In addition to the conduct Clutch Justice previously published, new concerns have been reaching Clutch’s inbox daily. The accounts come from people who say they encountered Thomas Siver professionally and personally. They include an alleged threat that was omitted from a newspaper report, concerns about his courtroom conduct, and new allegations about the handling and use of cash at his law firm. These are serious claims. Each is identified below as an allegation unless supported by a record reviewed by Clutch Justice. Siver has not responded to Clutch Justice’s repeated requests for comment.
Key Points
Quick FAQs
A Threat the Newspaper Left Out
Watson Township Supervisor Kevin Travis was named as a source in a September 3, 2026 Allegan County News and The Union Enterprise story on the Allegan County GOP’s decision to revoke its endorsement of Siver. The story itself described Travis’s account as the source of what it called more personal and inflammatory accusations against Siver. According to Travis, he told reporter Elizabeth Ferszt directly that he did not want to be part of that story, and gave her a specific reason.
According to Travis, around the time he was leaving Siver’s firm roughly two years ago, Siver threatened to pour sugar into his gas tank and to kill him. Two other people who witnessed the threat directly have since verified Travis’s account to Clutch Justice and say they are willing to testify to what they saw. Clutch Justice is not naming them at their request.
No police report was filed at the time. No charges have been filed, and Siver has not been held accountable for this allegation in any legal proceeding. This claim has not been independently adjudicated.
A text message exchange reviewed by Clutch Justice shows that after publication, Travis texted Ferszt asking why the story ran as it did. Her reply defended her reporting as based on their phone calls, without addressing whether Travis had asked not to be named.
How the Newspaper Handled the Concern
Travis’s stated reason for not wanting to be named does not appear anywhere in the published Allegan County News piece. According to Travis, Ferszt had already spoken by phone with Siver campaign manager Scott Greenlee before she ever contacted Travis directly. Greenlee reportedly told Ferszt that Kevin Travis was actually Clutch Justice founder Rita Williams and that Williams was not a real person. In other words, the claim was not simply that Travis lacked independence; it was that Travis and Williams were the same person and that Williams’s identity had been fabricated. Neither Siver’s campaign, Greenlee, nor Ferszt contacted Williams to verify her identity before that claim was circulated.
Ferszt ran in 2022 as a write-in Republican congressional candidate from Jackson, Michigan. Greenlee is a longtime Republican political consultant who has held county and state party roles and has run for chair of the Michigan Republican Party. Michigan campaign finance records also show that a Jackson-linked political fund previously contributed to Siver’s 2016 judicial campaign. The published story did not disclose Ferszt’s or Greenlee’s Republican political backgrounds when describing the reporting and campaign contacts at issue, nor did it disclose the Jackson-linked contribution to Siver’s prior campaign.
I support the reelection of Judge Burnett. I also hold documentation of parts of the sourcing sequence described above. Relationships to people in a political race belong in the open on both sides of a story, mine included.
I have written for the Allegan County News under editor Mike Wilcox. The concerns raised here about how this particular story was reported do not reflect on him. In my dealings with him, he has been careful and professional, and he has added context or disclaimers to pieces when they needed them. My concern is with how this specific story was handled, not with the newspaper as an institution.
These were serious allegations, and they were left on the cutting-room floor. They should not have been. I cannot know exactly what the newspaper would have heard had it approached the concerns more openly and followed them further. But given the number of people who have contacted Clutch Justice since the earlier reporting, it is reasonable to believe its reporters might now be hearing many of the same professional and personal accounts arriving in my inbox. One of those accounts concerns Siver’s conduct in the courtroom.
Courtroom Conduct
An attorney who appeared against Siver in court describes a pattern of conduct she found unprofessional and, at times, unsettling. She recalls Siver commenting repeatedly on her appearance in front of his own client, insisting she sit while he stood over her, and struggling with a plea agreement to the point that the judge stepped in to walk his client through the terms on the record. She says he called her within minutes of that hearing wanting to chat. Clutch Justice is not naming this attorney at her request.
Business-Practice Concerns
Multiple sources told Clutch Justice that large quantities of cash were kept in a safe at Siver’s office. Former employees previously raised concerns about cash handling at the firm, including their allegation that client funds were not consistently deposited into a trust account. They also described a practice of paying employees and then threatening to file grievances in an effort to reclaim the money. Clutch Justice reported those accounts on August 27.
Sources also told Clutch Justice that Siver accepted payment from clients in firearms, jewelry, and cash. Clutch Justice has not independently established how each payment was recorded, whether it represented an earned legal fee or client property, or how it was reported for accounting and tax purposes.
