A story broke yesterday that Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway had cleared out her office at the Hall of Justice.
Many took this as a sign that Justice Hathaway was preparing to resign from the court amid an FBI investigation into her real-estate dealings.
But Hathaway denied the claims that her office had be cleared or that she was planning to resign.
At the end of the day yesterday we heard that the U.S. Justice Department filed a federal civil lawsuit against Hathaway and her husband.
The suit seeks to force Hathaway to give up a $750,000 vacation home in Florida.
The U.S. Justice Department argues that Hathaway and her husband engineered a short sale of a home in Saint Clair Shores that saved them $600,000.
Today we hear that Hathaway will fight to keep her Florida home.
From the Associated Press:
The lawyer for a Michigan Supreme Court justice accused of fraud says she'll file a claim to keep a Florida home out of the hands of the government. Steve Fishman offered brief comments Wednesday, two days after prosecutors sued to take control of a house owned by Justice Diane Hathaway and husband Michael Kingsley. The government says they temporarily transferred the home to a relative while trying to negotiate a short sale on a Michigan property. After the sale went through, and mortgage debt was erased, the Florida home went back to Hathaway and Kingsley. The government says ING Bank was cheated. Fishman declined to respond to the fraud allegation but says Hathaway and Kingsley will fight to keep the property in Windermere, Fla. No criminal charges have been filed.
