Michigan Lawmakers Weigh Discipline For Representatives In Sex Scandal
LANSING (AP) - Emboldened after defeating establishment Republicans, newly elected tea party Reps. Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat set out to shake up Michigan's Capitol — quickly announcing a "contract for liberty" and attacking the GOP governor over proposed tax hikes and overspending.
The outspoken pair has succeeded, but in a way no one could have imagined.
On Tuesday, the state House will hold a rare disciplinary hearing that could lead to the social conservatives' expulsion over their extramarital affair and a bizarre attempt to cover it up. The Legislature is under pressure to fix Michigan's roads, update energy laws and address the debt-ridden Detroit schools, but the scandal threatens to overshadow policy issues as lawmakers return from summer recess.
"It has given a black eye to all of us in the Legislature," said Republican Rep. Kurt Heise. The lawyer from Plymouth Township near Detroit sits on a committee investigating the matter after a House Business Office summary report accused Courser and Gamrat of committing misconduct, misusing public resources to hide their relationship and lying to investigators.
The six-member panel could recommend that the House take no action, censure the duo or expel them.
Expulsion is rare. About 30 U.S. state lawmakers have been expelled by colleagues in the last century, including two from Michigan, according to an informal tally by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
"Oftentimes the legislators resign prior to the actual expulsion taking place," said Brenda Erickson, the group's expert on legislative processes and procedures.
Courser, 43, and Gamrat, 42, have refused calls to resign. Even before the scandal broke last month, they alienated many colleagues. They clashed with the GOP leadership and were booted from or voluntarily left the majority GOP caucus.
Courser has admitted that he arranged for a phony email to be sent to Republican activists and others that said he had been caught having sex with a male prostitute. He said the tale would make the affair less believable in case it was exposed by an anonymous blackmailer who was sending him and Gamrat text messages demanding that he resign or their relationship would be exposed. The self-smear email called Courser a "bi-sexual porn addicted sex deviant" and "gun toting Bible thumping ... freak."
After an aide to Courser and Gamrat was fired in July, he gave The Detroit News a secret audio recording of Courser demanding that he send the email to "inoculate the herd," an apparent reference to Courser's supporters. While the aide refused and the email was likely legal, the plot was unethical and showed a "callous lack of respect" to the public, according to the investigation. It also said Gamrat was aware of the email contrary to her assertions.
Many constituents back home have had enough.
"To know that any of us who supported him in his race are nothing but a herd that needs inoculating is insulting," said Bill Gavette, a tea party activist who owns a carpet-cleaning business in Courser's district.
Especially infuriating is that Courser and Gamrat, who each have spouses and children, were outspoken about their Christian faith and morals.
"When you put yourself up higher on a pedestal and you fall, it's that much bigger of a drop," Gavette said.
Joan Fabiano, a Lansing-area tea party leader, said the scandal inflicted collateral damage on the movement but added there are ethical, upstanding conservative legislators.
"This is a learning experience for tea party adherents in general. The vetting process has to be a lot more comprehensive and in-depth," she said.
Courser and Gamrat have apologized.
Gamrat, a nurse-turned-homeschooling mom known for organizing statewide tea party gatherings, held a tearful news conference. She also attended the disciplinary committee's initial meeting, telling reporters that voters should decide her fate.
The more defiant Courser, an attorney and self-proclaimed "gladiator" for conservative causes, has mostly kept to social media, where he called for an outside probe, questioned if any misconduct is expulsion-worthy and accused former staffers, House Speaker Kevin Cotter and establishment GOP "mafia" of conspiring against him. He gave the alleged blackmail texts to state police, who are investigating.
The state constitution gives the 109-member House broad discretion to decide grounds for removing a member with a two-thirds vote.
Some lawmakers are concerned that the process is on the fast track, with testimony possibly lasting two days. Other Capitol observers wonder if some allegations — such as using state resources for political or other non-official purposes, missing committee meetings and not knowing amendment procedures — are too commonplace to warrant expulsion.
"Every time we've moved toward this direction there has actually been criminal wrongdoing," said Democratic Rep. Sam Singh of East Lansing. He questioned why the House has not also referred the matter to law enforcement.
Cotter spokesman Gideon D'Assandro said the panel may do so later.
"Taking away the rights of people who have voted for their own state representative — flawed or not — it's a fundamental right," Singh said. "For us to break that right, there has to be really compelling evidence."
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