MI-AG: Murder case fuels McDonald (D) -Savit (D) feud, lawsuit in attorney general's race

Lansing — In a case of dueling Democratic prosecutors who want to be Michigan's next attorney general, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald's lawyer claims Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit masterminded a smear campaign that used a 2023 Detroit News story to accuse McDonald of letting campaign donations influence her decisions in a murder case.

McDonald filed a defamation lawsuit Feb. 4 in Ingham County Circuit Court against Lakeshore Leaders Fund, a southwest Michigan-based political action committee. According to the suit, the PAC had only $165.33 in its coffers when it received an influx of money from a political rival to try to thwart McDonald's run for attorney general.

The PAC sent text messages to voters across Michigan starting in January, along with mailers and information posted to a now-defunct website, www.whoiskarenmcdonald.com, and on social media, the lawsuit said. The PAC claimed in the text messages and postings that McDonald was the "recipient of over $80,000 in connection with the review of a murder conviction," the lawsuit said.

The postings included a photo of the May 23, 2023, Detroit News story referenced in the lawsuit. In the story, the widow of a murder victim, Genniver Jameel, expressed concerns about donations that were made to McDonald while she considered whether to ask a judge to vacate the first-degree murder sentence of the defendant, Hayes Bacall.




https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2026/02/27/murder-case-hayes-bacall-fuels-karen-mcdonald-eli-savit-feud-lawsuit-michigan-attorney-general-race/88323640007/