By Beth LeBlanc and Craig Mauger, MediaNews Group

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s chief of staff personally apologized to the American Arab Chamber of Commerce months after the governor signed a budget that directed $20 million toward an international business accelerator run by the chamber’s former executive director, according to court records.

JoAnne Huls, chief of staff to Whitmer, drove to the Arab business group’s Dearborn headquarters in 2023, affidavits indicate, sometime after The Detroit News first reported in March 2023 that the earmark had been given to the chamber’s former executive director, Fay Beydoun, and a not-for-profit business accelerator she established separate from the chamber.

The revelation in unsealed court records, released to The Detroit News on Wednesday, comes as

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