When the University of Michigan governing board this year asked the state’s attorney general to bring charges against campus Gaza protesters, they tapped a political ally with whom some board members have extensive personal, financial or political connections, a Guardian investigation finds.

Frustrated by local prosecutors’ unwillingness to crack down on most of the students arrested at the height of the pro-Palestinian encampments last spring, the regents executed a highly unusual move in recruiting the Michigan attorney general, Dana Nessel, because she was more likely to file charges, three people with direct knowledge of the decision tell the Guardian.

The revelations raise new questions about potential conflicts of interest. Six of eight regents contributed more than $33,000 combined to Nessel’s campaigns, her office hired a regent’s law firm to handle major state cases, the same regent co-chaired her 2018 campaign, and she has personal relationships with some regents.