Somebody's Lying

Will Folks                     Nikki Haley

The South Carolina gubernatorial race with just two weeks to go has become a real soap opera. Republican candidate Nikki Haley is vehemently denying claims by conservative blogger Will Folks that the two of them had an inappropriate physical relationship.

Folks went public with the claim a few days ago and declared initially that he would speak no more of it. Now, the firestorm is raging and Folks says he will bring forth proof. As a downpayment on his side of the story, he printed on his blog a set of text messages between himself, Tom Pearson (Haley's campaign manager) and Wes Donehue, a republican political operative.

One of these two people is lying. Right now, I'm betting its Nikki Haley. The context of the text messages he's released so far and the way they have been reacted to by their respective authors says to me that there is smoke AND fire here. Folks apparently has a reputation for being erratic and maybe misogynist too , but considering the world of hurt that would be coming his way for publishing a smearing lie of this magnitude without being able to back it up, I find it hard to believe that he's just that dog food crazy, especially considering by all accounts, he supports Haley in the race.

I'm sticking with my prognostication here, but the main thing that causes me to doubt my current prediction? The very homely looking visage of Folks. Haley looks like a woman with better taste. Then again, the hubby ain't no George Clooney. Cute kids though.



Who's lying, Haley or Folks and why? Sound off in the comments.


Update I:  The story has not advanced much further, but the media are of course all over it, and reporters managed to catch up with Folks and Donehue to ask some questions:



I think the guy has the goods.  His play is suicidal if he does not.  I'm not sure Haley recovers from the lie.  The coverup is worse than the affair, politically.

Update II: Nikki Haley is going to be the next governor of South Carolina at the rate this is going.  Its been a week + since Will Folks rolled out his charge that he had "a inappropriate physical relationship" with Haley.  He promised proof and then dripped dripped some info that seemed significant but doesn't prove his case.  He hasn't dropped the bomb he's led people to expect he had, so at this point, we conclude that it is actually Will Folks who is the liar here. Big time.  How this political scum bag shows his face anywhere in SC after this mess, I don't know.  And if Nikki becomes Governor, well, payback is a you know what and Folks will have it coming in spades.  He won't be the only one on the waitlist to receive his can of political whoop ass either. Another moron, lobbyist Larry Merchant, has now come forward to openly claim that he had sex with Haley.Of course, he can't prove his claim either. His connection with Haley's primary opponent, Andre Bauer only makes it stink worse, as Merchant worked as a consultant to Bauer's campaign up until the day before he dropped this massive lie. Bauer is the current Lt. Governor of South Carolina and right about now, the people of SC have got to be thinking they have a massive political scum bag in the job.

South Carolina politics is an open sewer.  On what planet does this kind of free range political malarkey become okay? Political payback is to be expected at this point, but right now, I'm actually looking for Mr. Haley to pay a personal visit to somebody and break off his Timberlands in their back country.  The blatant (and inept) sexism and political cynicism these smear tactics evidence is a damning commentary on what passes for politics in South Carolina.  At this point, if I'm Haley, I think I want some more idiots to come out of the woodwork with bogus claims of affairs because it seems to be doing great things for her gubernatorial chances. If Merchant and Folks are not both steaming piles of political roadkill after this, there is no hope for SC politics.

Update III: Oh, lets add racist BS to the mix too! SC Senator Jake Knots gets in on the Haley pile on by calling Haley and President Obama ragheads in comments to a talk show audience. He's walking it back claiming he was being humorous and was taken out of context. The SC GOP chair has repudiated his comments and the SC Democrats are calling for his resignation.  I actually think its perfectly fair to force him out of office if it comes to that, not so much for the comment as for the insulting excuse that he was not understood correctly by his audience.  That's cowardly.  Be a man and own your BS.

The Tiger Woods Apology: Impressions

Its a definitive statement about the scandal and his responsibility for it.  My only nitpick with it is the passing reference to in-patient therapy (the guy isn't sick), but its a nitpick, he was very clear about it being his fault.  His speech makes very clear that a lot of people took it on the chin because of his affairs. I thought it was much better than the bare minimum apology you see from others in these situations.  I thought this was pretty comprehensive and definitive. I don't know if any of Elin's family members were on hand for this, but his mom was there and you could tell it was hard for her to hear and hard for her to watch him have to do it in a way that probably only mom's understand, but she embraced him afterward.  Just goes to show you always have your momma.

