DETROIT - Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a one-time rising star and Detroit’s youngest elected leader, was charged Monday with perjury and other counts after sexually explicit text messages contradicted his sworn denials of an affair with a top aide.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy also charged the popular yet polarizing 37-year-old mayor with obstruction of justice and misconduct in office.
Former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty, 37, who also denied under oath that she and Kilpatrick had a romantic relationship in 2002 and 2003, was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice.
“Some have suggested that the issues in this case are personal or private,” Worthy said. “Our investigation has clearly shown that public dollars were used, people’s lives were ruined, the justice system severely mocked and the public trust trampled on. … This case is about as far from being a private matter as one can get.”
The charges could signal the end of Kilpatrick’s six-year career as mayor of one of America’s largest cities.
Perjury is a felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. A felony conviction would mean Kilpatrick’s immediate expulsion from office under the Detroit City Charter. Calls for his resignation have surfaced since late January and the Detroit City Council asked him to step down last week.
Kilpatrick was to hold a noon news conference but had not yet appeared and his office and lawyers were not commenting. A message seeking comment from Beatty’s attorney, Jeffrey Morganroth, was not returned.
Kilpatrick has said he would not resign and last week said he expects to be vindicated when all aspects of the scandal are made public.
Worthy said she expected the mayor and Beatty to turn themselves in by 7 a.m. Tuesday.
Worthy began her investigation the day after the Free Press published excerpts of the embarrassing text messages in late January. The messages called into question testimony Kilpatrick and Beatty gave in a lawsuit filed by two police officers who alleged they were fired for investigating claims that the mayor used his security unit to cover up extramarital affairs.
In court, Kilpatrick and Beatty denied having an intimate relationship, but the text messages reveal that they carried on a flirty, sometimes sexually explicit dialogue about where to meet and how to conceal their trysts.
Kilpatrick is married with three children. Beatty was married at the time and has two children.
The city agreed to pay $8.4 million to the two officers and a third former officer who filed a separate lawsuit. Documents released last month showed Kilpatrick agreed to the settlement in an effort to keep the text messages from becoming public.
The text messages published by the Free Press revealed a romantic discourse.
“I’m madly in love with you,” Kilpatrick wrote on Oct. 3, 2002.
“I hope you feel that way for a long time,” Beatty replied. “In case you haven’t noticed, I am madly in love with you, too!”
Worthy filed eight counts against Kilpatrick and seven against Beatty.
Kilpatrick faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, misconduct in office, perjury in a court proceeding and two counts of perjury other than in a court proceeding.
Beatty is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury in a court proceeding and two counts of perjury other than in a court proceeding.
For Beatty, who attended high school with Kilpatrick and managed his campaigns for Michigan’s state House and the mayor’s office, the scandal forced her to resign.
City lawyers and Kilpatrick’s attorneys waged a futile legal battle to keep documents related to the lawsuit settlement and text messages from public eyes.
Calls for his resignation surfaced in late January from some city union leaders and Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox repeated that call.
You notice anything strange about this picture? Anyone?
You think he knows what today is? I hear “President for Dummies” is on sale at Barnes and Nobles. Better forward him a copy, it’s the least I could do.
I promised myself I wouldn’t, but after watching the video of Mayor (and I say this with every ounce of sarcasm that is in me) Kwame Kilpatrick’s sorry ass excuse of an apology to the citizens of Detroit earlier this afternoon………I just couldn’t help myself.
I could give a rat’s ass what he said……….honestly! The entire apology was orchestrated and animated for the most part. My focus was on his wife. In recent weeks this woman has been through hell and back. Constantly under a microscope. To have the most intimate details of her marriage drudged up again with new twists and turns has to be the most devestating.
Don’t think this post is about man bashing because this is not my intention. This post is about COMMON SENSE and knowing when to use it!
What really struck me was the quote ‘Yes, I am angry, I am hurt, and I am disappointed. But there is no question that I love my husband.” A woman like Carlita is not to be underestimated. Her whole demenour was that of a woman scorned. We all know that Kwame is feeling her wrath in private but tonight she strategically aimed her wrath towards Christine Beatty.
In so many words Carlita made the point to Christine that she (Carlita) will and always will be the Head Bitch In Charge! Sure, she may have stated that she loves her husband and that she made a commitment to God but that was a way of saving his sorry black ass from further humiliation. Until this blows over and she decides to file for divorce, or even if she doesn’t file for divorce………….she will still be the HBIC. What Carlita did tonight was send a silent but clear message (no pun intended) to Christine Beatty:
While you (Christine) were throwing your weight around the office, pulling rank, and fucking my husband; you were too stupid to realize that you were bought and paid for. What some women (not all) fail to realize is whether you want to admit it or not, (in a situation like this) a man can see his way through such scandal (ask Bill). He’s viewed as “just being a man” while the woman is viewed as being a homewrecker and a whore. She will have to carry that scarlet letter with her for the rest of her life. Not to mention a failed marriage, having to resign in humiliation, not knowing whether or not she would be able to continue law school, and possibly going to the clink for lying under oath. (damn, was the dick worth it?) I guess the nail in the coffin would be to see Kwame publically ask for his wife’s forgiveness and confessing his “new found” loyalty. (damn that gotta hurt Christine) If that wasn’t a slap in the face I don’t know what was. Whether she meant to or not, Carlita proved to Detroit and to Christine Beatty that no matter what happens with her marriage…….she is and will always remain the HBIC. I think that Christine is still marinating on that one!
Kwame is going to come out of this with his life still in tact. He will continue his life, whether it be Mayor of Detroit or in another field. Christine won’t be so lucky. Her life has been completly destroyed by this scandal. She won’t come out of this in the same way Kilpatrick will. (hate to say it but it’s true)
This is just to say that when you come into such a situation, you have to take in consideration the outcome. Was all of this worth losing your dignity and self respect? family? Career?
Was Kilpatrick really thinking about you at that moment? Do you honestly think that he has sympathy for you? HELL NO!
He doesn’t give a damn about you at this moment! To him; right now; your just a mere thought.
So Christine, was it worth the hassle?
Carlita is no dummy. Don’t think she didn’t know what Kwame and his Co-Ho was up to. I’m sure she addressed this to him on more than one occasion but drew tired and decided to let his ass hang himself…….. Mission accomplished.
