A federal district judge Monday ruled that former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and four other officials must testify in the Flint water crisis civil trial against several engineering firms.

In the present suit, two engineering companies responsible for the Flint water crisis are being sued on behalf of children harmed by the contaminated drinking water. The two companies are Lockwood, Andrews & Newman and Veolia North America, and they were not part of a $626 million settlement agreement in 2021. 

The four other officials are former Flint Emergency Managers Gerald Ambrose and Darnell Earley, the governor’s advisor Richard Baird and former City of Flint Director of Public Works Howard Croft. All individuals except for Baird were previously named as defendants in the case.

The officials filed motions to quash subpoenas compelling them to testify, which Judge Judith Levy of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan dismissed on Monday. Judge Levy initially noted in her ruling that the officials had been “under a cloud of suspicion” for much of the litigation “[d]ue to their significant roles” in the water crisis.

The movants argued that the Fifth Amendment entitled them to blanket immunity from questioning during the trial. Judge Levy dismissed this argument because each of the individuals had voluntarily sat for depositions before and could not now invoke the privilege against self-incrimination.

On the issue of how the court would address specific arguments during trial testimony which result in an answer “that would go beyond the scope” of what the officials said in a deposition, Judge Levy said that the court would hold a hearing later to determine how to handle such objections.

In June 2020, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit also ruled that Snyder could not avoid deposition in civil lawsuits pertaining to the Flint water scandal. In January 2021, the Attorney General of Michigan brought two charges of criminal neglect against Snyder for his role in the crisis.