Sex scandals involving high-profile Democrats in Detroit and Ohio are threatening to disrupt business as usual for Democrat nominee Barack Obama.
The first involves his good friend the Mayor of Detroit.As birds of a feather flock together it should come as no great surprise that before the Mayor was hit with the sex scandal in 2008 he was first shown to be arrogant elitist hypocrite
Detroit Mayor Is Charged in Scandal Published: March 25, 2008Detroit mayor rides in luxury as city decays
By Jerry White
2 February 2005A series of public scandals involving Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick have erupted over the last several weeks. The exploits of the 34-year-old mayor, which have been daily news in Detroit and were recently featured on the front-page of the Wall Street Journal, give a glimpse of the corruption and arrogance of the political elite that runs one of America’s poorest cities.
Last month Kilpatrick, citing a $230 million deficit, announced the elimination of 900 public employee jobs and demanded city workers take a 10 percent pay cut and other reduced benefits. The mayor said 24-hour bus service would be ended, city-owned vehicles sold, and plans developed to privatize the city’s public lighting department. Saying his predecessors had failed to “make tough decisions” and citing the supposedly bloated city payroll, Kilpatrick said the financial predicament was so dire it “requires sacrifice and solutions from everyone.”
Behind the scenes, however, there wasn’t any belt-tightening going on in the mayor’s office. Several weeks before the budget-cutting announcements the city used taxpayers’ money to lease a $57,000 luxury sport utility vehicle, complete with a moon roof, leather interior and heated seats, for the mayor’s wife and three small sons. In order to circumvent public oversight city officials paid $24,995 a year for the Lincoln Navigator, five dollars below the amount that would require approval by the City Council.
For nearly a month the mayor and his aides denied the vehicle had been obtained for the personal use of his family, claiming it had been leased for undercover police work. Under pressure the mayor’s office released several documents related to the lease, but the names and addresses of the city employees involved in the transactions were blacked out.
When a local Detroit news reporter confronted Kilpatrick about the vehicle during a mayors’ conference in Washington, DC, one of his bodyguards slammed the reporter against a wall in full view of television cameras.
Politicians feathering their own nests is hardly new. These revelations provoked particular anger from working people in the Motor City, however, where one in three households is too poor to own a car. If the mayor’s family was being outfitted with a $57,000 SUV, why were they being told there was no money for essential services, like the barely functioning public bus system?
The mayor’s actions caused alarm in the media and from several city officials, who complained that Kilpatrick’s lavish tastes or, more accurately, his lack of discretion in covering them up, had undermined the mayor’s ability to push through his austerity plan.
With daily headlines about the “Navigate” scandal and warnings that he faced losing support from corporate Detroit for his upcoming re-election bid, Kilpatrick held a press conference January 22 where he acknowledged the vehicle had been obtained for his family.
The leasing of the luxury SUV was only the latest example of the mayor’s unrestrained appetite for the high life while city crumbles around him. On January 21 the Detroit Free Press ran a front-page article headlined, “Detroit’s mayor too wild for DC cops,” which reported that Washington, DC police supervisors said their VIP security team stopped offering after-hours protection for Kilpatrick in 2002 because his “reported nonstop club hopping when he was in town” could have resulted in injury or public embarrassment for their officers.
The mayor’s cronies have also come under criticism. Several members of Kilpatrick’s Executive Protection Unit were disciplined for milking the city for tens of thousands of dollars in overtime payments. Mike Martin, the bodyguard who assaulted the reporter in Washington, DC, was suspended from the police force four times in 2003, once for shooting at a man during a fight outside of a Detroit nightclub.
An unsavory picture emerges from all this of political hustlers for whom the attainment of electoral was solely as a vehicle for self-aggrandizement: people who are unabashedly “in it for the money.” Kirkpatrick is the local expression in Detroit of a broader social process, the criminalization of the American ruling elite, from city hall to the corporate boardroom to the White House.
The only difference between the petty corruption of the Kilpatrick administration and its public policy is the scale of the thievery that is going on. One proposal the mayor is reportedly considering to pay off the big lenders that hold the city’s debt is to simply hand over the public lighting department to the private utility company Detroit Edison, if a buyer cannot be found.
The Detroit city government has long been controlled by the Democratic Party. Their record exposes the lie that the working class can rely upon this big business party to defend its interests. On the contrary, the Democrats defend corporate interests just as tenaciously as the Republicans, and the black Democratic Party mayors in the major cities play a particularly critical role.
In the aftermath of the ghetto uprisings of the 1960s, the corporate and political establishment in many US cities handed over power to a series of black mayors, nearly all elected as Democrats, who exploited illusions among minority workers and youth that their election constituted “black empowerment” and would alleviate the conditions facing black workers. Coleman Young in Detroit was one of the most prominent representatives of this trend.
