This is an older article, but I keep hearing about it on the ABC News.
DETROIT — The city’s charismatic but scandal-plagued mayor and his chief of staff will be the subject of an investigation into whether they lied under oath when they denied having an extramarital affair, the Wayne County prosecutor announced here Friday.
The investigation by the prosecutor, Kym L. Worthy, was prompted by The Detroit Free Press’s publication this week of text messages, many of them flirtatious, between the mayor, Kwame M. Kilpatrick, and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, who have known each other since high school.
The messages, transmitted to and from Ms. Beatty’s city-owned pager in 2002 and 2003, appear to show that the two had an intimate relationship and suggest that they committed perjury by denying the affair during testimony in one of two whistleblower lawsuits that have cost taxpayers in the beleaguered city more than $9 million.
A felony perjury conviction carries a possible sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
Read the article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/us...it.html?ref=us
And just reported today:
Detroit ministers pledge support for Kilpatrick
About 60 Detroit ministers pledged their unwavering support for embattled Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick this afternoon.
Pastors from the Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit, representing multiple denominations, gathered at Corinthian Baptist Church in Hamtramck to publicize their belief that Kilpatrick deserves forgiveness and compassion.
“The mayor is not standing alone,” said the Rev. E.L. Branch, pastor of Third New Hope Baptist Church in Detroit. “We’re holding him up in prayer all the way through.”
Moments before the ministers convened, Kilpatrick was arraigned in 36th District Court on eight felony counts, including perjury. The Free Press published text messages shared between Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty that revealed the two lied under oath about a extramarital affair and the firing of former Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown.
“We’re called to stand with him at a time of trial in his life,” said the Rev. Skip Wachsman, pastor of Genesis Lutheran Church in Detroit. “He’s not guilty of anything; he has been charged.”
Two weeks ago, the pastors' council voted 34-24 not to issue a letter calling for Kilpatrick to resign over the scandal. The council, which represents 400 clergy members, endorsed Kilpatrick's policies in his 2005 re-election bid.