Some strong words about maintaining his privacy and demanding that the focus be on him. Very smart for personal and business reasons. I thought this was pretty good from a business perspective. Some pros worked on that and its the clearest indication to me that Tiger will be returning to golf.  Chris Brown needs to call Tiger and ask him if he can get a consult.  

What Fate Beatty?

Whats your your opinion on Beatty?

This is the portrait of a woman staring up at the world from the bottom of a very deep, dark place. Kwame Kilpatrick cut a deal this past Thursday, negotiating a plea agreement that lands him in jail for four months, on probation thereafter, and requires a million in restitution. He's made his deal. Christine Beatty, his former lover and co-defendant, has nothing. No deal, and quite possibly no remaining cards to play. We have urged Ms. Beatty repeatedely to run, not walk, run, to Kim Worthy's office and cut a deal for immunity while she still had time and bargaining chips. Alas, she never took our advice, and now she is paying the price, mega big time. I look at this picture and I think almost anyone feels some degree of compassion for Beatty. Then I think about it a little and my heart hardens. Foolish woman! What have you been thinking? Were you really so blinded with love for this thug that you could not act in your own self interest? Linking your criminal case to his, being defended by the same firm. Right from the very get go, you lost your job while he kept his. He made it abundantly clear that however much he may have liked you, he was not letting go of his wife or his family. Were you so enamored of him that you could not see the momentum building towards his eventual defeat? Were you so hopeful that your continued silence that helped shield him would someday be rewarded with his love that you could not recognize the erosion of your own position? Your marriage is over, his stands intact, for what its worth. A commenter at the Free Press, ricky234 put it well;

"He [Kwame] didn't throw her under the bus. She is lying down in the street waiting for it to run her over. She could have cut a great deal by turning on Kwami but NO, her love for him prevented that. But now that Kwami's love for his wife is stronger than ever (at least that is what he says) she is left hung out to dry. She put herself in this position, she put Kwami before her children. She put Kwami before her freedom."

According to the Freep, Beatty has another week to strike a possible deal to settle the perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office charges that could put her in prison for up to 15 years. At this point, I don't know that she has much to bargain with. Assuming her lawyer is of any real use, there may perhaps be some compelling reason why they did not seek to cut a separate deal for themselves before Kwame cut his own and removed a great deal of any leverage she may have had. When Granholm announced she was proceeding with the hearings, that should have been a wake up call. Maybe Prosecutor Worthy has more than enough evidence to have her way in court with all of them and therefore Beatty's info was not all that valuable anyway, if she could not give them anything they did not already have.

Beatty is on the short end of the stick in a sex and corruption scandal in which as a woman, many can argue, she got the very worst of it all while the man who used her suffered much less. I met Beatty during my years in Detroit back in the heady early years of the Kilpatrick reign. She and the rest of them were always a bit drunk with the wine of power and influence, but for all that, she was human enough. She has and is paying a high and painful price for years of truly bad decisions that have cost a marriage, her finanancial security, her reputation and quite possibly her freedom and time with her two children. Her crimes seem borne more of utter foolishness over a man who is a master manipulater than malice, so in the end, I'll hope for her sake that she can yet find a soft landing. I'd say she should find a ghostwriter and start working on the memoir now. She's going to need the money.

Whats your your opinion on Beatty? Do you feel sorry for her a little, or is it all just desserts? Unfair, or to be expected?

Kwame's Out - Top Staff Bailing

Kwame Kilpatrick entered pleaded guilty to felony charges in his perjury case and no contest in his assault case. His plea requires his resignation, which he has tendered effective Sept. 18th. He has to pay a million dollars restitution, probation for five years and he will be disbarred. With this plea deal, at least one portion of this sad saga comes to an end.

