Kilpatrick and Beatty text-messaging scandal

The Kilpatrick and Beatty text-messaging scandal is a political

Political scandal

A political scandal is a kind of political corruption that is exposed and becomes a scandal, in which politicians or government officials are accused of engaging in various illegal, corrupt, or unethical practices...

-sex scandal

Sex scandal

A sex scandal is a scandal involving allegations or information about possibly-immoral sexual activities being made public. Sex scandals are often associated with movie stars, politicians, famous athletes or others in the public eye, and become scandals largely because of the prominence of the...

emerging from a sexual relationship between Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Kwame Kilpatrick

Kwame Malik Kilpatrick is a former mayor of Detroit, Michigan. Kilpatrick's mayorship was plagued by numerous scandals and rampant accusations of corruption, with the mayor eventually resigning after being charged with ten felony counts, including perjury and obstruction of justice...

and his chief of staff Christine Beatty

Christine Beatty

Christine Rowland Beatty served as the Chief of Staff from 2002 to 2008 to Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.In January 2008, Beatty resigned amid an emerging political-sex scandal and criminal charges of perjury related to a whistleblower trial for lying under oath about their extramarital affair...

. The revelation of this extra-marital affair was confirmed in text messages

Text messaging

Text messaging, or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written text messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network...

exchanged between Kilpatrick and Beatty. The text messages appear to contradict testimony that Kilpatrick and Beatty gave at a trial in 2007 in regard to whether they had an affair and had fired an officer for investigating the mayor's behavior. The City of Detroit settled the lawsuit for $8.4 million based on the recommendation of Kilpatrick and the City of Detroit law department.

The news has led to Beatty resigning in February 2008 and political leaders and citizens calling for Kilpatrick to resign. An investigation led to the filing of charges against Kilpatrick and Beatty on March 24, 2008, with more charges possible against others. On September 4, 2008, Kilpatrick pled guilty to obstruction of justice and no contest to assault on a police officer. As part of his plea deal, he has agreed to step down as mayor, pay $1 million in restitution to the city, and serve 120 days of jail time. He also lost his law license and state pension, and will serve 5 years probation after his jail term is over.

Text-messages

In January 2008, The Detroit Free Press

Detroit Free Press

The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The Sunday edition is entitled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep"...

examined and revealed the existence of more than 14,000 text messages exchanged between Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Kwame Kilpatrick

and his then chief of staff Christine Beatty

Christine Beatty

on their city issued SkyTel pagers between September–October 2002 and April–May 2003. The dates are of importance because they encompass the time periods of an alleged party at the mayoral Manoogian Mansion

Manoogian Mansion

The Manoogian Mansion is the official residence of the mayor of Detroit, Michigan. It is located at 9240 Dwight Street in the Berry Subdivision Historic District, on the city's east side, backing up to the Detroit River. It was built in 1928 for $300,000, but the owner lost the home during the...

and the ouster of Gary Brown respectively.

The text messages are the nucleus of an $8.4 million secret deal settlement by the city of Detroit. The attorneys for the city had tried since 2004 to keep the text messages hidden on the basis that they were personal and private communications. However, a city directive re-authorized by Kilpatrick during his first term as mayor indicates that all electronic communication sent on city equipment should be "used in an honest, ethical, and legal manner" and cautions, "is not considered to be personal or private." The mayor's spokesman said the policy only applies to city-owned equipment and the text-messages are exempt since they were sent on a city-leased device.

Kilpatrick and Beatty, both married to other people at the time, did discuss city business; however, many of the series of messages describe not a professional relationship but an extramarital sexual relationship between the two, often in graphic detail. The text messages further describe their use of city funds to arrange romantic getaways, their fears of being caught by the mayor's police protection unit, and evidence the pair conspired to fire Detroit Police Chief Gary Brown.

