Dana Nessel. I phoned her many times over these past three years.
There was a vulnerable old woman who needed help.
Instead of helping, Nessel killed the investigation that would have protected her.
Now, the old woman is dead.
And Nessel’s reckoning is near.
A probate judge in Allegan County wondered aloud two weeks ago if the old woman’s bank account had been plundered by her court-appointed conservator, Traci Kornak.
Kornak is a friend of Nessel. Kornak is a friend of Whitmer. Until recently, Kornak was one of the most powerful Democrats in Michigan.
According to the probate court transcripts, Kornak made large withdrawals from the estate of Rose Burd, an elderly—and legally incapacitated—woman. Kornak offered no receipts to the court.
It should be noted that the elderly woman lived in an assisted living facility. Her food, lodging, and care needs were paid directly to the facility by an insurance company. Those costs were significantly less than $100,000 a year. So what did Kornak actually do over the years for the kind of money she was paying herself from Burd’s savings? We may never know.
There was a $10,000 transfer from the Burd’s account to Kornak’s personal account. Kornak also billed the 87-year-old woman $1,500 for sitting in a hospital waiting room. Then there were copious charges to Burd’s bank account for things like pizza, Comcast, and unspecified merchandise from a home-repair superstore.
Incredibly, the day after the old woman’s death, there were several more transactions. According to the probate judge, Kornak redacted the nature of those transactions, thus preventing the judge from seeing what exactly those posthumous expenses were.
“Essentially Ms. Kornak, you were making a significant living off Ms. Burd,” said Judge Jolene Clearwater, chief of the Allegan County Probate Court. “You charged this woman nearly $100,000 over the course of one year. I’m not certain that’s reasonable.”
The judge may even schedule an evidentiary hearing into the matter of Kornack’s handling of the old woman’s money.
“I am going to direct that you submit receipts for these expenses,” said Judge Clearwater. “The court is concerned that it does have your name on (her) account.”
“That’s totally different than how it’s been done,” Kornak complained at one point as the judge explained what the court was after.
“Just because your previous accounts were allowed by the court, I can’t go back and change those,” said Judge Clearwater. “But I am going to review more carefully this last final account.”
It should never have gotten to this.
Kornak is a slip-and-fall lawyer and former treasurer of the Michigan Democratic Party. She was accused in July 2022 by the director of a West Michigan nursing home of using the account of her elderly client to fraudulently bill an insurance company for nearly $50,000.
Nessel promised not to intervene in that investigation of Kornak, but documents obtained under a freedom of information request show Nessel not only breached an ethical firewall created to prevent conflicts, but Nessel’s staff in December 2022 handed the active criminal file over to Kornak herself.
What’s more, those documents also reveal that Kornak admitted to Nessel’s investigator that she had indeed removed the money from the old woman’s account in order to pay her daughter for extra care provided to Ms. Burd.
Kornak told the investigator that she expected to reimburse the old woman once Kornak received the insurance settlement.
But there is no documentation that Kornak’s daughter ever provided care. And Kornak never received a check from the insurance company.
Then there is the Attorney Grievance Commission, which concluded earlier this year (three years after an initial complaint was filed) that there was no good evidence to initiate an investigation into Kornak.
Neither the commission nor Nessel’s investigators ever contacted Joe LeBlanc, the director of the nursing home who blew the whistle and provided the documents.
“It’s disappointing but it was expected,” said LeBlanc. “I thought it would be covered up. Sometimes you can’t tell people the truth you have to show them. And now people are seeing it. To the judge, I say thank you. Thank you.”
Nessel’s makes a grand show about protecting our elderly. You can look it up on her social media accounts.
But that’s just a cynical play. Nessel did less to protect a brain-damaged elderly woman than most anyone would do for a wet stray dog. She covered for a politically connected pal.
If I were Nessel, and I’m glad I’m not, I’d lawyer up.
“The evidence speaks for itself,” said LeBlanc. “Nessel reached out to everybody in her book but me. I’d be happy to testify. I hope to. I want to. I’m just waiting for the call.”
Charlie LeDuff is a reporter educated in public schools. Follow him on X @Charlieleduff.
