Highlights from Gov. Snyder’s Testimony Before Congress About Flint Water Crisis

On Thursday morning, Governor Rick Snyder–the Governor of Michigan whose series of absurd fuck ups (in conjunction with others in his administration) caused the Flint Water Crisis–testified before Congress in D.C., about his role in the lead poisoning of the city’s water. Although it’s not yet clear exactly what will happen as a result of the hearings, and Governor Snyder maintains that he doesn’t plan on resigning, I’m remaining hopeful that the families in Flint will finally get some justice in the coming months.

Unsurprisingly, the congressional hearing got very heated at points. Blame for the crisis was shuffled from Governor Snyder to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and then back again (and again). It seemed like the general strategy for both parties was, “Yes we messed up, but they messed up more!” Regardless, Congress members didn’t hold back. They were relentless with both their questions and their criticisms, and the frustration appropriately showed.

Several families and residents of Flint, Michigan also traveled to D.C. in hopes of finally getting to meet with Governor Snyder directly. Unfortunately, that meeting didn’t happen, which seems ridiculous to me–especially given that Governor Snyder claims so fervently to have his constituents’ best interest at heart post-crisis. The lead poisoning caused health complications for many residents, and resulted in a water shortage in the city. Both of these disproportionately affect working class families and people of color in Flint, who now depend on countless bottles of water to get through the day. Not only is this a serious environmental hazard, it is also a reproductive justice issue which has led many mothers to take charge in the movement for better water. Given the severity of this situation, residents shouldn’t have to travel to the country’s capitol in the hopes of finally meeting with their own governor, only to be disappointed. Again.

The full hearing was an hour and a half long and if you have the time, I totally recommend watching it. Below are some of the highlights:

“There’s no doubt in my mind that if a corporate CEO did what Governor Snyder’s administration has done, he would be hauled up on criminal chargers.” – Representative Elijah Cummings

I don’t know that I have as much faith in our justice system–given things like the enormous bank bailouts during the housing crisis that resulted in naan jail time for anyone, and the nuclear waste dump currently leaking radioactive material in St. Louis that will also likely result in naan jail time for any officials–but I can certainly appreciate the sentiment.

“Plausible deniability only works when it’s plausible,” he said, “And I’m not buying that you didn’t know any of this until October 2015. You were not in a medically induced coma for a year. And I’ve had about enough of your false contrition and your phony apologies.” – Representative Matt Cartwright

Well. Go off, sir.

At one point during the hearing, Representative Gerald Connolly aggressively challenged Governor Snyder’s choice to appoint emergency managers to Flint, suggesting that the Governor’s decision was both irresponsible and negligent, and did nothing to address the crisis. The best part? Rep. Connolly illustrated his point by actually having two of his assistants physically present two huge stacks of paper totally 8,000 pages worth of official documents that were issued by Snyder’s emergency managers, saying that not one of those documents mentioned anything at all about the lead in Flint’s water. 8,000 pages and not ?? one ?? mention ??.

This, my friends, is what we call receipts.

Hopefully, given all of this, criminal charges–or at the bare minimum, resignations–will be an obvious next step in the ongoing investigation. And hopefully, the conclusions from these investigations will lead to some sort of financial support for the families in Flint who have been, or will be, burdened by medical bills as result of lead poisoning.

Header image via.