Messages Contradict Da Mayor And His Chief of Staff Assertions That They Ain't Been "Hookin' Up!"
Hizzoner Kwame Kilpatrick and his chief of staff "are officially busted!" after text meesages show both lied about their relationship last summer at a police whistle-blower trial that has cost the cash-strapped city more than $9 million.
Kilpatrick and chief of staff Christine Beatty, both 37, married and classmates back in the day at Detroit's famed Cass Tech High , denied during testimony in August that they had a sexual relationship. But then there's exchanges like this to suggest otherwise: Beatty: "And, did you miss me, sexually?" Kilpatrick: "Hell yeah! You couldn't tell. I want some more. "
This is clearly damaging to the Black Motor City mayor, with false testimony such as this potentially exposes them both to felony perjury charges. "I'm madly in love with you," Kilpatrick wrote on Oct. 3, 2002. "I hope you feel that way for a long time," Beatty answered. "In case you haven't noticed, I am madly in love with you, too!"
But the records, a series of text messages, show them engaged in romantic banter as well as planning and recounting sexual liaisons.
UPDATE!!! IS KWAME ON HIS WAY OUT???
The messages are also at odds with the pair's trial testimony that they did not fire African American Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown in 2003, an ouster that led him to sue. The text messages show Beatty recalling the "decision that we made to fire Gary Brown."
The Kilpatrick-Beatty relationship and Brown's dismissal were central to the whistle-blower suit filed by Brown and Harold Nelthrope, a former police officer and mayoral bodyguard. The two cops accused Kilpatrick of retaliating against them because of their roles in an internal affairs investigation of the mayor's security team -- a probe that potentially could have exposed the affair.
Late Wednesday, the mayor released a statement that said the text messages were "profoundly embarrassing" and "reflect a very difficult period" in his life. "My wife and I worked our way through these intensely personal issues years ago," he wrote.
If Kilpatrick and Beatty are found to have committed perjury, they could face up to 15 years in prison under state law. Kilpatrick, a lawyer, could also face discipline if the state Attorney Discipline Board finds he lied in court.
The costly settlement of the whistle-blower suit was a financial blow to a city that is struggling to provide services to residents and is selling assets to raise money. Kilpatrick balked at early efforts to settle the 2003 suit and continued to fight even after his attorneys learned in 2004 that the damaging messages might eventually surface in the case.
In June of that year, a mediation panel urged the city to pay Brown and Nelthrope $2.25 million to drop the suits. The city and Kilpatrick rejected the recommendation. So did the cops, although Stefani, their lawyer, said the city never made a settlement offer over the next three years.
Stefani asked Beatty the following question when she was on the stand Aug. 28:
"During the time period 2001 to 2003, were you and Mayor Kilpatrick either romantically or intimately involved with each other?" Rolling her eyes, Beatty answered: "No." Kilpatrick testified for more than three hours the next day. Stefani asked him: "Mayor Kilpatrick, during 2002 and 2003 were you romantically involved with Christine Beatty?" Kilpatrick's response: "No."
The messages reveal just the opposite: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days," the mayor wrote on Oct. 16, 2002. "Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and
Kilpatrick and chief of staff Christine Beatty, both 37, married and classmates back in the day at Detroit's famed Cass Tech High , denied during testimony in August that they had a sexual relationship. But then there's exchanges like this to suggest otherwise: Beatty: "And, did you miss me, sexually?" Kilpatrick: "Hell yeah! You couldn't tell. I want some more. "This is clearly damaging to the Black Motor City mayor, with false testimony such as this potentially exposes them both to felony perjury charges. "I'm madly in love with you," Kilpatrick wrote on Oct. 3, 2002. "I hope you feel that way for a long time," Beatty answered. "In case you haven't noticed, I am madly in love with you, too!"
But the records, a series of text messages, show them engaged in romantic banter as well as planning and recounting sexual liaisons.
UPDATE!!! IS KWAME ON HIS WAY OUT???
The messages are also at odds with the pair's trial testimony that they did not fire African American Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown in 2003, an ouster that led him to sue. The text messages show Beatty recalling the "decision that we made to fire Gary Brown."
The Kilpatrick-Beatty relationship and Brown's dismissal were central to the whistle-blower suit filed by Brown and Harold Nelthrope, a former police officer and mayoral bodyguard. The two cops accused Kilpatrick of retaliating against them because of their roles in an internal affairs investigation of the mayor's security team -- a probe that potentially could have exposed the affair.
Late Wednesday, the mayor released a statement that said the text messages were "profoundly embarrassing" and "reflect a very difficult period" in his life. "My wife and I worked our way through these intensely personal issues years ago," he wrote.
If Kilpatrick and Beatty are found to have committed perjury, they could face up to 15 years in prison under state law. Kilpatrick, a lawyer, could also face discipline if the state Attorney Discipline Board finds he lied in court.
The costly settlement of the whistle-blower suit was a financial blow to a city that is struggling to provide services to residents and is selling assets to raise money. Kilpatrick balked at early efforts to settle the 2003 suit and continued to fight even after his attorneys learned in 2004 that the damaging messages might eventually surface in the case.
In June of that year, a mediation panel urged the city to pay Brown and Nelthrope $2.25 million to drop the suits. The city and Kilpatrick rejected the recommendation. So did the cops, although Stefani, their lawyer, said the city never made a settlement offer over the next three years.
