Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a one-time rising star and Detroit’s youngest elected leader, was charged Monday with perjury and other counts after sexually explicit text messages contradicted his sworn denials of an affair with a top aide.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy also charged the popular yet polarizing 37-year-old mayor with obstruction of justice and misconduct in office.
Former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty, 37, who also denied under oath that she and Kilpatrick had a romantic relationship in 2002 and 2003, was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice.
“Some have suggested that the issues in this case are personal or private,” Worthy said.
“The justice system has been severely mocked and the public trust trampled on. … This case is about as far from being a private matter as one can get,” she said.
What makes this public is that both he and his former chief of staff are accused of lying under oath in a whistle-blower trial. Their testimony came in 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 it up. He is also accused of obstruction of justice.
The city paid $8.4 million to settle the case. Here is the background.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,340941,00.html
This is a city with severe economic and social problems already, and does not need more grief.
Please notice what is omitted from this story – the mayor’s political party. Had he been a Republican that would have been in the lede.