McDonald Rivet silent on support of Gotion
In case you missed it, The Midwesterner reported today that Kristen McDonald Rivet is responsible for approving a $175 million taxpayer incentive to Gotion and claimed there was a “huge amount of misinformation” spread about the battery company’s CCP ties. When asked if she regretted her decision to support the plant, unsurprisngly, McDonald Rivet didn’t respond.
CCP Gotion, CATL, four other Chinese battery companies banned from U.S. military bases
Bruce Edward Walker
The Midwesterner
In response to apparent national security concerns, U.S. legislators initiated a new rule that prohibits Defense Department procurement of electric batteries manufactured by six companies affiliated with the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party.
Two of those companies are Gotion High-Tech and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, both of which have received billions of taxpayer dollars and tax credits to build civilian battery plants in Big Rapids (Gotion) and Marshall (CATL).
…
The Midwesterner attempted unsuccessfully to reach state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Bay City, multiple times to determine if she regretted her decision to support the proposed Gotion plant in Big Rapids, which would be located in relative proximity to the Grayling National Guard facility.
Rivet, who is currently running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, was quoted in The Midland Daily News last April as continuing to support the construction of the Mecosta County manufacturing facility.
“There are many companies in this state that have ties to the Chinese government,” she said. “I was satisfied to vote yes for a couple of reasons. It creates jobs in a region that desperately needs them, it was thoroughly vetted from a security perspective by the federal government, it has done its environment due diligence, and I was inundated with calls from local residents asking me to vote yes.”
At that time, Rivet, a member of the Michigan Senate Appropriations Committee responsible for approving a $175 million taxpayer incentive to Gotion, claimed there was “a huge amount of misinformation” spread about the battery company’s CCP and PRC ties. The newspaper quoted her as “saying she was ‘satisfied’ voting yes after thorough vetting of Gotion done by the federal government.”
…