Ex-House Speaker Lee Chatfield
Lee Chatfield
Clean-cut and youthful with a freshly scrubbed look, Michigan Republican Lee Chatfield appeared to be headed for a promising political career.
In 2019, he was elected speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives. He was only 30.
Now, those political fortunes have vanished.
On Wednesday, the 36-year-old found himself as a defendant, along with his wife, at a preliminary examination at the 54-B District Court in East Lansing to determine if the criminal charges are solid enough to go to trial in Ingham County Circuit Court.
Chatfield faces 13 charges, including embezzlement, conspiracy, and larceny. He's accused, while in office, of using public and private monies raised for his political nonprofits to pay for flights, meals, and family vacations. His wife, Stephanie Chatfield, faces two charges in the case.
On Wednesday, Renae Moore, a compliance specialist at the Dykema law firm who was advising Chatfield's nonprofit, testified that his account filed some "questionable" expenses, including a strip club tab, the Detroit News reports.
Craig Mauger of the News reports:
Moore's answers in court Wednesday shined a rarely seen light on the world of secret fundraising in Lansing, where many lawmakers routinely collect checks through nonprofits from donors whose names don't have to be reported publicly. Dykema, which has a law office across the street from the state Capitol, handles the paperwork and tax filings of many of the politician-connected nonprofits.
