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 Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick -- once known as America's first hip-hop mayor -- got a lot of heat this week after local paper, the Detroit Free Press, published text messages between him and another woman he's allegedly involved in an affair with.
Despite being married with children, Kilpatrick has been linked with his chief of staff, Christine Beatty (who is divorced with children), in the past, but in 2002, insisted under oath there was no affair.
Now with the recent exposure of these text messages, which date back to 2002, he is once again under fire again, and both Kilpatrick and Beatty could face perjury charges.
Kilpatrick and Beatty -- who have known each other since high school -- sent a series of racy text messages to each other on cell phones paid for by the city government. Several of these messages were made public last week by the Detroit Free Press, which has resulted in an investigation commencing by Prosecutor Kim L. Worthy.
In a text message sent in October 2006, by Kilpatrick to Beatty, the mayor said this: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for three days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."
According to NewsWeek.com, in April 2002, rumors emerged just months after Kilpatrick's first term that he had a wild party involving a stripper at the mayoral mansion. During that same time period, Harold Nelthrope (one of the mayor's bodyguards) reported that the mayor's personal police posse was running amuck, crashing cars and racking up overtime. Following the accusations, Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown launched an investigation, which may have uncovered Kilpatrick and Beatty's relationship, but two weeks into his investigation, Brown was fired.
A month later, Brown and Nelthrope both filed a lawsuit against Kilpatrick and the city of Detroit, which went to trial in the summer of 2006. Under oath, the mayor and his alleged mistress denied any relationship. At the end, the city settled with the plaintiffs for $9 million of Detroit taxpayers' money.
Despite a big auto show taking place in the city, everyone is talking about the mayor and citizens are angry.
"He's an embarrassment and now it's proven he's a habitual liar," city union boss John Riehl, told NewsWeek.
The paper reports that Riehl and 900 Detroit workers are planning to picket city hall on Wednesday (January 30) to demand that Kilpatrick resign.
"He's put Detroit's national image in the gutter," Riehl said.
If found guilty of perjury, Kilpatrick would face up to 15 years in prison.
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