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Court denies request for probe of Snyder’s Flint legal bills

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LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan court has rejected a request for a one-judge grand jury investigation of Gov. Rick Snyder’s decision to use at least $2 million in state funds for his legal representation related to criminal probes of Flint’s water crisis.

A city resident and her attorney said Tuesday that the Ingham County Circuit Court denied their petition. The judges did not state a reason in their ruling.

The resident, Keri Webber, and lawyer Mark Brewer — former chairman of the state Democratic Party — filed a complaint Oct. 11 alleging the Republican governor broke the law by violating conflict-of-interest prohibitions and spending taxpayer money for personal benefit without proper authority.

Snyder’s office has said the spending is “legally sound” because the fees are related to actions taken in his official capacity.