A Special Invitation?
The governor's team has invited me to a special meet-and-greet where they will answer all of my questions.
AT 3:17 P.M. YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, I received an email from the Executive Office of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Describing an upcoming one-hour special event near my home (hours away from Lansing) with “no formal agenda,” the email included a detailed message with an attached image file of an invitation (see screenshot above) inviting me to meet with members of Gov. Whitmer’s team, as well as representatives from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency, to ask them any questions I might have about anything I might be concerned about, regarding any topic.
I’ve never received any other emails from Gov. Whitmer’s Executive Office previously, so I’m not sure how my email address ended up on this list (I have a specific email address that I use to sign up for mailing lists, and my professional email address isn’t it). I’m also not sure how the senders knew this particular event was “in my area.”
It was obviously just an odd coincidence but, considering my pending FOIA litigation against MDHHS and ongoing pandemic investigation, coupled with the fact that MDHHS and UIA both worked with McKinsey & Company during the pandemic in Michigan — a fact that can be confirmed by government contracts (in UIA’s case, at least) and emails contained in public records — I don’t plan on attending the event.
Still, since the email said I should “feel free to share [the invitation] with friends or family that [I] think would be interested,” I’ve decided to share it with my readers, who I consider friends.
Again, I’m sure the event and its particular hosts are just a funny coincidence. But in any case, I think I’ll just contact each of the agencies in question the old-fashioned way — directly and as needed — with any questions I might have during the course of my reporting.
— e.
This seems to be an invitation into the dragon's den. Be cautious!
Yeah my initial response was maybe they wanted to "explain" the unredacted docs that suddenly showed up, which would've made it an opportunity. But then, as you say, with a lawsuit pending, meeting with them off the record at a "random" gathering sounds like a bad choice. I guess they can claim deniability by saying it was an open meeting that others were also invited to attend and had nothing to do with the case, but it smells fishy.