Fay Beydoun’s indictment on charges stemming from the misuse of a $20 million grant from the state of Michigan addresses just half of the concern rising out of this scandal.
As important as how she spent the grant is how she obtained it in the first place, and who helped her along the way.
In leveling 16 felony charges against Beydoun for improperly spending taxpayer money, Attorney General Dana Nessel hinted she received special treatment from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer administration.
But Nessel twisted herself into a knot to avoid saying that directly.
“I’ve seen many, many times where clearly a person, because they have some sort of most favored status as an ally or a donor or a supporter to a high-level person, they get a grant that maybe somebody else would be better suited for,” Nessel said. “But it doesn’t mean … that you know the money is going to be misspent.”
No, but it does suggest a possible breach of fiduciary responsibility by those responsible for safeguarding taxpayer money, and perhaps an element of pay-to-play. The Detroit News reported Friday Beydoun and her business partner, Shariff Hussein, made $130,000 in contributions to key politicians in the months leading up to the 2022 appropriation. That included two $50,000 donations to Whitmer’s reelection campaign.
Beydoun meets Nessel’s description as an ally, donor and supporter of an important person, namely Whitmer. She was an officer of the state Democratic Party, a fundraising bundler for Whitmer and was appointed to the MEDC by the governor.
Whitmer has professed ignorance of how the $20 million made its way to Beydoun, But the indictment and reporting by The News indicate her office was deeply involved in the process.
Beydoun, who initially sought the money on behalf of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce, didn’t even have a business address when the Legislature approved the grant. An MEDC official who reviewed her skimpy proposal to establish a business accelerator for attracting international investment called it “one of the worst concepts I had ever seen.”
She got the grant anyway.
The AG’s office uncovered evidence Beydoun had a meeting scheduled with Whitmer in December 2021, but couldn’t verify whether it took place. Beyoun’s outline for the meeting mentions a $25 million funding request and $330,000 she had “delivered” in Whitmer’s first term. What that refers to is unclear, but Nessel’s office believes it involves fundraising.
Just as curious is a text sent by Hussein to then-House Speaker Jason Wentworth informing him the project “has been cleared by the governor” and that there will be “no negotiations on the line item and it will be understood that the agreement is in place to move forward.”
That conflicts with Whitmer’s depiction that the Republican Wentworth, who is listed as the grant’s sponsor, was the driver of the earmark.
There’s also a question about how the money Beydoun received morphed from a competitive grant to a direct legislative appropriation.
The Republican-controlled House should convene hearings on how this boondoggle was created, and put the governor on the witness list. Additionally, it should examine the rest of the grants awarded in that spending flurry in search of similar abuses.
We have suggested in the past that Whitmer, MEDC Director Quentin Messer and the other players in this shady business should be deposed under oath. That must happen to clear the cloud of suspicion from over the administration.
Beydoun will have to answer in court for how she used taxpayer money. Whitmer and others in her administration must be compelled to explain publicly how a political crony was able to turn a half-baked proposal into a $20 million windfall she had no plan for spending beyond enriching herself.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Whitmer team must answer for how Beydoun got grant | Our View
Reporting by The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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