House Chairman Not Ruling Out Asking Michigan Governor to Testify on Flint Water Crisis
— -- House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz isn’t ruling out calling on Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to testify on the Flint water crisis.
“This is the start of something, it’s not the end,” Chaffetz told ABC News' Mary Bruce in an interview when asked why he didn't invite the governor to appear at his panel's hearing today on the Flint water crisis.
Democrats have been urging Chaffetz to order Synder’s presence before the committee but so far, he has declined to do so.
In a statement, a spokesman for Snyder said the Michigan Republican "will cooperate with any authority that is looking into the Flint water crisis, which is a result of failure at three levels of government -- state, local and federal."
Chaffetz stressed that the “person you want to hear from” is Darnell Earley, the former emergency manager of Flint appointed by Snyder, who served as the city switched its water supply from the Detroit system to the Flint River, causing the contamination of Flint's municipal water supply with lead.
Earley, who ignored an initial subpoena from the committee, is “certainly the person on the ground with the best first-hand knowledge," Chaffetz said.
“That person will be here at some point, but it's going to take some more pulling,” said Chaffetz, who is promising to deploy U.S. Marshals to hunt down Earley and deliver a second subpoena. “We are not letting this go.”
Earley's attorney said he will "honor and respect" a second subpoena and appear before the House Oversight Committee.
Chaffetz said today he hoped to bring Earley before the committee later this month.