Former employees describe an office practice Siver allegedly called “Fight Club.” According to their accounts, Siver would hand employees cash and say, “We don’t talk about Fight Club.” The sources understood this practice as a way to reduce the income reported by the firm. Clutch Justice has not independently reviewed complete payroll, accounting, or tax records and is therefore reporting that explanation as the sources’ account, not as a tax-law finding.
The sources further allege that some of the cash kept in the safe was used to purchase jewelry for Siver’s romantic interests. Clutch Justice has not independently established the source or ownership of every dollar described, and no court or disciplinary body has adjudicated these allegations.
A former employee also told Clutch Justice that Siver threatened to put a hit out on an employee. The source understood the statement as a threat of violence. Clutch Justice is reporting the statement as a witnessed account; it has not identified a related criminal charge or court finding.
The broader financial-mismanagement allegation involving the firm has been referred to the State Bar of Michigan’s Attorney Grievance Commission. A referral is not a finding of misconduct.
An Incident on the Water
Clutch Justice has learned of an incident several years ago involving Siver and a woman on Lake Sixteen in Allegan County. According to multiple people close to the situation, who described the incident independently of one another, the woman was on a jet ski when Siver approached on his own and appeared to steer toward her; she believed, at the time and since, that he was trying to hit her. Police were reportedly contacted.
Clutch Justice has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for any incident report connected to that call and will update this story with what the records show.
If the requested law-enforcement records confirm the reported police involvement, the Lake Sixteen incident would be the second documented law-enforcement-involved event during the three years leading up to Siver’s judicial campaign. Clutch Justice previously reported that witnesses saw Siver taken into custody during a Zoom hearing. The existence of police contact or an arrest does not, by itself, establish criminal wrongdoing, and the available records and outcomes of each event remain relevant to evaluating that history.
A History Some Sources Attribute to a Traumatic Brain Injury
Multiple sources told Clutch Justice that Siver suffered a traumatic brain injury in a fall years ago. Based on their personal familiarity with him before and after the injury, they say they observed increased impulsivity following it. Their accounts describe personal observations, not an independent diagnosis or clinical assessment by Clutch Justice, and Clutch Justice has not reviewed Siver’s medical records.
How a TBI Can Affect Judgment and Behavior
A traumatic brain injury can affect thinking, emotional regulation, and behavior, although its effects vary widely with the location and severity of the injury and the person’s medical history. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies difficulty thinking clearly, trouble controlling behavior, personality changes, increased impulsivity, and increased anger or aggression among the possible effects of a moderate or severe TBI. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke also identifies problems with decision-making, frustration, irritability, agitation, and other unusual behavior among possible cognitive and behavioral symptoms.
These effects can interfere with judgment, planning, self-monitoring, and the ability to pause before acting. They can also make emotional reactions faster or harder to regulate. But a history of TBI does not establish that any particular decision, statement, or alleged act was caused by the injury. That conclusion would require an individualized medical assessment. A medical explanation, if established, would provide context; it would not resolve the separate question of professional fitness or accountability.
Clutch Justice is reporting what multiple sources say they observed. It is not diagnosing Siver, determining the severity of any injury, or attributing particular alleged conduct to a TBI.
Clutch Confidential members get early access to investigations like this one, the full Field Kit, member votes on what Clutch covers next, and the weekly members-only briefing. Membership is $10 a month and directly funds the records requests and reporting time behind pieces like this.
Join Clutch Confidential ?56 Days Until Election Day
Michigan’s general election is November 3, 2026—56 days from the publication of this article. Absentee ballots become available September 24, and the constitutionally required early-voting period begins October 24. For some voters, the decision will therefore arrive well before Election Day.
Judicial candidates ask voters to entrust them with decisions affecting liberty, safety, families, money, and access to justice. Voters deserve enough information to understand who is seeking that authority: the candidate’s professional record, the concerns raised by people who have dealt with the candidate, what evidence supports those concerns, what remains unverified or unresolved, and how the candidate responds when given an opportunity to do so.
This election also demonstrates why transparent vetting matters. Political organizations should explain the information considered when issuing or withdrawing endorsements. Campaigns should answer specific, documented questions. News organizations should disclose relevant political relationships and present both the substance of serious concerns and the limitations of the available evidence. Transparency does not tell voters which choice to make. It gives them the record they need to make that choice for themselves.
With voting approaching, scrutiny is not a disruption of the electoral process. It is part of the process. Clutch Justice has repeatedly sought comment from Siver on this reporting, but he has not responded. This article will be updated if that changes and when the pending FOIA request is answered. The responsibility now rests with every institution involved—and with every candidate asking for public trust—to make the relevant record as complete, accurate, and open as possible before ballots are cast.
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