State Rep. Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers, today released an emergency statement after news broke that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has opened an investigation into the purchase of a $4,500 coffeemaker by a Whitmer appointee:

When I first heard that a Whitmer appointee spent $4,500 of taxpayer money on a Jura coffeemaker (with optional cup warmer and milk cooler), I urged everyone to calm down and withhold judgement until we knew all the facts. I said that before we condemn her, we need to know how the coffee tastes.

I went to a Williams Sonoma where the $4,500 coffeemaker is on display and tried it. And you know what? The coffee was pretty good!

But the fact that the $4,500 coffeemaker was paid for with taxpayer money, that tastes bitter.

Thank you to the attorney general for investigating the purchase of the $4,500 coffeemaker by a Whitmer appointee.

What this scandal shows is that the Michigan Economic Development Corporation does not have proper oversight of how taxpayer money is spent. To my knowledge, the MEDC has never clawed back a grant. It probably should.

This also shows why backroom budget deals that are negotiated in secret are a problem and must come to an end.

April 15 was Tax Day. How much did you pay in state income taxes? How does it taste knowing this is how your money was spent?

Bitter. It tastes bitter.