In an August 2007 trial, Kilpatrick and Beatty both under oath denied that they had a sexual relationship or that they fired Brown. The text messages contradict their sworn testimony with such messages as:

Beatty: "And, did you miss me, sexually?"
Kilpatrick: "Hell yeah! You couldn't tell. I want some more."

and

Beatty: "I'm sorry that we are going through this mess because of a decision that we made to fire Gary Brown. I will make sure that the next decision is much more thought out. Not regretting what was done at all. But thinking about how we can do things smarter."
Kilpatrick: "It had to happen though. I'm all the way with that!"

Kilpatrick issued a brief statement indicating that he and his wife had worked through the issue of infidelity years ago. However, WXYZ-TV

WXYZ-TV

WXYZ-TV, channel 7, is an ABC-affiliated television station in Detroit, Michigan, USA. WXYZ-TV is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, and is the media company's largest-market TV station property...

discovered that only two days earlier, after a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day prayer breakfast, Kilpatrick stayed at a the Grove Park Inn

Grove Park Inn

The Grove Park Inn is a historic resort hotel on the western-facing slope of Sunset Mountain within the Blue Ridge Mountains, in Asheville, North Carolina. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the hotel is an important example of the Arts and Crafts style...

in Asheville, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

with a second individual, and spent time with a woman who went by the name "Carmen Slowski." The resort confirmed that Slowski was not Kilpatrick's wife. Records showed that while at the spa they shared a "Couple’s Retreat" one-hour massage and afterward the session continued with the serving of expensive champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries for the two to enjoy from the warmth of an aromatic whirlpool bath. The resorts records stated that Kilpatrick was lodging with a woman who used the name of Carmen Slowsky; a name similar to an anthropomorphic turtle in a TV ad for high-speed Internet service.

On April 29, 2008, Circuit Court Judge Robert Colombo Jr. ruled that secret documents retrieved from Mike Stefani's computer were public records under the Freedom of Information Act, and were to be released. The documents, which suggest a cover-up regarding the firing of three Detroit police officers, contain evidence that will be used in the perjury case against Kilpatrick and his former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty.

Inside the documents are records of text-messages retrieved from Beatty and Kilpatrick's city issued Skytel pagers.

Sexually graphic conversations, racial slurs, profanity, and discussions regarding the extramarital affair between Beatty and Kilpatrick, amongst other things, appear in the messages.

Repercussions

Beatty resigned as chief of staff amid allegations that she and the mayor lied under oath about an affair. She also left Wayne State Law School, where she was studying for a juris doctor degree. Kilpatrick resigned from the Florida A&M University foundation board, but repeatedly said he will not resign as mayor of Detroit.

The Detroit City Council ordered Kilpatrick, Beatty, and a coterie of lawyers to testify before the council on their involvement in the $8.4 million settlement.
The council also considered passing a resolution to ask Kilpatrick to voluntarily resign as mayor. State law does not give the council power to remove Kilpatrick; however, the council can send the resolution to Governor Jennifer Granholm

Jennifer Granholm

Jennifer Mulhern Granholm is a Canadian-born American politician, educator, and author who served as Attorney General and 47th Governor of the U.S. state of Michigan. A member of the Democratic Party, Granholm became Michigan's first female governor on January 1, 2003, when she succeeded Governor...

and request that she remove Kilpatrick from the office of mayor.

Michigan Attorney General

Michigan Attorney General

The Attorney General of Michigan is the fourth-ranking official in the U.S. state of Michigan and one of four great offices of state. The officeholder is elected statewide in the November general election alongside the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, members of the Senate and...

Mike Cox

Mike Cox was Michigan's 52nd Attorney General; the first Republican to hold that office since 1955. Cox took office in 2003 and won re-election in 2006. Michigan Governor Jennifer M...

said Kilpatrick should resign because "Over the past month, every time Mayor Kilpatrick has been given a choice between coming clean and making amends on the one hand and deception and further concealment on the other hand, Mayor Kilpatrick has chosen deception and concealment ..." Detroit business leaders which include Dave Bing

Dave Bing

David "Dave" Bing is the mayor of Detroit, Michigan, a businessman, and a retired American professional basketball player who played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association , primarily for the Detroit Pistons...

