Attorney General Bill Schuette hit a major road block in his campaign for Governor today after one of his Republican primary opponents, Lt. Governor Brian Calley, accused him of hiding millions of dollars worth of assets from the public.
Schuette said Calley’s claims are untrue despite multiple documents showing Schuette involved in major real estate deals in the Virgin Islands during his time as Attorney General.
Calley confronted Schuette about the issue at a candidate forum hosted by members of the Michigan media.
According to the Detroit News:
“Calley accused Schuette of hypocrisy during the forum that featured all seven Republican and Democratic candidates running for governor. Schuette vowed to actively push financial disclosure laws for elected officials if elected governor, but Calley questioned why he hasn’t done so himself.
“If you’re not hiding anything, fill out the form you’re proposing,” Calley said moments after his campaign released documents describing signed financial transactions involving the sale of millions of dollars of property in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Schuette was listed as a registered agent for the company and signed some of the documents while serving as attorney general.
The attorney general maintained that all his assets are in a blind trust and noted he has released his personal income taxes each year. He called Calley’s accusations “pathetic.”
“You’re “so desperate, so behind,” Schuette told Calley in a heated exchange.”
.@SchuetteOnDuty signed a quit-claim deed for Vircom LLC in the U.S. Virgin Islands as recently as January 2017. #MIgov
Claims that he doesn’t know what @briancalley is talking about is a bold-faced Trumpian lie. pic.twitter.com/veMRIhdXDM
— Emma Brown (@EmBrownDC) May 10, 2018
The Calley campaign ripped Schuette in a press release coinciding with the confrontation.
“Newly uncovered documents reveal that Bill Schuette orchestrated the sales and purchases of offshore assets while Attorney General. Schuette’s direct involvement reveals a stunning level of hypocrisy by the Attorney General and raises serious questions about potential conflicts of interest that Schuette may be hiding,” the release said. “The transactions occurred despite Schuette pledging that his assets are in a blind trust. Schuette’s offshore deals raise questions as to why he refuses to fill out the federal financial disclosure forms that are a centerpiece of his own ethics plan. What else is Bill Schuette hiding?”
Schuette, when I asked about Calley accusations and docs that appear to show his signature, “I have no idea what he’s talking about.” Our interaction: pic.twitter.com/mF2Yho0Ouj
— Jonathan Oosting (@jonathanoosting) May 10, 2018
