MSU professor, who lost the AG race to Bill Schuette four years ago, says there are some potential conflicts of interest there.
He told News ten's Marcus Dash why he thinks the attorney general may need to be ready to recuse himself starting with a book he wrote in 2015.
The foreword to Bill Schuette's book "Big lessons from a Small Town" was written by MSU football coach Mark Dantonio.
Professor Mark Totten says that could be a problem if investigators look into sexual assaults involving Spartan football players.
"If we find out there is a close personal relationship between the AG, a person who is the target of an investigation, then that is a conflict of interest, and somebody else needs to be handling it," said Totten.
Professor and former Democratic Attorney General nominee Mark Totten doesn't see any reason to worry about a conflict right now.
He told me the public needs to keep Bill Schuette honest if investigators find evidence that Mark Dantonio's program tried to cover up sex assaults.
"The AG would have to make some serious changes to assure the public that in fact this was going to be an impartial investigation," said Totten.
Totten's bigger worry is why it took the Attorney General so long to announce the investigation.
He thinks it has something to do with the political risks involved that could hurt Schuette's run for governor.
"When you are running for office you wanna try to not upset too many people, you want to keep people on your side. Some investigations can be unpopular, so i think we need to pay close attention," said Totten.
At the end of the day Totten says Schuette is the state's top law enforcement official and he cant let his ambitions for higher office dictate the investigation.
"It's certainly possible there might be some people who should be investigated that might be less popular than others, and that just simply is unacceptable, and we need a full commitment to impartiality, and willingness to go wherever the evidence leads," said Totten.
Marcus Dash reached out to the Attorney General's office about the questions professor Totten is asking.
A spokeswoman says the investigation will be fair and prompt and that the rule of justice will apply equally to everyone.