, a longtime Kilpatrick supporter informed him that he is losing credibility in the business community.

A recall

Recall election

A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended...

petition was approved but then reversed because the petitioner, city council candidate Douglas Johnson residency in Detroit could not be verified. Johnson also requested in a sworn affidavit that Granholm use her power as Governor to remove Kilpatrick from office.

Kilpatrick said he has paid back the $8.4 million through "hard work for the city" and dismissed aspirations of removing him from office as "political rhetoric." He will have to pay back $1 million to the city as part of his plea deal.

Criminal trial

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy indicted Kilpatrick and Beatty on charges of perjury

Perjury

Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...

, obstruction of justice

Obstruction of justice

The crime of obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, refers to the crime of interfering with the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other officials...

, misconduct in office and conspiracy relating to testimony the pair gave in a whistleblower

Whistleblower

A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...

trial

Trial

A trial is, in the most general sense, a test, usually a test to see whether something does or does not meet a given standard.It may refer to:*Trial , the presentation of information in a formal setting, usually a court...

. If convicted on possible felony perjury charges, they face up to 15 years in prison under state law KAH. Beatty, a law student, may have difficulty obtaining a law license if she lied to or deceived a court. Kilpatrick, a lawyer, could face disciplinary action if the state Attorney Discipline Board finds he committed perjury

Perjury

in court. This could result in Kilpatrick losing his license to practice law after his term as mayor is done and he could also be forced to resign as mayor.

The Detroit Board of Ethics is investigating to determine if sanctions can be levied against Kilpatrick for his actions in the whistleblower trial. The most severe punishment from the ethics board would be to admonish Kilpatrick and refer the case to the city council.

On September 4, 2008, Kilpatrick made a plea deal with prosecutors for three of the charges. He pled guilty to two charges of obstruction of justice, and pled no contest to a charge of assaulting a police officer. As part of the settlement, he has agreed to resign as mayor, pay back $1 million to the city, give up his law license, not hold public office for 5 years, 120 days in jail, and 5 years probation.

Kilpatrick's public statements

During a broadcast from his family's church on January 30th, 2008, Kilpatrick said that he apologized to the city and to his supporters in the city. He also said that he was apologizing to his family, his three sons and his wife Carlita, who also spoke after Kilpatrick. The First Lady of Detroit, Carlita Kilpatrick, said "this private matter is between me, my husband and God." The mayor said he is in charge of the city and denounced any notion that he would resign. "I would never quit on you ever", were Kilpatrick's words. He asked for compassion and privacy, claiming that he has done many things to rejuvenate the city while also stating that he could not comment on the scandal because of the "ongoing legal issues" involving possible perjury charges.

On the way into the church before making the speech, Kilpatrick was photographed shoving reporter Steve Wilson

Steve Wilson (reporter)

Steve Wilson is an American news reporter. Currently running his own nonprofit investigative reporting group, he is best known for his whistleblower lawsuit with then-wife Jane Akre against WTVT in 1997 and his work as WXYZ-TV's Chief Investigative Reporter in Detroit, Michigan in the late...

out of his way. Wilson was shoved after the asking Kilpatrick "who Carmen Slowski was". Kilpatrick also swung his hand up in a dismissive motion toward reporters and hit the camera of photographer Mandi Wright striking her in the face. Wright's supervisor, Detroit Free Press Executive Editor Caesar Andrews, said: “This is totally unwarranted. Our employee was going about the business of doing her job in a professional way. Even with all the tensions that are obvious, there’s no way our photographer should be treated this way.” In an interview on WRIF

WRIF

WRIF — branded 101 WRIF: The RIFF — is a commercial active rock radio station licensed by the FCC to operate in Detroit, Michigan serving surrounding Metro Detroit. The station is currently owned by Greater Boston Radio, Inc. WRIF is a grandfathered Class B station with a signal equivalent to...

radio, Steve Wilson also claimed that the Kilpatrick's security team pushed Wilson into the back of an SUV and kneed him in the crotch and told him to "Chill out".