Now comes the fallout. Within hours of the announcement of his plea deal and resignation, Police Chief Ella Bully Cummings announced her resignation. I always liked Ella and she was easy to look at. I was dissapointed by the fact that she lied for Kwame on command as well, most notably in the Navigator scandal. With Kwame's exit, she bails, presumably before Cockrel gives her the axe. Also announcing her departure is Sharon McPhail. This woman is a real piece of work. Kwame lied with dispatch, and this woman made an Olympic sport out of spinning his BS to the public. Kwame would tell an absurd lie, and McPhail was the closer, arguing his case with vigor and even conviction. Early on, watching her lie with such fervor to the citizens of Detroit was almost amusing, because it was such an absurd production every time she opened her mouth. After a while though, it just became a disgusting spectacle to watch this woman purposefully set out to decieve the citizens of Detroit on Kwame's behalf. If there is anyone who I will enjoy watching shuffle off the stage as much as Kwame, its McPhail. Her role in this mess has been truly disgraceful. These are only the first to cut and run now that Kilpatrick has gone done in flames. Over 100 of his appointees are facing the axe. Some of them might not be deserving of it, but no one could blame Cockrel if he took office and made a complete sweep of any Kilpatrickite remaining in the administration, a deBathication of Detroit if you will. Well, however it goes forward, let the cleanup of Detroit politics begin.

The Double Standard of Black Accountability Applied

The meltdown occuring in Detroit City government has now entered what can only be viewed as an embarrassingly painful slow motion train wreck phase. Kwame Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty have been charged with 12 and 7 felony counts respectively. They were required to surrender to police, they were booked and mug shotted.

As we watch this mess unfold, we stand in jaw dropped awe of the denial and disregard of Kwame's corruption being exercised by a large portion of the voting populace, many members of the clergy and the corporate leadership of the city. It is absolutely distressing to watch people you might otherwise believe to be reasonable make excuse after excuse for the behavior of Kwame and his administrative minions. It is a failure of black accountability that the majority of the city's citizens and corporate leadership are not leading the charge for regime change at city hall. In fact, Kwame actually has a legal defense fund with a variety of committee members who have signed their names in support of it. I considered it shocking some of the nationally known people supporting this foolishness, specifically Willie Brown- Former Mayor of San Francisco and Michael Eric Dyson. How either of them could bring themselves to lend their credibility to a manifest crook, liar and thug masquerading as a mayor, I simply don't understand. But I digress from my main point.

Though the focus has been quite clearly on Kwame, we have kept an eye on how Christine Beatty is faring . As many know, she resigned her position as chief of staff shortly after the scandal broke. We identified Beatty as Kwame's mystery guest for his massage at a NC resort via the Detroit cousin's friend network. While Beatty is out of a job and facing serious legal consequences, many in the city and notables like Willie Brown are rallying to the mayor's side. The corporate fat cats who bailed out the mayor's re-election effort that Beatty helped engineer are aiding Kwame with their silence support. The citizenry continue to support him, but little love seems to be flowing Beatty's way at all. He's got a legal defense fund, and it only seems fair to us that Beatty should be included in it as well. The citizens of Detroit and the legal fund committee should be demanding she be added as a beneficiary, especially given their repeated assertions that Kwame will be fully vindicated. So the unemployed Beatty is getting no help to pay her legal expenses and her lawyer is not cheap. She suffered another setback in court as well when the magistrate refused her request to leave the state to seek work and required her to wear a tether which reports her whereabouts, though it does not restrict her to her home.

So Beatty is out of a job, facing massive criminal liabilities with custody of two children and is now restricted to the state and cannot go elsewhere to seek work without the court's leave. At the same time, she certainly is not going to get work in Michigan. Meanwhile, her ex, Da Mayor, has got a legal defense fund, vocal supporters and can leave the state to carry out his official duties (prior notice to the court of course).

We repeat our advice to Ms. Beatty. Have your attorney run to Ms. Worthy's office, cut a deal for immunity and spill your guts.

Detroit, your choice is clear. Do you have the courage to make it?

Pressure seems to be mounting for Kwame Kilpatrick to resign as Mayor of Detroit. The Detroit City Council will vote next week on a resolution calling for his resignation. Under the city charter, the council cannot oust the mayor. However, the council can request that the governor remove him based on a showing of neglect of duties or abuse of power, all amply demonstrated in this case.

The momentum is not overwhelming at this point for two primary reasons. One, the people of Detroit are not demanding Kwame's ouster. More specifically, the black citizens of Detroit are not demanding accountability for this man's actions. It does not seem to matter to black Detroiters that Kwame and his staff have repeatedly lied in the most outlandish, brazen way imaginable at every turn, as though if they told the same lie enough, it would magically become true. Its an extreme insult and it tells you volumes about Kwame's arrogance and his contempt for Detroit's citizens, an arrogance and contempt which it appears his entire staff are infected with as well. He pees in your face and tells you its rain. Literally. His lying is that bold, and black Detroiters are lying down for it. This is not the first time either. He's a serial offender in this regard.