Young, in 20 years in office, and his successors Dennis Archer and now Kilpatrick, followed the dictates of the Big Three auto companies and other big corporations and banks. More than three decades later, Detroit remains economically devastated, a synonym for urban decay and poverty. At the same time, however, Young & Co. cultivated a layer of black politicians and businessmen who enriched themselves at the expense of the city’s population. The gap between this black elite and the impoverished black workers in Detroit is as deep as the class antagonisms and social inequality that pervade America as a whole.
Kilpatrick came to prominence long after the black Democrats abandoned any pretense of liberal reformism. The son of US Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick and Bernard Kilpatrick, the chief of staff of former Wayne County Executive (and Democratic Party machine boss) Ed McNamara, Kilpatrick has been hailed by the media as a part of a “second generation of black leaders.”
DETROIT — Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick was charged on Monday with misconduct in office, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and perjury, felonies that could end his political career and send him to prison for a lengthy term if he is convicted.
Among the eight felony counts against him, Mr. Kilpatrick is accused of authorizing the city of Detroit to settle an $8.4 million lawsuit with several former police officers “with the corrupt motive” of preventing the release of text messages which would have revealed that he had lied under oath in the case, the charging documents say.
Announcing the charges, Kym L. Worthy, the Wayne County prosecutor, declared it a “very sad day” for the city and for all of Michigan, but said that central tenets of life — those that even 6-year-old children understand well — had been breached. “It would be much sadder still if true justice were ignored,” Ms. Worthy said.
Mr. Kilpatrick has until 7 a.m. Tuesday to turn himself into the authorities.
In a prepared statement he read at a news conference, Mr. Kilpatrick said he was “disappointed” by the prosecutor’s decision “but not surprised.” He expressed confidence that he would be cleared at a trial and said he would concentrate on “moving the city forward” and laid out a schedule of planned initiatives.
Daniel Webb, Mr. Kilpatrick’s attorney, said it was highly unusual to bring perjury charges in a civil case, rather than a criminal case, and said he would raise “the issue of selective prosecution” before the judge who is assigned to the case. He said that proving perjury would be difficult because many of the questions in the case were “ambiguous” and many of the answers involved “opinions.”
The charges stem from a scandal that has roiled Mr. Kilpatrick’s Democratic administration since January, when The Detroit Free Press published text messages between Mr. Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty, his former chief of staff and a longtime friend.
Ms. Beatty also faces seven felony counts in the indictment.
The messages from Ms. Beatty’s city-issued pager were laced, at times, with sexual banter, contradicting testimony Mr. Kilpatrick and Ms. Beatty had provided under oath last year that they had never had a romantic relationship.
The two, both of whom were married, were questioned about their relationship during a civil trial in which several former police officers accused Mr. Kilpatrick of forcing them out of jobs, in part, because their investigations might have uncovered his romances.
The text messages also contradicted testimony the two had provided about the departure of Gary Brown, one of the officers who filed the lawsuit.
Mr. Kilpatrick testified that Mr. Brown, then the deputy chief, had not been fired. But a text message from Ms. Beatty to Mr. Kilpatrick referred to their decision “to fire Gary Brown.” Mr. Kilpatrick’s text response, according to The Free Press, seemed to acknowledge the firing. “It had to happen though. I’m all the way with that!”
In comments before a room packed with reporters here, Ms. Worthy stressed that her investigation had not “focused on lying about sex.” Mr. Brown and the other police officers’ “lives and careers were forever changed,” Ms. Worthy said. “They were ruined financially and their reputations were completely destroyed because they chose to be dutiful police officers. The public trust was violated. This investigation is about whether public dollars were used unlawfully — and more.”
Mr. Kilpatrick, who had long pledged to fight the lawsuit, agreed to settle the case for $8.4 million instead, hours after learning that the officers’ lawyer had copies of the text messages, documents show.
Among the youngest mayors of major American cities when he was first elected, Mr. Kilpatrick, 37, won office in 2001 at the age of 31, defeating an opponent who was twice his age. He has faced scandal before, but never to this extent.
Mr. Kilpatrick, who is married and has three sons, has apologized to his wife, Carlita, and to the city, but has vowed, repeatedly, to stay in office. He has defiantly accused the news media of creating his woes, and blamed racism for his troubles.
In recent days, his administration has been caught up in a swirl of bad news day after day as the scandal has unfolded. Last week, the City Council asked Mr. Kilpatrick to resign. Business leaders have increasingly withdrawn their support, arguing that Mr. Kilpatrick’s problems had become such a distraction that city business had been brought to a halt.
