After Detroit Inspector General Bombshell:
Fire City Officials Caught Destroying Public Records

Report Finds High-Ranking City Officials Behind Scheme to Hide Duggan Scandal from Local Press

LANSING, MI, October 21, 2019 – The Michigan Freedom Fund today demanded Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan move to restore voters’ faith in City Hall by terminating the employment of three high-ranking officials indicted in a scathing report from the Office of Inspector General for the City of Detroit for destroying public records.

According to the Inspector General, Duggan’s Chief of Staff Alexis Wiley, Chief Development Officer Ryan Friedrichs and Deputy Chief Development Officer Sirene Abou-Chakra engaged in an unethical and illegal cover-up attempt, pushing to destroy public records related to a Mayoral scandal involving his personal relationships and Wayne State University’s “Make Your Date” program.

Friedrichs and Abou-Chakra admitted their wrongdoing, according to the report.  The Inspector General has formally recommended all three high-ranking officials receive “appropriate discipline.”

Their actions are also the subject of an ongoing legal investigation by the office of Michigan’s Attorney General.

“Alexis Wiley, Ryan Friedrichs and Sirene Abou-Chakra have violated the trust of Detroit voters, and their ethical responsibility to deliver honest and transparent service to the residents who pay their salary,” said Michigan Freedom Fund Executive Director Tony Daunt.  “The Inspector General has described their move to hide and destroy public records “egregious.” The Mayor should fire them this afternoon.”

Daunt demanded Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel pursue the truth and justice in her office’s legal investigation of the cover-up, in spite of potential conflicts of interest, including her political relationship with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.  Friedrichs is the husband of Ms. Benson.

“Voters deserve accountability, not cover-ups, both from the City of Detroit and the Department of the Attorney General,” said Daunt.

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