Runestad Fires Off Against MSP In Floor Speech

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 11/13/2025) Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) on Thursday blasted the Michigan State Police from the Senate floor over its more than $401,000 contract with someone the department investigated, and he called on the department’s top leaders to resign.

Runestad’s estimated 4-minute speech referenced a Tuesday story published by the Michigan Enjoyer, who first reported that Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s former chief of staff, Alexis Wiley, was hired in 2024 as an MSP public relations consultant.

“The stench emanating from the top of the Michigan State Police just keeps getting worse and more putrid every single day,” Runestad said. “… Here’s some free communications advice. If your department is in the headlines every week for yet another disastrous policy or scandal, don’t hire somebody who you once served a search warrant to in a criminal investigation.”

A message seeking comment from MSP was not returned.

MSP has arguably faced challenges, including lawsuits filed by its officers alleging a former Flint commander played favorites by rigging promotion exams and a lawsuit by a trooper alleging gender discrimination.

A former chief diversity officer has also sued the department, alleging harassment and retaliation at the Flint post, and MSP paid millions to two men falsely accused of sexually assaulting a minor.

Earlier this year, a survey of Michigan State Police Troopers Association members revealed that more than 98 percent of the troopers responding lack confidence in the leadership of Col. James F. Grady II and his next in command, Lt. Col. Aimee Brimacombe.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has stood by the leadership despite a number of Republicans calling for Grady and Brimacombe’s resignation – a request Runestad repeated on Thursday.

“How many lawsuits, resignations, or scandals does it take before someone at the top is ever held accountable?” Runestad said. “This so-called leadership team is a walking, talking, crash-and-burn public relations nightmare, and yet the Governor says she stands behind them no matter how much damage they cause.

“Gov. Whitmer, stop the preposterous partisan protection; stop shielding this incompetence,” he added. “Do what every fair-minded Michigander knows must be done – relieve Col. Grady and Lt. Col. Brimacombe of their duties immediately.”

In April 2021, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that her office would not bring criminal charges against Duggan or his aides in an investigation alleging Duggan provided preferential treatment to a prenatal program run by a woman – who later became his wife – and Wiley.

Wiley, who currently serves as Duggan’s gubernatorial campaign advisor, was accused of abusing her authority by ordering certain Office of Development and Grants employees to delete their respective emails through Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s husband, Chief Development Officer Ryan Friedrichs, and his deputy, related to the Make Your Date Program.

According to a master agreement, MSP hired Wiley’s Moment Strategies in 2024 as a “public relations consultant” from Oct. 22, 2024, to Oct. 21, 2027.

Wiley’s tasks are identified as “campaign development," "strategy plan development,” and “ongoing project assistance,” at $51,060, $68,238 and $282,375, respectively, for a total of $401,673.

Wiley’s company, which she founded in 2020, also was hired by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in February 2023 for public relations projects, including crisis communications.

According to the September 2023 amendment of that service contract, Wiley was contracted to “support the MEDC in development of a Michigan-focused message and strategy concentrated on communicating the value and opportunity transformational projects.”

The cost was amended from $51,000 to $109,000, according to the document, which includes a list identifying the “scope of work,” such as message development for the Marshall battery plant site.