DETROIT —

In the latest sex scandal to rock U.S. politics, the mayor of Detroit was indicted Monday for lying under oath about an affair with his chief of staff and firing a police officer investigating reports of a wild party at the mayor’s mansion.

The charges against Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick were filed after the mayor abruptly instructed the city to settle a wrongful dismissal lawsuit by three police officers who said they were fired while investigating wrongdoing by the mayor and his security personnel.

The officers, who were awarded $8.4 million, said they were sacked for investigating rumors that the mayor’s wife interrupted a stripper party about six years ago at the mayor’s office, local media reported.

The stripper’s son is suing the city for quashing the investigation into her slaying several months after the alleged party, but that case did not appear to be part of the criminal case being built against the mayor.

Prosecutors accused Kilpatrick of settling the whistle-blower lawsuit in order to hide text message evidence of his affair that was later uncovered by the Detroit Free Press.

He was also accused of lying under oath about his affair with former chief of staff Christine Beatty and his involvement in the firing of deputy police chief Gary Brown.

“Let me be very clear. This was not an investigation focused on lying about sex,” Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Kym Worthy said when announcing the 12-count indictment.

“Our investigation has clearly shown that public dollars were used, people’s lives were ruined, the justice system was severely mocked, and the public trust trampled on.”

Kilpatrick and former chief of staff Christine Beatty were charged with perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office.

Worthy charged Kilpatrick with misconduct in office for authorizing the $8.4 million settlement in order to “prevent the release of text messages or other information evidencing that mayor Kilpatrick and his chief of staff lied under oath.”

He was also charged with obstruction of justice for “firing Gary Brown, to willfully and corruptly tamper, obstruct and/or interfere with a criminal investigation,” she said.

Kilpatrick avowed his innocence at a press conference Monday.

“I look forward to complete exoneration once all of the facts surrounding this matter have been brought forth,” he said, reading from a prepared statement.

“In the meantime, I will remain focused on moving this city forward with the key initiatives that we’ve laid out before you.”

Detroit’s city council members have said they were never told of a secret pact to hide the text messages when they approved the whistle-blower deal in October and passed a measure last week calling for his resignation.

The indictment comes less than two weeks after New York Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned from office, succumbing to threats of impeachment and mounting media pressure over his involvement in a career-ending prostitution scandal.

AFP

2 Comments

• 

  Zorro at 03:25 PM JST - 25th March

  What a mixed up pile of crap!

  What is what? Which is which?

  Are the alleged party at the mansion and the stripper at the office the same things or different?

  If a cop cant figure out that a party at a private residence is not worth our tax dollars to investigate, then he SHOULD be fired. Or is there some other reason to have interest in this party that was not mentioned?

  Stripper at the office? If its after hours, should we care? I am sure the mayor uses the toilet on our time after all. Lighten up! If there is some suspected relation to that and the death of the stripper's son, then are there not some protocols to protect politician's private lifes until its determined to be relevant? If not, then of course there is going to be some obstruction of justice! WTF do you expect?

  And lying under oath about an affair? Again WTF do you expect? If its not DIRECTLY linked to the case, then the question should not even be asked! Are these people competely stupid? Do they ask such irrelevant questions on purpose? Either way, I would sooner see the guy who asked the question and the judge who allowed it face charges.

• 

  usaexpat at 12:06 AM JST - 26th March

  I never lived in Detroit but this is the same guy who purchased a fleet of Escalades for undercover drug enforcement. Keep in mind there are only 2 problems with that: Detroit is bankrupt and his wife happened to have one for her own personal use. They are trying to bring down Kwame because he cost the city $8.4 million in settlement money to the fired officers in this case. As I see it Kwame has treated the city of Detorit as his own personal candy jar no wonder people want him gone.

Register or login to add a comment!