Secondly, the corporate community of Detroit has not turned on him. They are keeping silent. Why is that? Because they bought and paid for Kwame when the corporate community got together and coughed up over $100,000 to prop up his re-election campaign when it was in deep doo doo. Their investment has been paying off well in the form of projects in the pipeline and real estate and development deals in downtown and elsewhere that Kwame is greasing the skids for, in return for their continued support politically and their patronage and contributions to his campaign war chest and his pet foundations employing his friends and family. Now these business leaders are keeping mum, and its outrageous. For the sake of their business deals, they are willing to maintain this liar in office and perpetuate the pathetic and unaccountable manner in which Detroit city government is being run into the ground. It tells you plenty about the integrity of these corporate honchos. They care nothing for the people of this city and their indifference is manifest.

The corporate community's silence highlights a nasty little fact for Detroit citizens as well. Kwame is little more than a corporate puppet. Why else would they keep silent? Kwame is bought and paid for. He is in the pockets of Detroit's corporate leadership and from deals like Watermark to the Cobo revitalization, they want him around to keep the people in line, keep the money flowing. As long as he does that, they appear willing to give him cover. But the reality here is that Detroit's citizens have been betrayed by Kwame. He is selling out Detroit in the name of influence peddling.

This debacle of failed accountability has cost the city $10 million in the settlement and legal fees. The legal bills continue to pile up, since as long as Kwame is mayor, the city foots the bills and with Council running their own investigation with their own lawyer and "advisers" to him, the expenses keep coming in. Now, word comes that the National Conference of Black Mayors convention set to meet in Detroit in April is planning to go to New Orleans instead due to the scandal.

Detroiters, the choice is clear. And if Detroiters are unwilling to make it, then you will have no basis for complaint and you will have earned the inept and corrupt city government you deserve.

Kwame's NC Massage Partner Revealed: Survey Says....

Christine Beatty - Yes good people, thats right and you heard it here first. The Mayor shared his $504 dollar massage package with his now former Chief of Staff Ms. Beatty. How does the Season know? The same way everybody in Detroit knows about the dirt getting done in the Mayor's inner circle. Somebody we know, who knows somebody else we know, who's relative shared a flight with Ms. Beatty on a plane headed down to Asheville the weekend of Jan. 19th and ID'd her. Kwame was there Jan. 19th to the 21st. We will stipulate to the fact that her lawyer has publicly denied that it was Beatty;

"Absolutely not," Morganroth said. Beatty bought gas for her vehicle in Detroit on Jan. 19, had lunch at a downtown restaurant and made at least one other Metro Detroit purchase on her credit cards that weekend, Morganroth said. "I have the receipts to prove it," he said.

Its not hard to have someone use your credit card to produce receipts for you and help you cover your tracks. Someone who could corroborate her presence at the gas station, or the lunch or at the store where she made this purchase would be more convincing. Bear in mind that this assignation occurred before the text message scandal broke in the papers. Political Season makes a call for corroboration from any one that can confirm our friend's friends's relatives' report of Beatty on a plane to Asheville from Detroit that weekend. Probably not hard to track it down. If you've got the goods, send us an email here at Political Season.

And because the Detroit Mayor's office scandal is the gift that just keeps on giving, or really in this case, taking from the citizens of Detroit, the Detroit Free Press reports that Detroit city council today approved a $25,000 settlement to the two police officers who pulled Beatty over for a traffic stop.

The officers said they pulled Beatty over for speeding June 21, 2004 and she told them: “Do you know who the (expletive) I am?”

The officers sued after Bully-Cummings publicly said they harassed Beatty, and Kilpatrick told a radio station: “It sounds like a setup to me.”

Because the Mayor has zero credibility due to this scandal, city council had little choice but to pay $25,000 to bring another of the Mayor's messes to a close. This may not be the last of such episodes either. How many other lawsuits may materialize based on retaliation or slander by the Mayor or his surrogates? Those that do will have a lower bar to overcome when it comes to pitting their credibility against the Mayor's, because what he has is gone. It is yet more confirmation for the premise that Black America must practice accountability when it comes to its elected political leadership. Detroit is a city in desperate need of revival and restoration and it requires leadership. This is not it. Detroiters will only get the leadership they demand and if not some will say that they deserve. If Black Americans are unwilling to call to account a Mayor who has been so contemptuous of the taxpaying voters who put him in office, it is will be another public example of the self destructive tendency of blacks to ask for accountability from every other quarter but our own.