Stefani asked Beatty the following question when she was on the stand Aug. 28:
"During the time period 2001 to 2003, were you and Mayor Kilpatrick either romantically or intimately involved with each other?" Rolling her eyes, Beatty answered: "No." Kilpatrick testified for more than three hours the next day. Stefani asked him: "Mayor Kilpatrick, during 2002 and 2003 were you romantically involved with Christine Beatty?" Kilpatrick's response: "No."
The messages reveal just the opposite: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days," the mayor wrote on Oct. 16, 2002. "Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and
making love."
The text traffic appears to lend credence to allegations made by Walt Harris, a former mayoral bodyguard who filed his own whistle-blower suit. Harris said he was punished for supporting Nelthrope's reports of wrongdoing by Kilpatrick and his bodyguards.
His lawsuit claimed, among other things, that Beatty met alone with the mayor in Kilpatrick's hotel room during the Washington trip in 2002. Kilpatrick later told reporters Harris was making up stories to get money from the city. On May 14, 2003, Kilpatrick and Beatty traded text messages about another late-night tryst in a Washington hotel. The next day, Kilpatrick stood on the steps of the Manoogian Mansion and spoke of his devotion to family and God amid a frenzy of news reports that Brown was fired for looking into rumors of the Manoogian party.
In September, a Wayne County jury concluded Brown and Nelthrope were victims of retaliation and found in their favor, awarding Brown $3.9 million and Nelthrope $2.6 million. Kilpatrick's public response was: "I'm absolutely blown away at this decision, and I know Detroiters are, too." The next morning, on Sept. 12, Kilpatrick told a WJLB-FM (97.9) radio audience why he had refused to settle the case.
"I thought that the people of the city of Detroit needed to have an opportunity to hear the truth, they needed to see me sit in the chair," he said. "They saw that." He vowed an appeal.
Then, in October, Kilpatrick abruptly settled the case, as well as the suit brought by Harris, for a combined $8.4 million. Legal costs have pushed the total to more than $9 million.
Harris received $400,000. Records show Kilpatrick could have settled that case two years ago for $100,000 -- but he rejected the mediators' recommendation. Because they were sued in their roles as city officials, Kilpatrick and Beatty did not personally have to pay the costs from the $9-million legal fight. [Source]
During the trial, Kilpatrick bristled when testifying about speculation that he and Beatty were lovers. "I think it was pretty demoralizing to her -- you have to know her -- but it's demoralizing to me as well," he said. "My mother is a congresswoman. There have always been strong women around me. My aunt is a state legislator. I think it's absurd to assert that every woman that works with a man is a whore. I think it's disrespectful not just to Christine Beatty but to women who do a professional job that they do every single day. And it's also disrespectful to their families as well."
Beatty and Kilpatrick have been friends for seemingly forever. She Beatty has run all of his election campaigns, including his winning bid for state representative in 1996. He has praised her as an indefatigable and tough negotiator who helped the city wrest concessions from labor unions. Kilpatrick also has been a longtime friend of Lou Beatty, who was married to Christine Beatty until their 2006 divorce.
Beatty replied: "So we are officially busted!" "Damn that," Kilpatrick responded. "Never busted. Busted is what you see!"
Beatty and Kilpatrick have been friends for seemingly forever. She Beatty has run all of his election campaigns, including his winning bid for state representative in 1996. He has praised her as an indefatigable and tough negotiator who helped the city wrest concessions from labor unions. Kilpatrick also has been a longtime friend of Lou Beatty, who was married to Christine Beatty until their 2006 divorce.
Beatty replied: "So we are officially busted!" "Damn that," Kilpatrick responded. "Never busted. Busted is what you see!"
The text traffic appears to lend credence to allegations made by Walt Harris, a former mayoral bodyguard who filed his own whistle-blower suit. Harris said he was punished for supporting Nelthrope's reports of wrongdoing by Kilpatrick and his bodyguards.
His lawsuit claimed, among other things, that Beatty met alone with the mayor in Kilpatrick's hotel room during the Washington trip in 2002. Kilpatrick later told reporters Harris was making up stories to get money from the city. On May 14, 2003, Kilpatrick and Beatty traded text messages about another late-night tryst in a Washington hotel. The next day, Kilpatrick stood on the steps of the Manoogian Mansion and spoke of his devotion to family and God amid a frenzy of news reports that Brown was fired for looking into rumors of the Manoogian party.
In September, a Wayne County jury concluded Brown and Nelthrope were victims of retaliation and found in their favor, awarding Brown $3.9 million and Nelthrope $2.6 million. Kilpatrick's public response was: "I'm absolutely blown away at this decision, and I know Detroiters are, too." The next morning, on Sept. 12, Kilpatrick told a WJLB-FM (97.9) radio audience why he had refused to settle the case.
"I thought that the people of the city of Detroit needed to have an opportunity to hear the truth, they needed to see me sit in the chair," he said. "They saw that." He vowed an appeal.
Then, in October, Kilpatrick abruptly settled the case, as well as the suit brought by Harris, for a combined $8.4 million. Legal costs have pushed the total to more than $9 million.
Harris received $400,000. Records show Kilpatrick could have settled that case two years ago for $100,000 -- but he rejected the mediators' recommendation. Because they were sued in their roles as city officials, Kilpatrick and Beatty did not personally have to pay the costs from the $9-million legal fight. [Source]