Michigan state legislator affairs, 2015
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After 14 hours of debate and two failed rounds of voting, Rep. Todd Courser (R) resigned from the Michigan House of Representatives on September 11, 2015, and an hour later Rep. Cindy Gamrat (R) was expelled from the chamber.[1] Both Gamrat and Courser admitted to misconduct in relation to their extra-marital affair, but asked for censure.[2] A special state House select committee recommended expulsion for both lawmakers for misconduct and misuse of taxpayer resources in covering up the affair.[3]
Background
On August 7, 2015, The Detroit News reported that Rep. Courser, a married father of four, allegedly tried to cover up his affair with Rep. Cindy Gamrat (R-80), a married mother of three, by asking his aide to lie for him.[4] According to audio recordings obtained by The Detroit News, Courser asked his then-aide Ben Graham to distribute a fake email to Republican activists and operatives suggesting that he had been caught having sex with a male prostitute behind a Lansing nightclub.[4] The email was intended to create "a complete smear campaign" to blunt any claims about a relationship between Courser and Gamrat.[5][4] The audio recordings were recorded by Graham in mid-May 2015.[5][4] After Graham refused to send the email, Courser fired him in July; Gamrat also fired Keith Allard, her legislative aide.[4] Interviews with former House employees and the audio recordings showed that Courser and Gamrat used their taxpayer-funded offices to cover up the affair.[4]
After the affair was revealed, House Speaker Kevin Cotter (R-99) made the following statement:
| “ | The office [House Business Office] will review the matter and determine whether there was a violation of House rules or any evidence of illegal behavior, and will follow-up with any and all appropriate measures, including disciplinary steps. We will not stand for any violation of House rules or law, and we will not let anyone's actions tarnish this institution or take away from the work we do every day to improve the lives of the hard-working men and women of this great state.[6] | ” |
| —Rep. Kevin Cotter (R)[7] | ||
On August 10, 2015, Courser apologized for covering up the affair but suggested that he was the target of a blackmail attempt. Courser released on his campaign website a 27-minute audio statement acknowledging that he released an email as an attempt to distract from the potential reveal of his affair with Gamrat.[8] Courser said he was prompted to send the email after he received numerous texts around mid-May with what Courser called attempted blackmail.[8] Courser faced calls to resign, but said in his audio statement that he would stay in office.[8] U.S. Rep. Candice Miller (R) called for Courser's resignation and said that Courser "has proven to be completely unfit to represent the hardworking residents of Lapeer County, using taxpayer dollars to abide and assist his gross misconduct."[8]
Investigation and findings
According to Tim Bowlin, Director of the House Business Office, preliminary findings of the investigation into Courser and Gamrat indicated "both misconduct and the misuse of taxpayer resources by both representatives." Bowlin presented the findings of the investigation to House Speaker Cotter on August 24.[9]
On August 31, 2015, the investigative report into the alleged misconduct of Courser and Gamrat was released to the public. The investigation found that Courser and Gamrat were guilty of misconduct in office. The two representatives misused public resources to cover up the affair and repeatably lied to the House Business Office during the investigation. The report also revealed that Gamrat was lying when she said that she had nothing to do with sending the fake email. House Speaker Cotter called on both representatives to resign. A House select committee began hearings on September 1, 2015.[10]
On September 8, 2015, Gamrat apologized for her role in the cover-up and admitted to misusing public resources. She asked to be censured for her misconduct.[11] Brock Swartzle, the general counsel for the state House, recommended censure for Gamrat and expulsion for Courser. Swartzle recommended censure for Gamrat because the evidence showed that Gamrat was only an accomplice to the attempted cover-up and not the mastermind.[12]
On September 9, 2015, Courser testified in front of the special committee and apologized for his actions. He asked for censure from the committee.[13]
Expulsion and resignation
On September 10, 2015, the special committee voted 4-0 to recommend expulsion of both Courser and Gamrat from the state House. The recommendation then went before the full state House where a two-thirds vote was needed to remove Courser and Gamrat from office.[2] Gamrat then claimed that she had signed an agreement to accept the Business Office's report in return for censure. Cotter spokesman Gideon D'Assandro denied that such an offer was extended, characterizing Gamrat's claim as "11th hour desperation." D'Assandro noted that Swartzle's and the committee's recommendations could not be made binding, and that the document Gamrat signed was an admission of guilt and a censure request. He also said that Gamrat may have committed perjury by going back on her admission.[14]
At 3:12 a.m. on Friday, September 11, 2015, Courser resigned from office effective immediately. He resigned shortly before the state House made a third attempt to expel him. Almost an hour after Courser resigned, Gamrat was expelled from the state House by a vote of 91 to 12. Until that time, Gamat had pressed the chamber for censure.[15] She became the fourth lawmaker in the history of the Michigan State Legislature to be expelled.[1][16]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedholland - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Holland Sentinel, "UPDATE: Panel urges expulsion for Cindy Gamrat, Todd Courser for misconduct," accessed September 10, 2015
- ↑ lansingstatejournal.com, "House committee votes to expel Courser, Gamrat," accessed September 11, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 detroitnews.com, "Recordings: State rep asked aide to hide relationship," August 7, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Washington Post, "Politician reportedly leaked fake male prostitution e-mails to hide his real affair," August 7, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ NY Daily News, "Michigan Rep. Todd Courser asks aide to cover up affair with House colleague, say he had gay sex with prostitute in leaked audio," August 7, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 mlive.com, "Michigan Rep. Todd Courser apologizes for sex scandal, alleges blackmail scheme," accessed August 10, 2015
- ↑ woodtv.com, "Speaker: Evidence of misconduct from Courser, Gamrat," accessed August 27, 2015
- ↑ freep.com/, "House report: Courser, Gamrat guilty of misconduct," accessed August 31, 2015
- ↑ woodtv.com, "Rep. Gamrat admits to misconduct; asks for censure," accessed September 8, 2015
- ↑ washingtonpost.com/, "House lawyer urges 1 expulsion, 1 censure in affair cover-up," accessed September 8, 2015
- ↑ mlive.com/, "Michigan Rep. Todd Courser, seeking censure, apologizes for bizarre email: 'I wanted to die'," accessed September 9, 2015
- ↑ MLive, "Rep. Cindy Gamrat, facing expulsion, says she was misled on 'censure agreement,'" September 10, 2015
- ↑ The Detroit News, "House expels Gamrat; Courser resigns before vote," September 11, 2015
- ↑ wxyz.com, "Todd Courser resigns, Cindy Gamrat expelled from Michigan House of Representatives," accessed September 11, 2015