Person Christine Beatty

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An Accomplished and Facile Liar

Detroit Free Press February 9, 2008

During a Friday radio appearance on WMXD-FM (92.3), Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick spoke with host Frankie Darcell about the text message scandal that has rocked his administration. The following are excerpts of his comments versus what court records show or what people had to say in response to the mayor.

What the mayor said: "This case was about a wrongful termination and neither person was fired. It was about me, Kwame Kilpatrick, and the relationship that that jury and this region has with me."

What the records show: Former Deputy Chief Gary Brown, who filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against the mayor and city, claimed he was forced out of his job -- and the jury unanimously found he was telling the truth. The jury delivered a $6.5-million verdict last September for Brown and former officer Harold Nelthrope, who also sued.

What the mayor said: "We had a private engagement to exchange private information [a reference to a confidentiality agreement that he and former chief of staff Christine Beatty signed with the cops' attorney after settling the case for $8.4 million]. They were never city documents."

What the records show: The settlement agreement and the confidential agreement were linked and negotiated by lawyers paid with city funds. Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Colombo Jr., who is presiding over the Free Press' Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to obtain the secret documents, rejected arguments the documents are private, saying, "Nothing could be further from the truth."

What the mayor said: "I mean, you name them -- Roger Penske, Dan Gilbert, Doug Rothwell, you know, the GM family -- everybody has contacted me and told me we're with you, let's continue to move forward, let's keep doing projects. They're all trying to think of things to change the conversation as well."

What the business leaders had to say: Rothwell, president of the Detroit Renaissance group of CEOs, said Friday afternoon he has not spoken with Kilpatrick since the controversy erupted but has spoken with Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams. Rothwell said, as he did last week, that Detroit Renaissance "will continue to stay engaged in the redevelopment of the city." A spokesman for Penske, who led the Super Bowl XL host committee, said Penske had no comment. A General Motors Corp. spokesman declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Quicken Loans Chairman Gilbert wouldn't comment on whether Gilbert has talked to the mayor.

What the mayor said: "The recent things is the text messages, which were, you know, illegally obtained [by] the Free Press and, you know, now the whole paper now is covering up their illegal act with a lot of criminal activity and collusion in writing these reports."

What the Free Press said: Executive Editor Caesar Andrews said the Free Press did not obtain the records illegally.

What the mayor said: "I didn't know this was coming out, I've never seen these messages."

What the records show: He wrote and received the messages, literally hundreds exchanged between the mayor and Beatty and reviewed by the Free Press. The newspaper sued for their release on Jan. 3, subpoenaed them and -- after obtaining the records outside of the lawsuit efforts -- asked Kilpatrick for an interview more than 24 hours in advance of publishing a report about them.

What the mayor said: "There was a trial. You know, first of all, all of the things that you're hearing about now were never a part of the trial, never discussed."

What the records show: Wayne County Circuit Judge Michael Callahan, who presided over the whistle-blower trial, ruled that Kilpatrick's alleged philandering was relevant and admissible in court because the former cops claimed the mayor retaliated against them for an investigation that might have uncovered affairs with Beatty and other women. Mike Stefani, the former cops' lawyer, mentioned the text messages several times at trial and asked Beatty extensively about them. The messages, which were the basis of the Free Press report last month, showed the mayor and Beatty lied under oath about their affair.

What the mayor said: "Confidentiality happens in divorce cases, lawsuits, where at the end of the case there's an exchange of documents between one party and another. At the end of this case, because the documents were never obtained by the city, because they weren't city documents, we had a private engagement to exchange private information."

What the records show: The Free Press sought the confidentiality agreement through its Freedom of Information Act lawsuit after the city refused to turn over records that the paper believed were being withheld with the settlement documents. The act was created to allow public access to government business and records. The paging devices used by the mayor and Beatty were paid for with city funds, and the $8.4-million settlement came from city tax dollars.

What the mayor said: "The council voted on the settlement. ... We presented all that information to them. They voted on the number. They knew what the number was. They had all that information."

What the records show: Several council members have said they had no clue there was a confidential agreement connected to the settlement, and that the confidential deal was aimed at concealing the text messages and other matters.

