Michigan Gov Denies Responsibility for Awarding Coronavirus Contract to Dem Data Firm

POLITICS & POLICY
Governor Gretchen Whitmer announces her Democratic running mate in Lansing, Mich., August 20, 2018. (Jeff Kowalsky/Reuters)

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer passed the blame for her administration hiring a data company known for working with Democratic campaigns to track contact information about residents as part of the state’s efforts to trace coronavirus cases.

At a press conference Wednesday, the Democratic governor said she had told the state health department to cancel the contract but denied that there were any political motivations behind the hire.

“The department thought that that vendor was the best one for some reason. I don’t know what that reason was, but I do know that the Department of Health and Human Services does not have a political bone in their theoretical body,”Whitmer said. “When it was brought to my attention, I told them to cancel it.”

The Michigan health department announced Monday that it had contracted with EveryAction VAN to “provide software to help organize remote phone banking and track information and contacts” as it expands its efforts to identify residents who have been exposed to the coronavirus.

EveryAction VAN is the campaign software arm of tech firm NGP VAN, which describes itself as “the leading technology provider to Democratic and progressive campaigns and organizations” and is also working with Whitmer’s reelection campaign.

The hire prompted outrage from state Republicans, including Livingston County Commissioner Wes Nakagiri, who said he suspected the confidential personal medical information of Michigan citizens would be shared with Democratic political candidates.

Nakagiri noticed the Whitmer administration’s decision to hire EveryAction VAN when he volunteered to help with the state’s contact tracing initiative and was reading through training materials.

Nakagiri said he believes the firm is “not being fully truthful” when it says it would not have access to residents’ information. He added that unless those responsible “straighten out the confidentiality issues,” he “cannot in good conscience” participate and will find another avenue to volunteer with the coronavirus effort.

“It should be troubling to everybody, Democrat or Republican,” Nakagiri said.

Whitmer said she had not been involved in the decision and said the health department did not obtain approval from the State Emergency Operations Center for the EveryAction VAN contract even though the SEOC issued a press release announcing the hire. The SEOC will now hire another vendor for the effort, Whitmer said.

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