Whitmer held a press conference early Friday morning standing alongside Nassar survivors, calling for Schuette to drop a recent political ad that is centered around his handling of the Nassar case. 

“I am told that Gretchen Whitmer said she referred the case to me. That is not true. Nothing could be farther from the truth,” Schuette said Friday. “My team at the Department of (the) Attorney General had the capacity, had the ability, and we had the will to do this case. Gretchen Whitmer failed to prosecute. She chose not to prosecute this case."

The five prosecuting attorneys who appeared on Schuette’s behalf were: Deana Finnegan of Shiawassee County, Victor Fitz of Cass County, David Gilbert of Calhoun County, Charles Sherman of Clinton County, and J. Dee Brooks of Midland County. They each took turns explaining that the existence of other jurisdictions should not matter in the decision to prosecute at the county level or to send the case up to the Attorney General, as Whitmer did as Ingham County prosecutor.

“In 37 years, I have never one time said to an investigating officer, ‘You should take this to the Attorney General’s office because it happened in several counties,’’ Sherman said. “I think for Ms. Whitmer to say, well, she decided not to handle the case because it happened in more than one county is disingenuous, and it's just not an adequate rationale for the decision that she made.”

Schuette was asked specifically about survivors calling for the ad to be taken down. Schuette said he hasn't seen the ad.

“This is about my record," Schuette said. "And it’s about the record of Senator Whitmer in making decisions… Any instance of sexual assault is horrific, and every victim of sexual assault deserves justice. That’s my response.”

Finnegan at that moment stepped in to criticize the survivors who stood with Gretchen Whitmer.

“We’ve heard that term used: ‘I’m a survivor and this offends me.’” Finnegan said. “I’m a survivor... of a molestation by a trusted teacher back when I was in eighth grade… I move on, I handle it, and it’s made me a stronger person and a better prosecutor.”

Schuette multiple times made reference to an email thread between himself and Jim Dunlap in October of 2016 that led to his office opening an investigation. 

“I think the email when Jim Dunlap said he hoped to have an advocate, and my response that ‘you’re getting an advocate’ really speaks volumes,” Schuette said.