What the mayor said: "Those [settlement] checks were sent before the Dec. 5 date of the confidentiality agreement signing, so let me just tell you why that's so interesting. That means that they already had their money when we signed the confidentiality agreement."

What the records show: The confidentiality agreement was signed Nov. 1. Stefani and his clients didn't begin receiving checks until Nov. 16. They received their last payments Dec. 4.

What the mayor said: The mayor's office was "audited in '04, '05 and '06. I stand behind all the hard numbers. The way we managed our finances is good."

What the records show: Joseph Harris, the city's auditor general at the time, found Kilpatrick had spent more than $50,000 on personal items on the city's credit card. Kilpatrick eventually paid back nearly $9,000 for what he described as disputed charges, but did not detail what the check covered. Harris also said there were missing receipts and purchases that circumvented city spending limits. In 2004, three former aides to Kilpatrick -- including two of his former high school classmates -- agreed to repay about $46,000 they embezzled from the mayor's petty cash account.

What the mayor said: "There was no secret deal. As indicated in the lawsuit. The only other thing was the confidentiality agreement. Which we say was confidential. Because this is what we did, Frankie, we volunteered to release the confidentiality agreement."

What the records show: Judge Colombo ordered the release of the confidentiality agreement as a result of the Free Press suit. Kilpatrick's lawyers argued to keep all the settlement-related records secret until deciding, on appeal, to release the confidentiality agreement.

Other Shoe Dropping on Kwame's Hot Mess

Further proof that Mayor Kilpatrick considers the coffers and resources of Detroit to be synonymous with his own is on display in the Detroit Free Press today. The Freep reports

On Tuesday, Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Colombo Jr. granted a Free Press request to release secret settlement documents under the Freedom of Information Act. City officials initially claimed no such records existed, and now argue they should remain private.

The judge also unsealed the transcript of a five-hour deposition Stefani gave to newspaper lawyers last week in which he detailed negotiations between him and the mayor's lawyers last October and November.

The judge said the records in question were clearly public property.

Now you know that last statement means nothing to this corrupt administration. Kwame has directed city attorneys to appeal the unsealing of the documents. Reached for comment by reporters in Washington, Kwame "Playa" Kilpatrick responded

"We want the public to have all the information the public wants to have,"

We also want to make sure that we understand what the FOIA is all about -- that it's about private issues that go on in a lawsuit,"

Is that priceless or what? What private issues? Oh, you mean like you screwing your chief of staff, the wife of a personal friend you went to high school with? Or the $9.5 million the city has paid to cover it up? One of those was private, I'll give you that much. But it ceased to be so when you paid out $9.5 million in Detroit taxpayer money to hush it up. Now, the citizens of Detroit own the rights to that story Pla--, er I mean Mayor.

Its just another data point proving the corruptness of this administration in Detroit and the foolishness of black folks if its tolerated. It ain't just Kwame. He has partners in foolishness. Apologist in chief for this sorry mess is Detroit Corporate Counsel Sharon McPhail. She was busy on the radio today accusing the Free Press of a vendetta and the attorney for the cops, Mike Stefani, of extortion. Well, now the shoes are dropping. Tommorow Judge Columbo releases the documents but the Freep is already reporting their content: the mayor signed the $9 million settlement to cover up his affair. But the BS train is coming to a stop. Whats in the secret agreement? The key record is a Nov. 1 document, marked “Confidential Agreement,” which Kilpatrick and Beatty personally signed, along with the cops’ lawyer, Mike Stefani, to conceal the text messages. The messages remained secret until January, when the Free Press published excerpts from nearly 14,000 texts received and sent from Beatty’s pager. The agreement requires Stefani, and his clients, former police officers Gary Brown, Harold Nelthrope and Walter Harris, to never speak of the messages again.
A violation of the confidential agreement required that the former cops would pay back the money. This document, which city officials repeatedly said did not exist, was withheld from the Free Press and perhaps as well from City Council when they gave their approval to the settlement. McPhail insists "No secret deals exist or have ever existed. The possibility that personal documents...might become public would have a chilling affect on any mediation," she said" Personal documents? Because you see, Kwame has given up fighting the release of the confidential agreement, but he is fighting release of other docs, so clearly there is some more mess thats being hidden.