In an effort to shield Kilpatrick from any undesirable questions from the media, all reporters have been banned from the grounds of the city-county building in downtown Detroit. In a move that is being called "blatantly unconstitutional," reporters no longer have access to the parking lot or the entrance where officials come and go and may no longer conduct random interviews.

The cost to the city for the settlement and trial was around $9 million. In an effort to reinforce to the people of metro Detroit that Kilpatrick has no plans of resigning and his opinion on Beatty's resignation as his chief of staff, he went on WMXD

WMXD

WMXD is a Clear Channel-owned Urban AC FM radio station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, that broadcasts on the frequency of 92.3 MHz. WMXD, which bills itself as "Today's R&B and the Best Old School Jamz," is consistently a very highly rated station in Detroit's Arbitron ratings reports,...

's Frankie Darcell radio show and said that:

"...clearly we've both made mistakes and what she did was the right thing to do"

"I believe I’m on an assignment from God in this position"

This broadcast was aired live on the same day when the court made public some documents exposing a secret deal that Kilpatrick and Beatty made in the whistle blower trial to hide their sexual relationship. Darcell is a personal friend of Kwame and his wife, Carlita Kilpatrick.

On February 28, 2008, the day after the Michigan Supreme Court denied Kilpatrick's appeal and all of the secret deal documents were released, Kilpatrick phoned in to several radio talk shows to reiterate that he would not resign. On WWJ

WWJ (AM)

WWJ is Detroit, Michigan's only 24-hour all-news radio station. Broadcasting at 950 kHz, the station is owned and operated by CBS Corporation subsidiary CBS Radio. The station first went on the air on August 20, 1920 with the call sign 8MK...

's morning show, anchor Roberta Jasina asked Kilpatrick if he would be willing to repay the taxpayers the $8.4 million settlement that was paid out. To which Kilpatrick defiantly responded,

"I pay it back every day. When I go out and do an economic stimulus package for hundreds of millions of dollars. When I go find a way to do a deal on the tunnel for $75 million dollars. When I go and bust my butt every day from six in the morning to ten-eleven o'clock at night... I work every day to make sure the city gets what it's owed"

In another question on WWJ, Kilpatrick was asked if anyone could place their trust in him now. Kilpatrick replied by saying,

"You know, my wife trusts me, my kids trust me, and I think a great deal of citizens here [trust me too]".

Kilpatrick also stated that he's never believed his own press, good or bad, "and nobody else should, either.", because the media constantly uses distorted facts and misinformation to base their stories on. When told of Kilpatrick's remarks about the media, M.L. Elrick of the Detroit Free Press told listeners of WRIF

WRIF

that there have not been any corrections made due to distorted facts or misinformation, and that Kilpatrick has never asked them [the Detroit Free Press] to make any corrections.

Kilpatrick briefly addressed the ongoing scandal facing him in the 2008 Detroit State of the City Address. Kilpatrick struck back at his accusers, calling the criticism an "unethical, illegal lynch mob mentality" and alleging racial harassment. Kilpatrick claimed that "In the past 30 days I've been called a nigger more than anytime in my entire life. In the past 30 days I've received more death threats than I have in my entire administration." Despite all the evidence that has been uncovered by the various media organizations of Kilpatrick's misdeeds, he tried to assert that there is a conspiracy against by stating, "we've never been in a situation like this before where you can say anything, do anything, have no facts, no research, no nothing and you can launch a hate-driven, bigoted assault on a family." This portion of his speech, which occurred at the tail end of his address, was apparently unscripted. On May 25, 2010 Kilpatrick was sentenced to serve eighteen months to five years in prison for probation violation and failing to report assets to the court.

Citations

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