Charges against defendants in a case involving an alleged dark money scheme in Michigan will continue.
The case stems from two non-profits raising over $2 million for a campaign to end many of Michigan’s COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021.
The state attorney general’s office alleges people associated with the Unlock Michigan campaign coordinated with the groups to get around campaign finance laws.
That’s because 501(c)(4) non-profits, like Michigan! My Michigan! and Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility don’t have to reveal their donors, unlike campaigns for ballot initiatives or political office.
On Monday, 54A District Court Judge Kristen D. Simmons, forwarded the case against Sandy Baxter, a fundraiser for Republican causes, to trial.
Baxter faces a felony perjury charge.
Shortly after Baxter’s hearing, Simmons dismissed misdemeanor charges against another defendant in the case, Bright Spark Strategies co-founder Heather Lombardini.
The dismissed charges involved failing to file campaign finance statements.
Lombardini’s attorney, Thomas Cranmer, argued the state attorney general’s office didn’t follow a 60-day deadline to bring charges in the case.
But Simmons allowed a felony charge against Lombardini for Uttering and Publishing, a crime often associated with fraud or forgery, to stand.
