Former Detroit Mayor's Aide Out of Jail Early

The former chief of staff to ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was released from jail early Monday after serving 69 days for obstruction of justice.

New batch of ex-Detroit mayor's texts released

By ED WHITE

DETROIT A court on Thursday released more sexually explicit text messages between the city's former mayor and his ex-chief of staff, just days before Kwame Kilpatrick goes to jail for lying about their affair.

Christine Beatty, Kilpatrick's former top aide, tried to keep them sealed. But a Wayne County judge ordered them on the public record, and the Michigan Court of Appeals refused to stop him.

One series of messages from November 2003 goes on for more than an hour as Beatty describes what she would do with Kilpatrick if they were together.

"Don't STOP! PLEASE," Kilpatrick replies.

New batch of ex-Detroit mayor's texts released....

Commentary: Enough Already, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick – It’s Time to Do the Right Thing and Resign

By: Tonyaa Weathersbee, BlackAmericaWeb.com

Kwame Kilpatrick, resign already.

Many Detroiters probably don’t care that you had an affair with your chief of staff, Christine Beatty -- the torrid details of which you revealed in text messages on city-owned pagers. They probably don’t condone it, but they understand that it should be a personal matter for you and your wife to work through.

Some of your defenders have tried to liken your situation to that of former President Bill Clinton in the hopes it will help you save your job. More than a decade ago, Clinton was impeached for lying under oath about his affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

COMMENTARY....

More Kilpatrick Text Messages Revealed

By: Corey Williams, Associated Press

DETROIT - (AP) A series of often explicit text messages from Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's former chief of staff appear to show she had a long-term romantic relationship with the mayor and that he played a role in the firing of a police officer who sued the city.

The embarrassing messages between Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty from 2002 and 2003 appear in an 18-page document released Tuesday on the orders of Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Robert J. Colombo Jr. in response to a lawsuit by the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News.

The document was obtained from the computer of Michael Stefani, an attorney who represented three police officers in whistle-blowers' lawsuits against the city that were settled last year for $8.4 million. The text messages were taken from Beatty's city-issued pagers.

The messages could prove damaging to Kilpatrick and Beatty, who are accused of lying under oath in one of the lawsuits by denying they had an intimate relationship. They are charged with perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice. Both have denied wrongdoing.

The Free Press published some of the text messages in January. Wayne County prosecutors began the perjury investigation after those excerpts were released.

The document released Tuesday includes descriptions of sexual trysts, the frequent use of the N-word by the mayor and Beatty as a term of endearment, and discussions of marriage.

On Sept. 15, 2002, Beatty described a sex act she wanted to perform on the mayor but said she didn't know how to approach him about it. He replied: "Next time, just tell me to sit down, shut up and do your thing!"

Later that month, the pair appeared to arrange a sexual encounter in Beatty's office. On Sept. 19, 2002, Beatty wrote to Kilpatrick: "I have wanted to hold you so badly all day, but I was trying to stay focused on work. So, I promise, not to keep you longer than 15 minutes."

Kilpatrick replied: "Don't promise (N-word.)"

Beatty said: "I'm in my office. Do you want me to come to yours or you coming to mine?"

Kilpatrick said: "I'm coming down there ... LOL ditto. Freaky Chris!"

The text messages also appear to show Kilpatrick was involved in the decision to fire one of the former officers, former Deputy Chief Gary Brown, which Kilpatrick also denied under oath as part of the lawsuit.

In a text message Beatty sent to Kilpatrick on May 15, 2003, that was contained in the document released Tuesday, she said: "I'm sorry that we are going through this mess because of a decision that we made to fire Gary Brown."

Kilpatrick said last September that the city would appeal a jury's verdict in favor of two officers in one of the lawsuits. But after Stefani gave one of Kilpatrick's lawyers a motion for attorney's fees that contained excerpts of the text messages, the suit was settled and the motion was never filed in court.

The judge said Tuesday he agreed to release the document because he believes it directly led to the deal that was reached between the three former officers and the city.

