Both Courser and Gamrat have filed federal lawsuits
Former Michigan lawmakers Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat have filed separate lawsuits in Federal Court against Michigan’s Attorney General, among others. Both Courser and Gamrat claim that their rights were violated when he was forced to resign, and she was expelled from the Michigan House of Representatives.
Aside from A.G. Bill Schuette, the lawsuits also name the House of Representatives, individual lawmakers, House staff, investigators, and even Gamrat’s husband, from whom she is currently separated. The reasons for the lawsuits are also numerous. The pair claim that the evidence gathered during the investigation was illegally obtained. Specifically, they object to secret audio recordings that they didn’t know about or consent to.
They also claim that they were denied due process, which would have allowed them to properly defend themselves. Finally, they say that they were singled out, made to be the ‘whipping boy’ as it were, when there were far more serious offenses taking place in Michigan’s House of Representatives that went unpunished. Courser is demanding $10 Million in compensation, and also insisting that the House reinstate him to his former seat. Gamrat is asking for a minimum of $25,000 in compensation.
Courser says secret recordings were illegally obtained…
The secret recording that Courser is claiming was used against him was made by his former aide Ben Graham. Graham secretly recorded a conversation he had with Courser because he was concerned that his boss was suicidal. Graham knew that Courser kept a loaded gun in his desk and so when he asked his aide to meet him after hours and said something about destroying himself, Graham was concerned.
When he testified against Courser in court, Graham said, “I thought there was a good possibility that he could harm himself and if I was sitting there with the smoking gun and the body, I felt that if I had a recording, that might help.”
Courser and Gamrat’s affair became public knowledge…
The self destruction that Courser was talking about, however, had nothing to do with suicide. Rather, it was a reference to Courser’s attempts to divert attention away from the affair he and Gamrat were having. During the secretly recorded meeting, Courser asked his aide to send out an email saying that Courser had been caught with a male prostitute behind a well-known Lansing nightclub. Graham refused, and so Courser did it himself, hoping to divert attention away from his affair with Gamrat.
Courser and Gamrat were both charged with Misconduct in Office and Perjury. The charges against Gamrat were later thrown out by a judge but the charges against Courser still stand. He will be headed to trial later this year, where he will have a chance to defend himself against allegations of misconduct and lying.