![\"Bill](\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/gov-gretchen-whitmer-d-michigan-smiling-23-getty-640x480-1.jpg\")
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By JORDAN DIXON-HAMILTON
\nBREITBART.com<\/p>\n
A consultant for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer\u2019s (D-MI) administration sent a message to a Whitmer adviser in a different language as part of a \u201ccalculated\u201d effort to \u201cconceal\u201d the message from public records, a lawsuit alleges.<\/p>\n
The communication discussed the 2021 lead water crisis in Benton Harbor, Michigan, a town whose residents ultimately sued Whitmer over her administration\u2019s \u201cdeliberate indifference\u201d to addressing the crisis. For years, the town\u2019s water system exceeded federal standards of lead contamination.<\/p>\n
Consultant Andy Leavitt\u00a0sent<\/a>\u00a0a message to a Whitmer adviser in Greek,\u00a0<\/span>a move that \u201cappears to be calculated to conceal the statements,\u201d a class action lawsuit against Whitmer\u2019s government alleges.<\/p>\n As the\u00a0Washington Free Beacon<\/i>\u00a0reported<\/a>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One month before the residents filed their suit, Leavitt\u2014a partner at a Michigan strategic consulting firm who was advising Whitmer\u2019s energy department\u2014emailed Whitmer senior adviser Kara Cook to express his concern over the administration\u2019s \u201cnot acceptable\u201d warnings to Benton Harbor residents. Leavitt\u2019s top-line assessment of the warnings, however, was written using the Greek alphabet. Changing Leavitt\u2019s font to standard English reveals the following message: \u201cHot off the presses. As I warned there are some major red flags. It seems like we are back at square one having not learned from Flint.\u201d<\/p>\n While the lawsuit eventually led to the discovery of Leavitt\u2019s message, the email likely would have remained hidden from the public if Whitmer\u2019s administration had not faced legal action. That\u2019s because Michigan\u2019s public records department is unable to electronically search for records that use Greek letters, government correspondence obtained by the Washington Free Beacon shows. As a result, even if a concerned citizen or political group caught wind of the tactic and requested energy department communications that use certain Greek letters, Michigan\u2019s government would have been unable to provide them without searching for the letters manually, an extremely expensive process that can take years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Interestingly, Whitmer pledged to\u00a0reverse\u00a0<\/a>a policy that the governor\u2019s office is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) during her 2018 campaign. However, she has yet to reverse that policy after four years in office.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n