Detroit Mayor In Texting Scandal With Aide
Christine Beatty, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's chief of staff, said Monday she is resigning amid allegations that she and the mayor lied under oath about an affair.
In a letter to Kilpatrick that was released by his office, Beatty said she believes she can no longer effectively carry out her duties. Her resignation takes effect Feb. 8.
"I painfully regret the devastation that the recent reports have caused to the citizens of Detroit, to my co workers, to the Mayor's family and to my family and friends," Beatty wrote in the letter.
Kilpatrick spokesman James Canning said the mayor's office had no comment.
There was no immediate response to messages seeking comment from Elliott Hall, a lawyer for Beatty.
The resignation comes on the heels of a report published Sunday by the Detroit Free Press, which claims Beatty and Mayor Kilpatrick used taxpayer funds for personal expenses while traveling together across the country, according to records obtained by paper.
A prosecutor launched an investigation last week into the allegations, which came to light when the Detroit Free Press reported details of steamy text messages between Beatty and Kilpatrick, both 37.
The paper reported last week that it had examined about 14,000 text messages on Beatty's city-issued pager from 2002 and 2003 that indicate the two had been intimate during that period.
Both Kilpatrick and Beatty testified in a trial last summer that they did not have a physical relationship in 2002 and 2003, when the messages were reportedly sent.
The Free Press did not explain exactly how it obtained the messages. The newspaper said it cross-referenced the messages with the mayor's private calendar and credit card records to verify events in some of the notes.
The text messages examined by the newspaper reveal the two carried on a flirty, sometimes sexually explicit dialogue about where to meet and how to conceal their numerous trysts.
"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!"
On Oct. 16, 2002, Kilpatrick wrote Beatty: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."
This is not the first scandal involving Beatty. Two Detroit police officers who pulled her over in a traffic stop in 2004 claimed she yelled at them, asking: "Do you know who the ... I am?"
The officers said Beatty called the police chief on her cell phone, and a supervisor who arrived at the scene told the officers not to ticket Beatty. The officers later filed a civil lawsuit accusing the mayor and police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings of slander for statements critical of the traffic stop.
Last summer Kilpatrick and Beatty testified in a case involving 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.
The lawsuit ended with the jury awarding $6.5 million to the two officers. The payout eventually grew to more than $8.5 million.
A conviction of lying under oath can bring up to 15 years' imprisonment.