of corporate pundits bloviating that "Dems just need their own Joe Rogan," I leave the studio & have reported on-the-ground & have interviewed thousands of working class people across the U.S. for a decade...
Dem lost not bc of what podcasts they do or don't do...
They also didn't lose bc their "messaging" failed—the go-to spin of wealthy, out-of-touch pundits for as long as I've covered politics. Routinely talking to working class people--on the left and right--I can tell you why Dems:
🧵MAJOR takeaway ignored by Dems in losing to Trump twice in 8 years:
Combined Millennial/Gen Z turnout—age 18-44—declined by 7% from 2016 (44% of voters) to 2024 (37% of voters). This was age group @BernieSanders won & galvanized—but Dems & media took him out by the knees.
...
@BernieSanders 2016 (Bernie wave)
18-44
44% of voters
18-29
19% of voters
@BernieSanders 2020
18-44
40% of voters
(4 point turnout drop vs 2016)
18-29
17% of voters
(2 point turnout drop by 2016)
***Lots of young voters felt Dems came together to stop Bernie from winning Dem primary
Of course, the limousine liberals on Morning Joe are concluding Harris lost bc Dems went too "woke" & push "cancel culture." REALITY why she lost:
🚨75% voters said inflation had severe or moderate impact
🚨73% voters said dissatisfied or angry about way things are going
A 🧵
🚨Contrary to decades-long corporate media propaganda of a"strong economy"—citing Wall Street, not Main Street metrics like stock market, unemployment #, GDP— 67% of voters said economy is not so good or poor
🚨45% of voters said family financial situation worse than 4 years ago
🚨Trump got 45% of the Latino vote,➕25 point gain from Trump (best # for a Republican since George W. Bush in 2004)...
@BernieSanders won Latinos in 2020 Dem primary on bold, progressive economic message; Harris/Dems message to Latinos was on Trump sabotaging border bill
🧵BEYOND HORSE RACE: As media does post-debate narrative—Kamala strong (yet substance-less) vs Trump unhinged, here's the ACTUAL CRISES' ignored at debate:
🚨64% live paycheck to paycheck
🚨37% can’t afford $400 emergency
🚨Homelessness⬆️12%
🚨Top 1% own over 1/3 of U.S wealth
🚨Water poisoned across U.S.
🚨Growing list of environmental sacrifice zones (Flint, East Palestine, Kalamazoo, etc)
🚨U.S. life expectancy down while other countries up
🚨Record level of corporate $ purchasing politicians/elections
🚨As U.S. labor sees a resurgence, mass corporate union-busting goes unpunished
🚨Big oil continues ramming dangerous pipelines through poor indigenous/Black/brown communities
🚨 Private and public colleges grossly gouging tuition costs creating generation of youth debt slaves