Blake Hall
There are lids on a scandal, and then there are elaborate, multiplex and absurdist Rube Goldberg-like lids on a scandal so incredible that they perform almost a sleight of hand on the interested party — that is, make you look hard in one direction while in the other the nominal is being orchestrated.
The sinister Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels is credited with the line “the bigger the lie, the more people will believe it”.
It’s this exact trick that, according to Michigan House leader Kevin Cotter, Rep. and VA committee member Todd Courser pulled on everyone when he allegedly distributed a fictional email claiming he had sex with a male prostitute hoping it would hide an extramarital affair with fellow Michigan politician Rep. Cindy Gamrat.
Here’s a picture of the email, courtesy of Gawker & The Detroit News:
Cotter is currently asking the nonpartisan House Business Office to see “whether there was a violation of House rules or any evidence of illegal behavior.”
The story and alleged scandal was first busted open by the Detroit Free-Press after obtaining audio recordings that described the email as a “complete smear campaign” whose goal was to make the affair seem like a minor detail in the grand scheme of things (i.e. male hookers).
This from CBS News:
“I need a controlled burn,” Courser, a father of four children, said repeatedly throughout the conversation, according to CBS Detroit. “I need it to be over the top.”
The Associated Press sent messages seeking comment from Courser and Gamrat.
Courser and Gamrat rose from tea party activism, battled establishment Republicans to win seats in the House last year and formed a legislative coalition. The socially conservative legislators both are married and have children.
Ben Graham, who served as a House aide, recorded Courser in mid-May directing him to send Republican activists and operatives an email that would appear to be from an anonymous political enemy that said Courser had been “caught behind a Lansing nightclub” having sex with a man.
After Graham rejected the request, Graham said he had duties removed and was fired by Courser by early July. The sexually explicit email was received by Republicans on May 20 and 21, the two days following Courser’s meeting with Graham. During the meeting, Courser read aloud portions of a draft email.
On Monday, Courser told a newspaper reporter and photographer it was his voice on the recording. He then “disputed the legality of the recording”.
Cotter seems to be adamant about getting to the bottom of this ludicrous tale. Here’s some of what he had to say about “disciplinary steps”:
We will not stand for any violation of House rules or law, and we will not let anyone’s actions tarnish this institution or take away from the work we do every day to improve the lives of the hard-working men and women of this great state.