The plots getting thicker too. Council President Ken Cockrel, the new mayor if Kwame is turned out of office, may have decided that he'd like to have the job. Today, he introduced a resolution calling on City Council to hire a special counsel to represent the city’s interest in any potential appeal of the judge’s order to release secret settlement documents in the whistle-blower lawsuit. "Our attorney would more or less be filing a court pleading on council's behalf saying we do not believe an appeal is in the best interest of the city of Detroit and that an appeal should not be granted,” Cockrel said of the special counsel. “It gives us a certain legal standing." "I think the law department has a clear conflict of interest," he said. "On paper, they represent the city of Detroit, which means council and the mayor. But on this issue, I don't believe the law department can serve two masters."

So its dropping like its hot in Detroit. Ken Cockrel is making his move, the settlement papers will be released soon, and we have not yet heard anything further from prosecutor Kim Worthy about perjury or other matters. As more of Kwame's outrageous behavior and that of his corrupt cronies surfaces, lets hope that the citizens of Detroit will turn him out of office.

Kwame Kilpatrick: Poster Child for the Failure of Black Accountability

I lived in Metro Detroit for eight years, a time span that included Mayor Archer's second term and Kwame Kilpatrick's first. Detroit has been the nightmare scenario of white flight, ineffective black political rule, racial polarization and urban decay for better than 20 years. The city has a history and well known status as the most segregated city in America. Sadly, that racial legacy and present day context has been the excuse for a low standard of accountability when it comes to Detroit's black political leadership. The latest embarrassment is the now publicly outed sordid extramarital affair between Mayor Kilpatrick and Chief of Staff Christine Beatty.

It was an affair those in the know and among Kwame's security detail knew about and one of those open secrets the rest of the city suspected. It became public knowledge for sure when text messages were revealed which confirmed the affair. The seeds of Kwame's undoing began with a pair of police officers that sued him and the city for alleged violations of the state’s Whistleblower Protection Act. The suits were brought by Officer Harold Nelthrope, a former mayoral bodyguard, and Gary Brown, a former deputy chief who previously headed the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit. Brown says he was fired for letting members of his unit investigate Nelthrope’s allegations and Nelthrope said that Kwame violated whistle blower laws by outing him and slandering him in retaliation.

Nelthrope approached Internal Affairs, known as the Professional Accountability Bureau, with allegations that some members of the mayor’s security team were getting paid for overtime hours they didn’t work, as well as other alleged transgressions. He also reported rumors of a wild party at the mayoral mansion involving strippers, one of whom was allegedly assaulted by the mayor’s wife, Carlita Kilpatrick who supposedly walked in on a lap dance Kwame was enjoying. Deputy Chief Gary Brown pursued an investigation into Nelthrope's claims about the overtime as well as the party rumors, a path certain to bring him into direct conflict with the Mayor. In responding to the allegations, Kwame identified Nelthrope publicly, even though his identity by law should have been confidential. The mayor called his allegations false and publicly said he was a liar and that he hoped Nelthrope's family was listening.

Kwame's counterattack was hard core and revealing of his character. He told the then Police Chief, Jerry Oliver, ( a man universally hated by rank and file DPD) to fire Deputy Chief Brown and to say publicly that it was his decision and not the Mayor's. The hilarity of that lie was brought home to me one morning during my morning commute listening to AM760 as the scandal unfolded. On a morning show, the Mayor was interviewed and when asked who's decision was it to fire Deputy Chief Brown, he confidently stated it was Chief Oliver's call. Not more than an hour or so later, Chief Oliver, interviewed on a different show, same station, said the opposite, that the Mayor instructed him to fire Deputy Chief Brown. They clearly had not gotten their stories straight. Later that same day, Chief Oliver was interviewed again and it was clear that the Chief had been given a thorough review of the talking points memo by Kwame and now he was taking the hit and stating that it was his call to fire the Deputy Chief.

In the course of giving testimony in the case, the plaintiffs lawyers asked Kwame and Beatty both if they were romantically involved, clearly prompted by the plaintiffs inside knowledge of what was going on. Christine simply responded no. Kwame gave an indignant speech in his answer, saying angrily that it was wrong to brand Beatty as a whore. All the time, the both of them flagrantly involved in a torrid liaison that was carried on in the presence of administration insiders and was certainly known to their police detail. The case was eventually settled for about $6 million with another $3 million paid in legal fees, and the plaintiffs committed to a secrecy agreement about the deal.

