Detroit mayor’s text messaging grief
p2pnet news | Politics:- Did Detroit’s "scandal-plagued mayor" and his chief Christine Beatty of staff lie under oath when they denied having an extramarital affair?
That’s the question the Wayne County prosecutor is asking.
And behind the enquiry are text messages.
"The investigation by the prosecutor, Kym L. Worthy, was prompted by The Detroit Free Press’s publication this week of text messages, many of them flirtatious, between the mayor, Kwame M. Kilpatrick, and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, who have known each other since high school," says the New York Times, going on:
"The messages, transmitted to and from Ms. 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 in the beleaguered city more than $9 million."
Last summer, "Kwame Kirkpatrick, the Mayor of Detroit, took the witness stand in a lawsuit that two police officers had launched against him and the city," says the National Post, going on:
"As part of his testimony under oath, Kirkpatrick denied that he’d had a romantic or sexual relationship with his aide Christine Beatty in 2002 and 2003. Beatty said the same thing when it was her turn on the stand. Both may be regretting that testimony now – or at least cursing the Detroit Free Press, which is reporting on a series of loveydovey text messages exchanged between Kirkpatrick and Beatty in 2002 and 2003.
"It’s embarrassing, to be sure, but at least there have so far been no rumblings from the county prosecutor about going after Kirkpatrick or Beatty for perjury: Were they convicted of such an offence, the Mayor and his aide could spend up to 15 years behind bars."
Now, "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," says the NYT.
The only response from Kilpatrick, 37, has been a four-sentence statement, it says, namely:
These five- and six-year-old text messages reflect a very difficult period in my personal life. 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."
Also See:
New York Times – Mayor’s Amorous Texts Lead to Perjury Inquiry, January 26, 2008
National Post – Friday Zeitgeist, January 25, 2008
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