All Muck Is Local: Busted!

“Damn that. Never busted. Busted is what you see!”

Most people would have thrown up their hands by now. But not Kwame Kilpatrick, who’s never busted and seems determined to remain mayor of Detroit until that final gavel falls. He insists, despite the evidence that keeps mounting against him, that he’s still the person best suited to be mayor, because he believes with absolute certainty that he’s on a mission from God.

Handsomely dressed in dark suits and accompanied by a team of lawyers, the mayor and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, were booked and fingerprinted and posed for their mug shots last Monday, the day before their arraignment. For the apparent contradictions between their sworn testimony and the messages they texted each other on their cell phones and the unwarranted dismissal of three cops who they feared were about to disclose their illicit love affair, Kilpatrick was charged with conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice, obstruction of justice, two counts of misconduct in office and four counts of perjury.

Beatty’s seven counts were similar. She resigned in January after the incriminating text messages were published by the Detroit Free Press.

But Kilpatrick remained positive after being arraigned on Tuesday. “I look forward to complete exoneration,” he said.

He appears to face an uphill battle. In her news conference announcing the charges against the mayor, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy accused him of ruining the lives of three former police officers and then buying their silence with $8.4 million of the taxpayers’ money in a secret legal agreement.

“[T]he justice system was severely mocked, and the public trust trampled on,” she said. Worthy scolded Kilpatrick, 37, as one would a wayward child:

You know, the fundamental principles of the justice system are fairly simple. We learned them as children. They aren’t hard: Tell the truth, take responsibility for your actions, admit when you’re wrong, play fair and be fair, don’t take or use things that aren’t yours, and there are consequences for bad behavior.

These consequences would include up to 15 years jail time, disbarment and certain removal from office if Kilpatrick is convicted of perjury. The other charges of conspiracy, obstruction and misconduct in office are each punishable by five years in prison.

Besides disgrace and dishonor, Kilpatrick’s failed cover-up has other consequences.

Gary Brown was the city’s deputy police chief until he began investigating alleged misbehavior and fraud by members of Kilpatrick’s security detail. Then he was suddenly fired (although Beatty testified that he was not “fired,” but simply “unappointed” from his position.) Now Brown is seriously considering a bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The member he would like to unseat? Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, the mayor’s mother, who has served in Congress since 1996.

There have been numerous demands for the mayor to step down, not least of which was the City Council’s March 18th non-binding 7-1 vote calling for Kilpatrick’s resignation. Council President Ken Cockrel Jr., who would become mayor if Kilpatrick leaves office, sponsored the resolution. Also actively seeking the mayor’s ouster is Councilman Kwame Kenyatta. He intends to circulate a letter demanding Kilpatrick’s resignation among Detroit’s leading citizens.

The legal defense fund established for the mayor on Wednesday is already encountering obstacles and engendering controversy. Some fear that city employees, contractors and people who do business with the city and and depend on it for permits, contracts and passing grades on inspections may feel pressured to contribute to the fund. A former Detroit judge now starring in his own television reality court show not only refused an invitation to serve on Kilpatrick’s legal defense committee, but publicly asserted that the mayor’s “deceit has plunged our city into a deep crisis.”

Kwame Kilpatrick, the first sitting mayor of Detroit to be charged with criminal misdeeds, will return with his former lover and chief of staff to court on June 9th.