GOP Senator's story of struggling bar.. it was a Lie

[LessAspin]

Link to tweet

A GOP senator told a heart-wrenching story about a hometown bar hurt by COVID-19 orders. But almost none of it was true.

A floor speech from state Sen. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) last month alleged that Michigan Liquor Control Commission (LCC) inspectors preyed on the “human compassion” of the owners of Charlie’s Bar and Grill in Potterville by suspending its liquor license for operating despite a state-ordered shutdown during the pandemic.

Barrett’s video has gone viral in conservative circles as evidence of the abuse and overreach of the state government in the age of COVID-19.

The problem? The story Barrett told is untrue in all aspects except one: The LCC did suspend the liquor license of Charlie’s Bar and Grill on Dec. 14.

Here’s a fact check of Barrett’s speech...

https://www.michiganadvance.com/2021/01/05/a-gop-senator-told-a-heart-wrenching-story-about-a-hometown-bar-hurt-by-covid-19-orders-but-almost-none-of-it-was-true/

Par for the course in Potterville .. the Mayor of Potterville is a big Q guy..

Link to tweet

[LessAspin]

1. The Claim

Barrett stood on the floor of the Michigan Senate on Dec. 18 and told “a story about a business in my district.” Here’s the entire story, as recorded in the Senate Journal:

“Recently, a man dropped by Charlie’s while some employees were taking a break inside. I had a couple of guys who were helping me out. During the downtime, I had them come inside and eat a couple of sandwiches, said John Devine who’s the manager. While they were inside, a man approached them. The man told John that he was really lonely and asked if he could have something to eat. John and his wife felt bad for the man and served him a meal.

“I wish I could tell you that this act of human compassion went relatively unnoticed and was simply a long list of unrecognized good deeds that are done on behalf of our fellow men and women every day. But not in 2020 and not in [Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan, where it’s always winter and never Christmas. Instead, we learned that the man who walked in asking for a meal was actually playing an elaborate ruse. He was an enforcement officer with the Liquor Control Commission dispatched to lay the screws to guys like John just trying their best to survive. A couple of days ago, John learned that he had his liquor license suspended. Merry Christmas, John.”

Devine, the manager of Charlie’s, made the same allegations in an interview with WLNS-TV in Lansing.

“Devine says a man came in and said he was lonely and tired of being stuck in the house,” that station reported on Dec. 16. “Him and his wife felt sorry for him and allowed him to sit down and eat, but what they didn’t know was he worked for the Michigan Liquor Commission, which then suspended the restaurant’s liquor license.”

[LessAspin]

2. "communist motherf--er" and a "traitor."

The Facts

According to testimony provided during a Dec. 23 hearing before Administrative Law Judge Michael St. Johns, the agent from the Michigan Liquor Control Commission stopped at the bar on Dec. 3.

Video of the agent’s visit showed the investigator leaving his vehicle, entering the bar and saddling up the bar. A woman with a young child strapped to her chest and no mask on, approached the investigator and provided him a menu.

The video revealed that eight adults were unmasked, eating food and being served alcohol in violation of the state’s pandemic emergency orders from Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon. Those orders prohibit indoor dining and alcohol service in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.

LCC spokesperson Jeannie Vogel denied that the investigator misled staff at the bar.

“The accusations are false that the investigator posed as a poor, hungry, person in need,” she wrote in an email.

The suspension order was served on Dec. 14. The investigator, accompanied by a Potterville Police Department officer, taped the suspension order — a large bright orange sign — on the door and then entered.

When the investigator explained why he was there, John Devine, the manager, became angry and began to berate the investigator as a “communist motherf—er” and a “traitor.” Devine also accused the investigator of dishonoring those who had served in the military.

The incident was caught on the body camera video released by the Potterville Police Department.

St. Johns called the outburst, which was played during the hearing, “extremely disturbing and disappointing.” He later called Devine’s behavior “reprehensible.”

Charlie Devine, John’s brother and the owner of Charlie’s Bar and Grill, admitted the violations contained in the LCC summary suspension on Dec. 23. St. Johns ordered a 30-day license suspension and a $600 fine. John Devine also was ordered to produce a written apology to the inspector he verbally abused.

“This temper tantrum on the part of the GM resulted in a full $600 fine and an extension of the suspension in this case,” the order signed by St. Johns reads.

As far as the allegations of the inspector dishonoring those who had served in the military, St. Johns asked if the investigator served, and a deputy attorney general representing the MLCC said he had. St. Johns then asked if John had served and was told no by Charlie Devine...

https://www.michiganadvance.com/2021/01/05/a-gop-senator-told-a-heart-wrenching-story-about-a-hometown-bar-hurt-by-covid-19-orders-but-almost-none-of-it-was-true/

[dhill926]

3. Potterville, eh...

irony is dead...