Following a community forum Tuesday evening, Kilpatrick questioned the authenticity of the messages and said their release did not provide a "the smoking gun" some had expected.

"All the lawyers have testified that this had nothing to do with the settlement." Kilpatrick said.

"It seems that it's just a regurgitation of old news. And it's unfortunate that now we're printing something as true that came off somebody's computer," he said.

Mayer Morganroth, who represents Beatty, said he believes the text messages were obtained illegally and the excerpts should not have been released.

Most of the text messages included in the document focus on the relationship between Kilpatrick and Beatty, both 37, who have been friends since high school.

On April 8, 2003, Beatty wrote: "You told me that you would be my boyfriend everyday until I was your wife. Are you renigging?"

Kilpatrick replied: "Hell no! Don't start none. Won't be none ...! LOL".

Kilpatrick remains married to his wife, Carlita. Beatty left her husband at the end of April 2003, according to the document.

On April 13, 2003, Beatty wrote to Kilpatrick: "It is sometimes so amazing how much I love you. I can't even describe most of the time how I feel inside when I think about you. You are an amazing man. Everything about you makes me love you. Your passion about life, your sense of humor, your presence, and your love of family."

On May 1, 2003, Beatty referred to her separation from her husband: "I can't see living this way with us being a 'secret' forever. I love you so much and I want to tell somebody, someday! (Smile)."

Kilpatrick responded: "In this important and somewhat confusing time in your life, please know with all our hearts and soul that I love you. And you will never, never be alone."

Detroit mayor charged with perjury

From staff reports

DETROIT — Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was charged Monday with perjury, obstruction of justice and other counts for allegedly lying under oath about an extramarital affair with a top aide.

Wayne County (Mich.) Prosecuting Attorney Kym Worthy announced that Kilpatrick was named in a 12-count document in connection with an investigation that began when sexually explicit text messages surfaced that appear to contradict his sworn denials of the affair.

Former chief of staff Christine Beatty, 37, who also denied under oath that she and Kilpatrick shared a romantic relationship in 2002 and 2003, was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice.

Worthy says some documents sought as part of her probe have been "lost or destroyed."

"Our investigation has led to other potential defendants, so we will continue our investigation into their activities," she says. "Let me be very, very clear: this was not an investigation focused on lying about sex."

Aides to Kilpatrick have said that the mayor plans to remain in office, regardless of Monday's decision.

The announcement follows an eight-week investigation that was prompted by a Jan. 23-24 Detroit Free Press story that revealed the existence of text messages showing that the mayor and Beatty lied at last year's police whistle-blower trial when they denied having an extramarital affair. The Free Press is owned by Gannett, the parent company of USA TODAY.

The messages also showed that they provided misleading testimony about firing former Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown in 2003 after he and former mayoral bodyguard Harold Nelthrope began asking questions about a rumored wild party at the mayoral mansion and alleged misconduct involving the mayor's security team — questions that threatened to expose the sexual affair.

Despite the false testimony, a Wayne County Circuit Court jury last September awarded Brown and Nelthrope $6.5 million in damages. Kilpatrick vowed to appeal, but on Oct. 17, abruptly decided to settle the case and a second police whistle-blower suit involving former mayoral bodyguard Walt Harris for $8.4 million — $9 million with legal costs.

Kilpatrick settled after the plaintiffs' lawyer, Mike Stefani, informed the mayor's lawyer that he had the incriminating text messages and would reveal them in court papers he planned to file to justify his request for legal fees in the whistle-blower case.

Although Kilpatrick apologized for his conduct in a televised appearance with his wife, Carlita, in late January, he has blamed the media for his troubles and rejected calls from the City Council, Attorney General Mike Cox and city union locals to resign.

Settlement documents the Free Press obtained last month through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the city show that — contrary to Kilpatrick's claim that he decided to settle based on advice from friends, advisers and ordinary citizens — he made peace with the cops after discovering that Stefani had the text messages.

