Readers: This week, Letter from the Editor is being guest-written by John Counts, editor of MLive’s investigative team. He explains why our reporters probed political contributions by the DeVos family, and why it matters. – John Hiner It’s one of our fundamental duties in journalism to keep tabs on the rich and powerful. Especially during election season, when money pours in on both sides. In Michigan, there aren’t many families as rich and powerful as the DeVoses in Grand Rapids. The late Rich DeVos, Amway co-founder, and his family always have been a controversial presence in American business and politics, starting with pyramid scheme investigations into Amway in the 1970s to the landmark ruling in the company’s favor that ultimately cleared the way for the multilevel marketing model. Fortune magazine last listed the family’s net worth at $5.4 billion. No mega-rich Michigan family has used its wealth to push a specific political agenda on either side of the divide quite like the DeVoses. They are very rich and very conservative. And it hasn’t just been financial contributions. Betsy DeVos, married to Rich’s son, Dick DeVos, notably served in former President Donald Trump’s cabinet. Her service – and her link to Trump – has made her the most visible DeVos to the rest of the country. After the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol, Betsy DeVos distanced herself from Trump. But would that fracture linger through the 2024 election? Consider that Dick and Betsy DeVos dined with Trump just a few weeks ago. These are just a few reasons why MLive’s investigative reporting team decided to examine DeVos political contributions, and to examine their philanthropy in general. Investigative team reporters Matthew Miller and Rose White dove into the DeVos financial databases. Here’s what they found: The DeVos family isn’t a monolith. Different members give differently.
Much of their giving isn’t political in nature. They give a lot of money to nonprofits and charities that do a variety of different things.
When the DeVoses do give to political causes, it’s usually conservative. And the most political among them, Dick and Betsy Devos, seem to be skirting the line between conservatism and support for Jan. 6-like extremism. For example, the one contribution from the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation that caught our eye was to the Claremont Institute, an ultraconservative think tank that was particularly vocal about voter fraud after Trump lost the last election. The institute puts on something called the Sheriffs Fellowship, an annual retreat in California, that the organization has said is meant to bring sheriffs into the fight against “the revolutionary Left.” Four Michigan sheriffs have attended the retreat, Miller discovered, one of whom was Dar Leaf, a board member of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. That’s an organization that has made investigating 2020 voter fraud a priority. Were the Michigan sheriffs who attended the DeVos-funded Sheriffs Fellowship being instructed in what to do if Trump loses next month? Miller talked to three of them and they denied it. They said they mostly just talked about the Constitution and Antifa and watched the occasional John Wayne movie. Dar Leaf was the only sheriff who wouldn’t speak to us for the story. However, when we interviewed him earlier this year for an in-depth profile, he made it clear he intends to keep investigating election fraud. All four sheriffs have appeared at recent Trump rallies, too. Miller also talked to an expert on the matter, Jessica Pishko, an attorney and the author of “The Highest Law in the Land: How the Unchecked Power of Sheriffs Threatens Democracy.” What the Sheriffs Fellowship looks like to her is an attempt to create “shock troops for Donald Trump’s plan to win no matter what.” “It’s very hard to read it as anything other than that, given the history of The Claremont Institute and the ‘stop the steal’ stuff,’” she said. The $800,000 to the institute may seem like a drop in the bucket to Dick and Betsy DeVos. They come from a family that gave out $12 million to Republican causes this election cycle so far, as Rose White reported in her story. But $800,000 is serious money to the rest of us trying to keep up with groceries and gas. When it comes down to it, most of us don’t have the billions or millions to buy political clout or promote our vision of America. Being rich isn’t a virtue that should allow you to impose your vision on the rest of us, no matter what side you’re on. We all have a voice and a vision. That is the real American way. # # # | 