MichMash: Unpacking the criminal investigation of Fay Beydoun
A new report by The Detroit News has led to new questions about the circumstances behind a $20 million grant awarded to the major Democratic donor.
This week on MichMash, WDET's Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service's Zach Gorchow talk with Detroit News reporters Craig Mauger and Beth LeBlanc to break down their coverage of the criminal investigation into Democratic donor Fay Beydoun.
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In this episode:- How did the $20 million grant for Beydoun’s nonprofit get approved?
- What role did MEDC play in getting the funding approved?
- How much did the governor’s office know?
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office opened an investigation into the $20 million grant awarded to Beydoun’s nonprofit business accelerator last April, after reporting by The Detroit News highlighted how the funding was being misused.
The $20 million grant — which has since been canceled — had been earmarked in the state Legislature’s 2022 budget for the nonprofit Global Link International, which was incorporated just 10 days before the spending bill’s passage.
But the latest reporting from Mauger and LeBlanc have led to new questions about the circumstances behind the grant’s approval, and what exactly the MEDC and governor’s office knew at the time it was approved.
“There’s a lot more going on here than the governor’s office has informed voters of ever before,” Mauger said. “Essentially the governor’s team has tried to put this all on former House Speaker Jason Wentworth and saying basically that [state] House Republicans put this $20 million grant into the budget at the last second and the governor just signed off on the budget.”
An email obtained by The Detroit News last week sent by MEDC CEO Quentin Messer Jr. to state officials showed that Beydoun had advocated for a similar $15 million grant that had been included in Whitmer’s initial budget recommendation in February 2022.
“We know that eventually in the budget there was a direct earmark for [Beydoun] with language that is very very similar to that international business accelerator,” LaBlanc said. “…the common thread through all of that is Beydoun’s involvement, and the fact that she would qualify for this [grant] at the end of the day.”
Whitmer has not responded to Mauger and LeBlanc’s latest reporting on the matter.
More from WDET:
- Nessel charges politically connected former legislative staffer with corruption
- Detroit Evening Report: A MichMash lookahead; Detroit eases business licensing + more
- MichMash: State Sen. Jeremy Moss seeking more transparency in Michigan government
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