A Michigan state representative has filed legislation to impeach Governor Gretchen Whitmer over her draconian handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
State Representative Matt Maddock (R-Milford Township) filed the impeachment legislation Tuesday morning, which is ostensibly the first of its kind in Michigan state history.
Maddock announced his intention to impeach the governor on Sunday, tweeting: “Today, myself and a growing list of Michigan Legislators have decided that @GovWhitmer has crossed the line and will be calling for #ImpeachWhitmer hearings. The list of violations is long and the call is overdue.”
“Michiganders have been beaten down for too long. Restaurants losing dine-in customers watching their life’s work circle the drains. Thank you to my fellow legislators who are calling for impeachment hearings of @GovWhitmer,” Maddock wrote in another tweet.
Today, myself and a growing list of Michigan Legislators have decided that @GovWhitmer has crossed the line and will be calling for #ImpeachWhitmer hearings. The list of violations is long and the call is overdue #MIGOP #MILEG
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— Matt Maddock (@matthewmaddock) November 16, 2020
Michiganders have been beaten down for too long. Restaurants losing dine-in customers watching their life’s work circle the drains. Thank you to my fellow legislators who are calling for impeachment hearings of @GovWhitmer #FreeMichigan #ImpeachWhitmer #MILEG @realDonaldTrump
— Matt Maddock (@matthewmaddock) November 17, 2020
This impeachment effort comes on the heels of the governor’s announcement of new COVID restrictions. Although the orders do not come directly from her but from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, many have argued that Whitmer is using the DHHS to circumvent the Michigan Supreme Court’s recent ruling that her executively ordered restrictions were unconstitutional.
Governor Whitmer has received widespread condemnation from conservatives in Michigan, conservatives across the US, and even from President Donald Trump for her exceptionally harsh restrictions. In a Facebook post, Maddock accused her of ignoring court orders, due process, and the legislature; violating the Michigan Constitution; weaponizing contact tracing databases; politicizing the shutdown of schools; and causing the death of thousands with her policy of putting COVID-19 patients in nursing homes.
Brandon Hall, Chairman of the Campaign to Impeach Gretchen Whitmer, said the following on the impeachment legislation via Moody on the Market: “Today’s historic news that State Representative Matt Maddock will introduce an impeachment resolution to address Gretchen Whitmer’s crimes and corruption is tremendously encouraging for families throughout Michigan, especially as another draconian lockdown looms. Despite social media censorship and paid attacks against me by Gretchen Whitmer, despite the Lansing swamp fighting us at every turn, and despite repeated excuses from Republican legislators, impeachment is now moving forward with unprecedented momentum.”
Hall added: “We must move quickly to hold the vote, initiate impeachment hearings that will include subpoenas as well as sworn testimony, and then put Gretchen Whitmer on trial in the Senate.”
Those who have joined Maddock in supporting impeachment hearings include State Representatives Shane Hernandez, Ryan Berman, Beau LaFave, Mary Whiteford, Daire Rendon, and Lynn Afendoulis, as well as Senators Tom Barrett, Dan Lauwers, and Lana Theis. Incoming state reps who support the impeachment effort include Ken Borton, Patrick Outman, and Steve Carra.
Big League Politics has reported much on Governor Whitmer’s tyranny over the past several months. Those articles can be read here.