The House Business Office of the state of Michigan is investigating whether Cindy Gamrat and Todd Courser fired staff or used state resources to hide their affair. That the two conservative Republicans had an affair is not in doubt. The steps they took to keep the affair a secret is being investigated. Were staffers fired as a result of their affair?
State Rep. Cindy Gamrat (R) has apologized for her hypocrisy in a Republican sex scandal. Gamrat stated:
“I am sincerely sorry I have disappointed so many by my actions. Although I am not proud of my personal conduct, in regards to my position as state representative of the 80th district, I believe that an open and honest investigation will vindicate me.”
Regarding the hypocrisy, she added:
“Under no circumstances was anyone on my staff terminated because of a personal indiscretion on my part.”
Rep. Gamrat made these statements on Aug 14, 2015, shortly after audio recordings were released suggesting that she and Rep. Todd Courser had attempted to cover up an extra-marital affair with more hypocrisy.
Staffer Ben Graham, who recorded conversations where Todd Courser asked him to send the email, ultimately declined to do it. He and Cindy Gamrat’s aide Keith Allard were fired in July. Another staffer, Joshua Cline, quit working for Courser and Gamrat in April. Cindy Gamrat acknowledged that a former staffer had been fired, but vaguely attributed the firing as a result of complaints from constituents.
The email in question accuses Rep. Todd Courser of doing drugs and having sex with a male prostitute. The email, created by Todd Courser, is a strange attempt to distract people from their affair and cloud the issue. Todd Courser is heard on audio recordings plotting the email.
Rep. Gamrat has denied any involvement in the email hypocrisy, saying she has since seen only parts of it and finds it to be in poor taste. “I did not author nor assist in sending the email in question,” Gamrat told reporters. “I was unaware this email was sent and also of its content until a reporter pointed it out to me.”
Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat are, or were, Tea Party favorites and avowed social conservatives. They had shared office space and staff since taking office in January, 2015. For months, rumors of their affair had been spreading through the Lansing political community. Rep. Gamrat said she had already been in marriage therapy with her husband. Gamrat stated the arrangement, which had been designed to “eliminate redundancy and save taxpayer dollars,” is now ended. She described her current relationship with Courser as “professional.”
In an odd twist, the investigation quickly became a bureaucratic nightmare/joke. Progress Michigan is demanding an independent investigation into the scandal. At the hearing, key testimony was struck from the record, and it was made clear key witnesses would not be testifying.
It would seem House Speaker Kevin Cotter is being protected from more hypocrisy. The questions not being asked are about how much his office knew about the scandal, when they knew it, and what they did about it.
Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan, said this about the Republican supported hypocrisy:
“The hearing today was a pathetic joke, which is why we’ve been calling for an independent investigation from the beginning. Today’s actions by the committee appear to be an attempt to cover-up the House GOP’s prior knowledge of Courser and Gamrat’s misconduct rather than getting to the bottom of their actions. The jury has made up their mind and are wielding the gavel to pass their pre-determined sentence.”
Featured image via Nevit via commons.wikimedia.org
