'Dark Money' Scheme: 2 MI GOP Fundraisers Charged In Campaign Against Whitmer

MICHIGAN — Two longtime Republican political fundraisers are facing charges after trying to hide the names of people who donated to a campaign seeking to weaken Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Michigan Attorney's General Office.

Heather Lombardini, 47, of Okemos, was charged with three misdemeanor violations of Michigan’s campaign finance act and a felony charge of uttering and publishing an untrue affidavit.

If convicted on the uttering and publishing, she faces up to 14 years in prison.

Sandy Baxter, 63, of Caledonia was charged with one count of perjury (lying under oath to investigators). If convicted, she faces up to 15 years in prison.

Lombardini and Baxter helped raise money for the Unlock Michigan ballot proposal committee in 2020 and 2021 through two non-profit organizations: Michigan! My Michigan! and Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, according to the attorney's general office.

Lombardini was the treasurer for Michigan! My Michigan! and president of Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility (MCFR), according to the attorney's general office.

The two non-profits contributed roughly $2.7 million to fund the proposal, and since the money went through a non-profit, the organization doesn't have to identify their donors.

However, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the names should have been revealed under current Michigan campaign finance laws. In other words, the groups secretly raised money for the campaign without the transparency required under the law.

A complaint claiming former Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey coordinated the effort with Lombardini sparked the investigation, according to the attorney's general office.

Although Nessel said investigators found "clear" evidence Shirkey worked with Lombardini, Shirkey will not face charges because he did not work as an officer for either non-profit, according to the attorney's general office.

"While Mike Shirkey was Senate Majority Leader during these events and absolutely should have known better, political staff and consultants are what keeps Michigan's campaign fundraising machine moving regardless of who is in office," Nessel said in a Wednesday news conference announcing the charges. "Without these hired guns, these dark money operations would never exist."

Nessel also called for harsher penalties for Michigan campaign finance law violations and reforms to it.

"I want to make it clear that both elected officials and their staff should be held accountable under the full extent of the law when their actions arise to criminality," Nessel said. "However, this is yet another example of how our current campaign finance laws lack the appropriate language and teeth necessary to hold all bad actors accountable."

The Unlock Michigan campaign sought to repeal the 1945 Emergency Powers Law that Whitmer used to issue COVID-19 executive orders. By September 2020, the campaign had more than 400,000 signatures. But before lawmakers had a chance to vote on the petition, Nessel's office it was looking into the petition that it may have collected paid signature collectors. That investigation did not result in any criminal charges.

The 1945 law that Whitmer used to issue COVID-19 executive orders was struck down as unconstitutional by the Michigan Supreme Court in October 2020.