By Liz Nass
Gongwer News Service
Heather Lombardini, a longtime GOP fundraiser charged with lying to the Department of State about her affiliation with Unlock Michigan in 2020, did not strike a deal with the state as a new trial date was set Thursday after a final pretrial conference.
Lombardini, co-founder of Bright Spark Strategies firm, was bound over for trial in September 2024 for one count of uttering and publishing and one count of forgery, both 14-year felonies.
The Detroit News reported in a court hearing last week that Chris Kessel, an assistant attorney general, told Ingham County Judge Wanda Stokes there was a possible resolution in the case with the state, but there was no settlement put on the record Thursday. The final pretrial conference was held off the record.
The trial was also scheduled to begin June 16 but was rescheduled Thursday for July 8.
The trial was first set to begin in January.
Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office could not provide further comment on the decision but simply reiterated the trial will take place in July and that the case remains in pre-trial posture, unable to discuss plea resolution including occurrence of negotiations.
Lombardini oversaw two funds connected to former Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey as the president of Michigan’s Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility and treasurer of Michigan! My Michigan!, which the Department of Attorney General and the Department of State alleged was soliciting funds for a ballot proposal, Unlock Michigan, meant to repeal an emergency power law for the governor
By fundraising through the nonprofits, donors could contribute without being revealed, Attorney General Dana Nessel has alleged.
Lombardini previously said the funds were not raised for Unlock Michigan, and then affidavits revealed there were many checks for the nonprofit funds with “Unlock Michigan” in the memo line.
Another person charged, Sandy Baxter, a political fundraising consultant for Michigan! My Michigan!, was sentenced last year to three months’ probation after pleading guilty to making a false statement.
Gongwer News Service
Heather Lombardini, a longtime GOP fundraiser charged with lying to the Department of State about her affiliation with Unlock Michigan in 2020, did not strike a deal with the state as a new trial date was set Thursday after a final pretrial conference.
Lombardini, co-founder of Bright Spark Strategies firm, was bound over for trial in September 2024 for one count of uttering and publishing and one count of forgery, both 14-year felonies.
The Detroit News reported in a court hearing last week that Chris Kessel, an assistant attorney general, told Ingham County Judge Wanda Stokes there was a possible resolution in the case with the state, but there was no settlement put on the record Thursday. The final pretrial conference was held off the record.
The trial was also scheduled to begin June 16 but was rescheduled Thursday for July 8.
The trial was first set to begin in January.
Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office could not provide further comment on the decision but simply reiterated the trial will take place in July and that the case remains in pre-trial posture, unable to discuss plea resolution including occurrence of negotiations.
Lombardini oversaw two funds connected to former Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey as the president of Michigan’s Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility and treasurer of Michigan! My Michigan!, which the Department of Attorney General and the Department of State alleged was soliciting funds for a ballot proposal, Unlock Michigan, meant to repeal an emergency power law for the governor
By fundraising through the nonprofits, donors could contribute without being revealed, Attorney General Dana Nessel has alleged.
Lombardini previously said the funds were not raised for Unlock Michigan, and then affidavits revealed there were many checks for the nonprofit funds with “Unlock Michigan” in the memo line.
Another person charged, Sandy Baxter, a political fundraising consultant for Michigan! My Michigan!, was sentenced last year to three months’ probation after pleading guilty to making a false statement.
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