Former House Speaker Lee Chatfield, wife to stand trial on corruption charges

• The former Republican House speaker, Lee Chatfield, and wife Stephanie will face trial on corruption-related charges
• They, along with two former aides, are accused of misusing some of the millions of dollars Chatfield raised in office
• If found guilty, the charges could mean decades in prison for Lee Chatfield

Former House Speaker Lee Chatfield and his wife, Stephanie Chatfield, will face trial on charges of racketeering, embezzlement and other crimes, a district judge in East Lansing ruled Friday.

Lee Chatfield is accused of misusing political, nonprofit and taxpayer funds from millions of dollars the Levering Republican raised while leading the state House from 2019 through 2020. Stephanie Chatfield is alleged to have aided the scheme and has also also been charged with embezzlement. 

The judge ruled that there’s enough evidence against them to bring the case before a jury. They have pleaded not guilty on all counts.

Lee Chatfield will face 13 felony counts while Stephanie Chatfield was bound over to circuit court on two felony counts. District Judge Molly Hennessey Greenwalt denied a motion by the attorney general to tack an alternative charge of larceny onto the case.

At the preliminary exam in February, witnesses and expert accountants walked through lavish spending and vacations the couple took, at times with former top aides Anne and Rob Minard. That couple also faces a string of similar corruption-related charges, though the two couples are being tried separately. The Minards have also pleaded not guilty.

Still, Hennessey Greenwalt found their activities intertwined, noting there was sufficient evidence of embezzlement from the Peninsula Fund and Chatfield Majority Funds “by defendant Lee Chatfield and/or Anne Minard” to bring the case to trial.

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The preliminary exam provided evidence Lee Chatfield “assisted, procured, counseled, or aided Anne Minard, a Peninsula Fund agent, to convert the fund’s money to his own personal use,” Hennessey Greenwalt wrote.

Lee Chatfield’s two brothers, sister-in-law and a longtime family friend described cashing checks from Lee Chatfield, returning some of the money to him and joining him on free trips to Las Vegas, Miami and the Bahamas.

Mary Chartier, the attorney for Lee Chatfield, has vowed to fight the case “tooth and nail” and accused Attorney General Dana Nessel of “weaponizing her office.”

Hennessey Greenwalt also rejected the argument from Lee Chatfield’s lawyer that he was targeted as a former top officeholder. Chartier has asserted the total sum of misappropriated money is less than $30,000 out of the millions Chatfield raised, while shifting responsibility to a law firm contracted to receive the funds.

“This record is devoid of any evidence” that prosecutors acted improperly, the judge wrote in the ruling. “To the contrary, the record shows that this prosecution was instigated by a crime report and investigation.”

The case initially arose from 2021 allegations of decades-long sexual assault made by Chatfield’s former sister-in-law, Rebekah Chatfield, but that investigation concluded without charges. The corruption charges were announced against the Minards and Chatfields in December 2023 and April 2024, respectively.

Hennessey Greenwalt also rejected an argument by the defense that Lee Chatfield had simply made an error in taking $1,000 in mileage reimbursements from the Michigan House for trips he didn’t take.

“The documentary evidence on its face shows that the defendant signed the four forms,” she wrote. 

That, she noted, creates “questions of fact regarding intent for a jury to decide.”

Nessel, in a statement, applauded the decision.

“My office will continue to pursue public corruption with every tool at our disposal and push for stronger transparency and good governance in our state,” Nessel said in a statement. 

The Peninsula Fund was a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, a common fundraising account used by politicians and a vehicle for so-called “dark money,” which does not have to disclose its donors and can receive contributions from any source. That makes the organizations particularly attractive for politicians looking to fundraise aggressively.

Nessel has previously called for an overhaul of the state’s disclosure laws to allow less hidden fundraising.