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State senator involved in FBI-MSP joint investigation

Jerome Vaughn
/
WDET
Sen. Bert Johnson’s house in Highland Park";

A state senator is involved in a joint investigation with the FBI and Michigan State Police.

Both departments executed search warrants on the Lansing office and Highland Park home of Democratic Senator Bert Johnson Monday.

Investigators did not give any details about the nature of the investigation. An unidentified man who was with the team of investigators leaving the Senate office building said, “We had investigative activity here in the Senate, but that’s all I’m going to say.”

Johnson has had financial troubles in the past, including unpaid fundraising bills. In 2015, Johnson had a bench warrant issued in Illinois after failing to pay for political fundraising work.

Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich said of the investigation, “I take this situation very seriously and I will be monitoring it closely.”

Investigators at the Senate office building left with wheeled briefcase-type carts and accordion binders. 

Before becoming the newest Capitol reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network, Cheyna Roth was an attorney. She spent her days fighting it out in court as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Ionia County. Eventually, Cheyna took her investigative and interview skills and moved on to journalism. She got her masters at Michigan State University and was a documentary filmmaker, podcaster, and freelance writer before finding her home with NPR. Very soon after joining MPRN, Cheyna started covering the 2016 presidential election, chasing after Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and all their surrogates as they duked it out for Michigan. Cheyna also focuses on the Legislature and criminal justice issues for MPRN. Cheyna is obsessively curious, a passionate storyteller, and an occasional backpacker. Follow her on Twitter at @Cheyna_R