Rick Snyder Knew. Rick Snyder Didn’t Care.

The latest revelation that should be shocking but isn’t:

Gov. Rick Snyder could have declared a state of emergency in Flint months earlier than he did, according to an e-mail sent to the governor’s office from a Michigan State Police emergency expert and released by the Snyder administration over the weekend.

Snyder acknowledged lead poisoning of Flint’s drinking water around Oct. 1, but faced strong criticism for not declaring a state of emergency in Flint and Genesee County until more than three months later, on Jan. 5.

Snyder officials have repeatedly said Snyder couldn’t take the action until local officials declared an emergency, and Genesee County did not take that action until Jan. 4.

But in a Nov. 13 e-mail, Capt. Chris Kelenske of the MSP, who is the deputy state director of emergency management and Homeland Security, told an official in Snyder’s office: “As you know, the Governor can declare at any time for any reason.”

And it’s even worse than this:

Emails obtained by the Detroit News reveal that top aides to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder were issuing warnings over the water quality in Flint as far back as October 2014—a year before the city switched out its own contaminated water supply and reconnected to Detroit’s.

The emails in question were sent by Valerie Brader, then the governor’s environmental policy adviser, and Mike Gadola, then his chief counsel. The governor himself was not a recipient, but his closest advisers were, including his chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, and communications director. Snyder staffers told the News they did not take their concerns directly to the governor until October 2015, when the water supply was switched.

How convenient!