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<\/p>\nA former campaign staffer for Michigan\u2019s Democrat Attorney General Dana Nessel allegedly said he used Ukrainian hackers to manipulate the election and help Nessel win the state\u2019s closest race in 2018.<\/h2>\n
The bombshell allegation was buried in a federal extortion lawsuit against Dmitriy Movsesyan, who worked on Nessel\u2019s campaign at various points in 2017 and 2018. (Full disclosure: This columnist funded an independent expenditure against Nessel\u2019s eventual 2018 Republican opponent, Tom Leonard, during the GOP nomination campaign.)<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Detroit Free Press<\/em>, a politically liberal newspaper that\u00a0endorsed<\/a>\u00a0Nessel in 2018,\u00a0published an extensive report<\/a>\u00a0on the lawsuit early Friday, but omitted any reference to the allegation of election manipulation. This columnist\u00a0first reported<\/a>\u00a0the allegation.<\/p>\n The\u00a0lawsuit<\/a>, filed by Executive Car Rental owner Maher Waad in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, claims Movsesyan \u201cboasted of his underworld network of Ukranian [sic] computer hackers, who Movsesyan claimed manipulated the 2018 Michigan Attorney General Election.\u201d<\/p>\n Obviously, this is a serious allegation that should be investigated by the U.S. Justice Department. The Michigan Legislature should also launch an inquiry, though it lacks the investigative expertise and resources for such a probe.<\/p>\n The allegation is also on par with George Papadopoulos\u2019s infamous comments over heavy drinks to an Australian diplomat \u2014 comments that ignited Robert Mueller\u2019s witch hunt into now-disproven claims of collusion by Donald Trump\u2019s 2016 campaign.<\/p>\n It is unclear exactly what Movsesyan did for Nessel, as there are conflicting reports and statements. His\u00a0social media profile on LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0says he was the campaign\u2019s communications director in 2017. Meanwhile, an official spokeswoman at the Michigan Department of Attorney General downplayed Movsesyan\u2019s role, calling the allegation \u201chorseshit\u201d and saying he was an information technology consultant. However, this conflicts with a\u00a02018 report by MIRS News<\/a>\u00a0that described Movsesyan as the now-attorney general\u2019s \u201coriginal marketing person.\u201d<\/p>\n Regardless of his exact title, Movsesyan was paid $21,651 by Nessel\u2019s campaign, according to both state campaign finance records and published reports.<\/p>\n The lawsuit accuses Movsesyan of extorting Waad for $9,500 not long after Nessel began an investigation into Executive Car Rental for unlawful business practices. He allegedly sent multiple text messages offering to influence the attorney general.<\/p>\n One message included a selfie-style picture of him driving Nessel. \u201cOh look, it\u2019s your favorite attorney general in my back seat,\u201d Movsesyan is accused of texting.<\/p>\n It is far too early to know all of the facts, but this allegation has potentially wide-ranging implications, not least because Nessel has been relentless in\u00a0carrying out<\/a>\u00a0a hard-left agenda.<\/p>\n Nessel\u2019s greatest hits since taking office in January have included\u00a0launching a special unit<\/a>\u00a0to surveil political opponents under the guise of so-called hate crimes,\u00a0declining to enforce laws<\/a>\u00a0that conflicted with her ideology and\u00a0uniting Muslims and Roman Catholics<\/a>\u00a0to denounce her threat to religious freedom. Even liberal writers have\u00a0described<\/a>\u00a0Nessel as \u201cbrash\u201d for turning \u201cher liberal politics into policy.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps what is most astonishing about this latest allegation is the almost complete silence from the Michigan press corps. Only the\u00a0Detroit News<\/em>\u00a0picked up<\/a>\u00a0the election manipulation allegation in their story about the extortion lawsuit.<\/p>\n Sure, this news broke on a Friday, but I would be kidding myself if I didn\u2019t think Nessel, being a Democrat, isn\u2019t getting the benefit of the doubt or at least an initial pass from overworked journalists who would rather go home early than spend the day reporting an admittedly complicated story. At the very minimum, you would think there might be a few tweets.<\/p>\n After all, the allegation came in a lawsuit, which should give it infinitely more creditability than anything an intoxicated Papadopoulos said.<\/p>\n Dennis Lennox is a Michigan political commentator and public affairs consultant. Follow\u00a0@dennislennox<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter.<\/em><\/p>\n