But thats the only sex scandal plaguing Democrats in key battleground states
Ohio attorney general admits to affair
Three aides fired or forced to resign in sex harassment case
Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann was under pressure from all sides on Friday to resign.COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio's attorney general admitted an extramarital affair with an employee Friday, soon after three of his aides were fired or forced out after an investigation found evidence of sexual harassment and other misconduct.Dann had lived with two of the aides at an apartment during much of his first year in office and some of the alleged harassment by one of the aides occurred there."I did not create an atmosphere in my public and personal life that is consistent with the important mission of the Office of Attorney General ...," Dann said. "I am heartbroken by my failure to recognize the problems being created and by my failure to stop them."
Ohio GOP deputy chairman Kevin DeWine called for Dann's resignation, saying he turned the attorney general's office into a "raunchy frat pad."
Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland said the investigation showed a "double standard" with Dann staying while some employees were let go.
'I deeply regret it'
Dann, 46, said the affair was consensual and refused to disclose the name of the employee. He said the relationship came during a difficult time in his marriage, but that it "was wrong and I deeply regret it."Dann's scheduler, Jessica Utovich, with whom he had a close relationship in which they often used profanity, nicknames and teasing when e-mailing each other, resigned voluntarily, said Tom Winters, first assistant attorney general. He did not give a reason.
When interviewed for the sexual harassment investigation conducted by assistant attorneys general, Dann said Utovich stayed overnight at an apartment he shared with the two aides for a variety of reasons that he would not discuss. During her interview, Utovich would not say whether she ever stayed overnight at the apartment.
Utovich and Dann's wife, Alyssa Lenhoff, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Both aides Dann lived with were fired after the results of the investigation were released Friday. Investigators found that Anthony Gutierrez, who led Dann's general services office, violated sexual harassment policy, and Leo Jennings, Dann's former communications chief, is accused of trying to get a worker to lie when interviewed under oath.
Investigators say Edgar Simpson, Dann's policy chief, was forced to resign for failing to address inappropriate behavior. Simpson had knowledge of Gutierrez's history of policy violations, the investigation report said.
The face of 2006 victory
Dann emerged into state politics as an appointed state senator with a small private law office, and became the face of the Democrats' charge against a scandal over state investments that contributed to the Ohio GOP's devastating election losses in 2006. He defeated a better known and more experienced Republican.As Ohio's top law enforcer, he has taken on the nation's largest insurance brokerage, the mortgage lending industry, student loan providers, MySpace and the big three credit rating agencies, among others.
His crime-fighting led to comparisons with New York's Eliot Spitzer, who became governor after he was attorney general and recently resigned in a prostitution scandal.
Dann had removed himself from the sexual harassment investigation.
Unwanted advances, vulgar remarks
Gutierrez was accused by two women he supervised — Cindy Stankoski and Vanessa Stout, both 26 — of making unwanted advances and vulgar remarks.Stankoski said she went to the apartment near Columbus shared by Dann, Gutierrez and Jennings for pizza and drinks. She said she fell asleep drunk at the condo and when she awoke, her pants were unbuttoned and Gutierrez was lying next to her in his underwear.
When it was apparent Stankoski had too much to drink, arrangements should have been made to get her home, investigators said.
Stout alleged that Gutierrez repeatedly asked her for sex, suggesting she "owed" him for helping her land a state job.
The investigation also found that Gutierrez violated policies that prohibit driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The report detailed an incident where Gutierrez allegedly was drinking with other employees while driving a state vehicle.
The matter is now under investigation by the State Highway Patrol.
Yet another sex scandal
Rex Elliott, the attorney for Stout and Stankoski, said both women feel vindicated."There are questions that go all the way to the top of that office about how the leader of that office allowed this environment to persist," he said.
Messages left for Gutierrez's attorney, Sam Amendolara, were not immediately returned. No phone listing for Simpson could be found.
Dann is the third high-ranking official around the country to be marred by sexual scandal in recent months. Spitzer resigned abruptly in March after revelations that he had been a customer of a high-end call girl service. And Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is charged with perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice for accusations that he tried to hide a long-term romantic relationship with his former chief of staff.
The scandal even led for several top Democrats to calls for his resignation in writing.
Columbus -- Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann on Monday defiantly rejected a call by all of the top leaders of his political party, including Gov. Ted Strickland, to quit right now or watch as they to seek to throw him out of office.
The Democrats are miffed at Dann, who on Friday admitted to an extramarital affair with a female staffer and running an office that at the very top sometimes resembled an amateurish dating game rather than a professional law firm.
