Lee Chatfield corruption case: ‘Questionable’ spending, a strip club bill

• Preliminary exam begins for former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, wife Stephanie Chatfield
• Both have pleaded not guilty to corruption-related charges stemming from alleged misuse of campaign, nonprofit and taxpayer funds
• Legal compliance attorney testifies her firm raised concerns over ‘questionable’ transactions, including a strip club bill

EAST LANSING — A law firm hired by a nonprofit associated with former House Speaker Lee Chatfield raised concerns about "questionable" transactions, including a strip club bill, but generally allowed the fund to "self regulate," an attorney testified Wednesday. 

The testimony from Renae Moore came during the first day of a preliminary exam for Chatfield and his wife, who are facing several corruption-related charges involving alleged misuse of political, nonprofit and taxpayer funds.

Arguments set to continue Thursday will inform a district court judge's determination whether prosecutors have enough evidence to order a trial for Chatfield, who led the Michigan House in 2019 and 2020. 

The Republican former lawmaker has pleaded not guilty to 13 charges, including conducting a criminal enterprise, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. His wife, Stephanie Chatfield, has pleaded not guilty to two related charges.

State investigators have alleged the Chatfields tapped into the millions of dollars he raised into campaign accounts and a “dark money” nonprofit to fund a luxury lifestyle and make fraudulent reimbursements. 

‘Fast and furious’

Among other things, prosecutors allege Chatfield and his wife paid off $132,000 in personal credit card charges using the Peninsula Fund, a social welfare nonprofit.

But in Wednesday’s hearing, defense attorney Mary Chartier sought to shift responsibility toward Anné and Robert Minard, Chatfield’s former top aides, and Moore, an attorney at the Dykema law firm who managed Chatfield’s Peninsula Fund and dozens of other nonprofit accounts tied to Michigan politicians.

“You are more than the record-keeper, you are the senior compliance specialist,” Chartier said to Moore, arguing Dykema had some degree of responsibility to ensure their clients were following the law.

Related:

• Ex-House Speaker Lee Chatfield, wife plead not guilty to corruption charges
• The case against Lee Chatfield: Fake mileage, kickbacks and Harry Potter trips
• Chatfield staffers to stand trial on embezzlement charges, Michigan judge rules

But Moore also told prosecutors that she largely relied on the operators of the nonprofit accounts to “self regulate” as she managed about 80 similar funds, which many state lawmakers and officials have used to raise money. 

“This entire time, Dykema is getting paid to ensure the Peninsula Fund is compliant,” Chartier said to Moore, who testified there were times the fund was not compliant with the law.

Aaron Chatfield, Lee Chatfield’s brother, is also expected to testify. He acted as a handler for his politically powerful brother, and previously told Bridge Michigan he’d drive the lawmaker to strip clubs or nighttime rendezvous with women.

The repayment of a strip club tab was one transaction that Moore had flagged, she testified Wednesday, saying she was told the payment was an ordinary business expense.

Moore said she never communicated with the Chatfields but instead spoke with Anné Minard if an issue arose.  The Minards are already awaiting trial on related embezzlement charges for allegedly steering money toward their consulting firm, Victor Strategies. 

Moore said the Peninsula Fund would report transactions “fast and furious at certain points,” sometimes submitting more than a dozen receipts. 

Another fund revealed

Attorney General Dana Nessel unveiled the charges against Lee and Stephanie Chatfield in April 2024, the result of a more than two-year investigation into the millions of dollars Chatfield raised while serving in state government, much of which avoided Michigan’s disclosure laws.

Chartier highlighted another client of Dykema’s, a nonprofit called Promise To The People, which Moore and Chartier both said was associated with Nessel. 

The defense attorney sought to cast the relationship as a conflict of interest for the Democratic attorney general. 

Robert Menard, Nessel’s lead investigator in the case, testified that his boss eventually severed her ties to the nonprofit but speculated that may not have happened until “months into” the probe. 

While Promise To The People was associated with Nessel, it appears she had no direct ties to the account.

“We like to keep the legislators separate from the (c)(4)s,” Moore testified. “They’re not supposed to be involved,” and are not usually placed on the board of directors. 

Though the accounts often directly reimburse expenses incurred by elected officials, they rarely appear on any disclosures or registrations for the organizations.

Menard said he didn’t have any reason to believe the relationship between Dykema and the nonprofit funds influenced the case in any way.

The preliminary exam is scheduled to continue Thursday.