A government-media showdown is a bad move, particularly for a 2018 gubernatorial hopeful, Michigan's attorney general decided.
Bill Schuette withdrew subpoenas from his office for information from reporters Cynthia Canty of Michigan Radio and Dana Liebelson, a national Huffington Post writer based in Washington, D.C.
"It should not have happened. It won't happen again," Schuette said in a conference call Thursday evening with Michigan journalists, according to Tracy Samilton of Michigan Radio. He also called Canty and Liebelson earlier to apologize for the action by an unnamed staff lawyer.
Cynbthia Canty of Michigan Radio (left) and Dana Liebelson of Huffington Post's national politics staff.
In her online report, Samilton writes:
The subpoenas demanded the notes and interviews related to a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse of minors in state prisons.
One of the subpoenas was served on Monday on Cynthia Canty, the host of Michigan's Radio's "Stateside" show. She had interviewed the attorney filing the lawsuit, Deborah LaBelle, for her show. The subpoena sought the raw, unedited interview as well as other materials.
The other subpoenas were served on Dana Liebelson of the Huffington Post last week. Liebelson had interviewed, in prison, two of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Schuette told the two women, as well as reporters in the group call, about a policy change. "In the future, if a subpoena will be issued against a reporter, the only time a subpoena will be issued is if I make the decision myself, period."
Canty tweeted:
Got a call today from @SchuetteOnDuty about subpoena. Acknowledge & accept his personal apology.
— Cynthia Canty (@CyndyCanty) March 12, 2015
Liebelson, 26, tweeted last week that being served with two subpoenas while reporting in Michigan "was intimidating."
I had permission to visit two prisons. I was not permitted to bring a recording device. The subpoenas are asking for my handwritten notes.
— Dana Liebelson (@dliebelson) March 9, 2015
Schuette, 61, says no one was fired because of the misstep, according to Kathleen Gray of the Detroit Free Press' Lansing bureau, but he's mum about any disciplinary action.
The Republican attorney general last week spoke out against a statewide sales levy and road funding proposal, adding to a sense that he's positioning himself to run for governor in three years. Here's how Jonathan Oosting of MLive put it Saturday:
Speculation over Schuette's assumed ambitions picked up last month when he reportedly held a fundraiser in Washington D.C., where he was attending at meeting of the Republican Attorney Generals Association.
Schuette can't seek a third term as AG, but he seems to be building a war chest for something. He's already worked as a congressman, state lawmaker and judge, so the governor's office seems like a logical next step.
