LANSING — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is launching a criminal investigation into Unlock Michigan — the committee collecting signatures to repeal an emergency powers law Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is using to address the coronavirus pandemic — Nessel said Monday.

Nessel's announcement follows a series of Detroit Free Press articles about questionable tactics employed by paid signature collectors working on the Unlock Michigan campaign.

"Our ballot initiative process allows efforts with strong public support to be presented to the Legislature," Nessel said in a news release. "But that process becomes tainted when petition circulators manipulate and cheat to serve their own agendas. My office will investigate these allegations, and if there is a violation of law, we will prosecute those responsible.”

The Free Press reported Sept. 22 on a Sept. 4 Unlock Michigan training session for signature collectors that was secretly recorded by a representative of Keep Michigan Safe, the group opposing efforts to repeal the Emergency Powers of Governor Act of 1945, which Whitmer is using as the legal underpinning for emergency orders related to the coronavirus pandemic.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/09/28/nessel-criminal-investigation-unlock-michigan-whitmer-emergency-powers/3559391001/