Political Season's take on this sordid mess? Kwame should lose his job for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, he's a married man doing his at the time also married chief of staff employee, opening the city to potential sexual harassment liabilities from her or other men and women in the administration. That is stupendous bad judgment. Everybody in town in the know knew it was going on, and the rest of the city pretty much assumed it.

Secondly, they fired people to cover the affair up and other foolishness he was doing. They made the police chief fire the deputy police chief that initiated an investigation into goings on with Kwame's security detail and those people sued. So they axed people to cover up their mess.

Lastly, the jacked up, stone broke City of Detroit forked over $9.4 million in a settlement plus legal fees to settle the case and keep the plaintiffs quiet about what they knew, mainly his affair with Beatty, perhaps others and likely the real story about the big stripper party that supposedly never happened.

Detroit is the poster child for urban decay. Michigan's economy has been in the toilet for several years now which is why I live in Indy and not Detroit. Here in Indy, they talk about not becoming "Detroit". Detroit, a city with so many things wrong that is so badly in need of leadership and good stewardship, and they pay out $9.4 million plus legal fees to hush the Mayor's sordid affair with his chief of staff, who was also married and was cool with his wife? The man should resign. If this brother worked for you or if you or I cost our company $9.4 million because of an affair with a subordinate, would we have a job? Hell no.

Don't feel sorry for him and don't cut him an inch of slack. Black people in Detroit and in general are too often all too willing to tolerate any mess to keep "black" leadership, even if that means no accountability. And with no accountability, the city will continue to be a dump because black people are not taking responsibility for ourselves. Already the hit parade of excuses is beginning. According to the Detroit Free Press, Sharon McPhail, one of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s top aides, said today that she believes Kilpatrick will not be charged with perjury despite contradictions between his testimony in court in a whistleblower case and text messages sent between him and his chief of staff.

McPhail, speaking with reporters as she entered the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, said she doesn’t believe enough evidence exists to charge Kilpatrick, although she also said she had not read the text messages.

“When the facts are known this is just going to be a blip on the screen of all the wonderful things he’s done for the city,” she said.

McPhail said calls for the mayor to repay the city for paying his legal bills in the whistleblower suit and the $9 million judgment in that case are misplaced. The case resulted because of Kilpatrick’s official decision, justifying a taxpayer-funded legal defense, she said.

The text messages exposure of his affair with chief of staff Christine Beatty was not why three former police officers sued the city, she said. The case originated because former Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown continued to investigate a never-proven wild party at the Manoogian Mansion.

And lets not forget about the rather sexist nature of our substandard community accountability on display here with the resignation of Christine Beatty. As my wife pointed out, her career is effectively destroyed. She is now out of a job, divorced, and branded as a whore and certified home wrecker. Who is going to be willing to employ her in any position of public trust or responsibility again? What will be the quality of her professional relationships with other women and men in the future? She is out of her job right now, but Kwame's staff is going on the defense of him and I'm sure the drumbeat from the community may already have begun that he should not have to resign, that if he is, he's being held to a different standard than white politicians. I don't see anyone coming to Beatty's defense. Why shouldn't the excuses being advanced on Kwame's behalf apply to her as well? How that plays is even more interesting considering the number of other high profile black women in the orbit of this mess. The prosecutor is a Black woman. Christine Beatty is a Black woman. Carlita Kilpatrick is a Black woman, as is Kwame's mother, Carolyn Kilpatricke head of the Congressional Black Caucus. Don't be surprised if Beatty is vilified by the same black community that wants to excuse Kwame.

This is the accountability issue front and center for black people and the kind of stuff that makes us look like total jackasses. We are on a hair trigger when a white person makes a comment rightly or wrongly and will DEMAND folk be fired and punished, but we will make every excuse for black people in positions of responsibility who are guilty of egregious behavior, from taking a crack hit on camera to banking $90,000 in bribe money in the freezer. The result: underperformance in nearly every aspect of the community when it comes to implementation of effective strategies that address the interests of black people. Black Americans must call check on the poor performance of black leadership and demonstrate more maturity as a community by refusing to any longer tolerate the exercise of extremely poor judgment in positions of responsibility in order to have "black" leadership. If we effectively demand accountability and responsible leadership irrespective of the race of the person in a leadership position, we would be far better off.