Although Kilpatrick's lawyers settled the suit with one agreement on Oct. 17, they decided to split it into public and private settlements after the Free Press requested a copy.

The public agreement showed how much the former cops would be paid. The secret agreement, signed by Kilpatrick and Beatty, swore Brown, Nelthrope and Stefani to secrecy about the text messages under threat of forfeiting their settlement proceeds and legal fees.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Colombo Jr. released the secret agreement last month after the Kilpatrick administration repeatedly denied its existence. Colombo released the agreement and other secret settlement records after the administration appealed unsuccessfully to the Michigan Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court, which rejected Kilpatrick's claim that the documents weren't public documents.

The City Council, which was kept in the dark about Kilpatrick's reasons for settling the lawsuit and never saw the confidential side agreement, voted 7-1 last week to pass an advisory resolution calling for the mayor to resign. It also ordered an investigation of the episode and directed its auditor general to look into spending by the mayor's office and the city Law Department.

Kilpatrick went on television with his wife in late January and apologized for his conduct, he insists there was no cover-up and has blamed the news media for most of his problems. He accused the Free Press of illegally obtaining the text messages — which the newspaper denies — and accusing the media of conducting a public lynching. He said the text messages and the settlement agreement that concealed them should never have been made public.

He also said the text messages were private even though he signed a policy directive in June 2000 advising city employees that all electronic communications should be considered public.

So far, Kilpatrick has refused to step down, saying he is on a divinely inspired mission to help rebuild the city. But conviction of a felony would force him to resign.

Beatty resigned in late January.

The scandal is the latest to confront Kilpatrick, a gifted politician who became the youngest mayor in Detroit history when he was elected in 2001 after serving in the state Legislature.

But his six-year tenure as mayor has been rocky.

He has been beset by repeated controversies over extravagant spending with his city-issued credit card, lying publicly about ordering the police department to lease a Lincoln Navigator for his wife and battening down information hatches at City Hall, making it more difficult for reporters and the public to inquire about his activities.

Besides possible criminal charges, the text messaging scandal and how city-paid lawyers responded to it could result in professional misconduct charges from the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission.

If Kilpatrick or Beatty is charged with crimes, defense lawyers are expected to attack the authenticity of the text messages, demanding that prosecutors prove Kilpatrick and Beatty sent them and that they had an affair.

Two previous Detroit mayors have been charged with felonies, both after leaving office.

Mayor Richard Reading, mayor in 1938-40, was sentenced to 4-1/2 to 5 years in prison after being charged with conspiring with 80 policemen to protect Detroit's numbers racket. Mayor Louis Miriani, mayor from 1957-62, was sentenced to one year in prison for income tax evasion after leaving office.

Contributing: Detroit Free Press; Mike Carney in McLean, Va.; Associated Press

DETROIT MAYOR CAUGHT FLIRTING VIA TEXT MESSAGE

Detroit mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, are being investigated to determine whether they lied under oath when they denied having an extramarital affair, reports the New York Times.


Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy was prompted to investigate following an article in the Detroit Free Press last week about text messages, many of them flirtatious, being sent between the two individuals, who have known each other since high school.


For example, an Oct. 16, 2002 text from Kilpatrick to Beatty stated: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."

The messages, transmitted to and from Beatty's city-owned pager in 2002 and 2003, appear to show that the two had an intimate relationship and suggest that they committed perjury by denying the affair during testimony in one of two whistleblower lawsuits that have cost taxpayers more than $9 million, the Times reports.

Kilpatrick, who was photographed recently kissing his wife, Carlita, in the driveway of his family's vacation home in Tallahassee, Fla., released a statement asking the public and the media to let him, Beatty and their families deal with the matter privately.


"These five- and six-year-old text messages reflect a very difficult period in my personal life," he said in the statement. "It is profoundly embarrassing to have these extremely private messages now displayed in such a public manner. My wife and I worked our way through these intensely personal issues years ago."


A union representing 900 municipal workers here called on Friday for Mr. Kilpatrick to resign and said members planned to picket City Hall next week.