Overview
- Michigan troopers and a child welfare worker visited Pete Buttigieg’s home on June 23 and told him he could not be alone with his four-year-old twins until the children were interviewed the next day.
- The allegation began as a brief Indiana hotline call that state officials passed to Michigan without the caller’s name or contact information, and Michigan records show investigators did not request the caller’s identity for six days.
- Forensic interviews of the twins lasted about an hour each and both children said they felt safe; investigators later publicly declared the allegation unfounded.
- The Michigan Attorney General’s Office has opened a review and asked Michigan State Police for evidence while Indiana State Police are investigating possible false reporting and whether charges are warranted.
- Child-welfare experts called the response reckless for acting on thin cross-state information, and the episode has raised fresh calls to change hotline rules and verification steps to protect families and public figures from targeted false claims.