Even as two top managers were fired and two other employees resigned Friday in the wake of an embarrassing sex scandal, Dann apologized and vowed to stay.
Over the weekend, pressure on Dann intensified. On Sunday, after Strickland failed twice to get Dann to step down, the governor and seven other top Democratic officeholders sent a letter threatening Dann with impeachment if he didn't resign.
On Monday, Dann fired off an e-mail to his staff that summarized what he had told the governor in two phone conversations on Sunday: he's not quitting.
"I told him that he and other officeholders, as well as the members of the legislature, should continue to expect that we will continue to provide high-quality legal services to all of them," Dann said.
The Democrats clearly want him to go.
"We will distance ourselves both figuratively and literally from the attorney general until he makes the decision that is best for people of Ohio, and that is to step down from the office," state Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said Monday.
Democrats will offer a resolution at the state party executive committee meeting Saturday in Columbus seeking to rescind their endorsement of Dann, Redfern said.
Democrats will also seek to bar Dann from official Democratic party functions. "That would mean he would no longer be welcome at those events," Redfern said.
In addition to Strickland and Redfern, who is a state representative, signing the letter were: Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, Treasurer Richard Cordray, Ohio Senate Minority Leader Ray Miller and Ohio House Minority Leader Joyce Beatty.
Strickland met with reporters just past noon Monday on the steps of the Statehouse to address the standoff.
"I would hope the attorney general would understand that his effectiveness as attorney general has been so greatly diminished that, in my judgment at least, he cannot appropriately continue to fulfill the duties of that office," Strickland said.
Showing that he didn't think normal rules of conduct applied to him, arrogantly Dann hung on until his impeachment was inevitable.
Resignation won't end fallout for Democrats
Posted by Mark Naymik/Plain Dealer Politics Writer May 14, 2008 22:40PM
The Democrats finally got rid of Marc Dann, but they will have a harder time purging the former attorney general's legacy from this year's elections.
Gov. Ted Strickland and Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern dismissed the notion Wednesday, but their recent actions speak louder than words.
They kicked him out of the party, filed articles of impeachment against him and refused to head off an Ohio inspector general's investigation into his office initiated by Republicans.
This only reinforces what a liability he had become to the party that promised in 2006 to clean up state government.
"I don't know that it damages the Democratic Party," Strickland insisted during a news conference following Dann's brief resignation speech. "This was not the failings of the party. I think the party responded strongly and forcefully and has taking steps to clean our own house."
But Dann didn't make it easy. He heightened the tension -- and the damage -- by insisting for five weeks that he had done nothing wrong beyond giving in to personal weakness and displaying some poor judgment.
HYPOCRISY
Ironically just a month before Dann's own scandal
April 16, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann and the attorneys general of 18 other states and Puerto Rico, today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that employers cannot retaliate against an employee involved in an employer’s investigation of sexual harassment.
The Dann scandal erupted a few months before Democrats in Ohio were hit by another major scandal involving the FBI and a major corruption probe. See Michael Jordan, Mary Poppins story. Ironically shortly after Dann, another high profile Dem resigned after allegations, which he denied relating to child pornography
CLEVELAND -- Channel 3 News has confirmed through three sources that Cuyahoga County Recorder Pat O'Malley is expected to resign his position soon because of a federal investigation and likely indictment.Sources say O'Malley was to submit his letter of resignation to the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, but the Party's executive director, Colleen Day tells Channel 3 News, "Nobody has asked for his letter of resignation."
It is reported that federal authorities are about to indict O'Malley an unspecified charge.
Three and a half years ago, Channel 3 News reported that the FBI had seized computers belonging to O'Malley during an investigation of a billboard deal he had with Cleveland City Council.
At that time, federal officials also asked O'Malley's soon-to-be ex-wife, Vicki, to turn over his toolbox, a toolbox that supposedly contained evidence of child pornography.
What this latest investigation involves, the one that is reportedly going to lead to O'Malley's imminent departure from office, no one would confirm today.
In November 2004, Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chairman Jimmy Dimora told Channel 3 News that it was time then to talk to O'Malley about leaving office.
"My suggestion's gonna be is, if he, and he'll know what's going on with his particular situation, is this the time to cut the strings and be done with it," Dimora told Channel 3 News.
"I'm going to ask him to make that decision about his political career, is it time to step down?"
Channel 3 News has learned that O'Malley is said to be going out of the country and could not comment today.
Arrogant elitism, sex scandals and Fed corruption charges plaguing leading Democrats in key battleground states is not good news for Obama's chances, particularly given Obama's close ties to his now incarcerated fundraiser Tony Rezko.
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