Sex, Lies and Investigations

How do you hold on to office after a sex and perjury scandal goes kablooey?

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick seems to be a believer in the say you’re real sorry and hope no other damning revelations emerge strategy. But that hasn’t been working so well, as the scandal seems to have spurred new curiosity about the past. And the past hasn’t disappointed.

Last Wednesday night he, accompanied by his wife, gave a live radio and TV address to the city from a room in his church with no audience or press allowed.

“I’m sorry,” he said, apologizing for “the embarrassment and disappointment the events of the past few days have caused you.”

Kilpatrick spoke about his personal trials and the suffering of his family, but said nary a word about the $9 million that his attempt to cover up his affair cost the city. He did, however, promise to continue “in charge of the city…. I would never quit on you.”

Despite his heartfelt contrition, the Wayne County Prosecutor, Kym Worthy, on Friday began an investigation into possible criminal charges against Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff/mistress Christine Beatty.

The city council will likely vote tomorrow to conduct a financial audit of the mayor’s office during the six years of his tenure. Beatty resigned a week ago.

And there was another unwelcome revelation, and this one came the day before his contrite address with his wife at his side. The Detroit Free Press reported that the weekend before the scandal broke, Kilpatrick was invited to give a talk on Martin Luther King at an expensive resort in Asheville, NC. Although the mayor’s spokesman, James Canning, insisted that “there was no one else with the mayor,” the CEO of the Grove Park Inn, J. Craig Madison, confirmed that Kilpatrick’s reservation at the hotel was for two persons. Other sources known to the Free Press indicated the woman was not his wife.

Kilpatrick presumably enjoyed his two-hour shared couple’s massage on Sunday, as noted in hotel records. According to the hotel’s website, “The deluxe couples room is sprinkled with rose petals, then you and your significant other will receive a tandem candle-lit Grove Park Inn Spa Massage, followed by an aromatic whirlpool bath. Sip chilled champagne while feeding each other chocolate-covered strawberries.”

Those were the days.