State attorney general looks into claims
The state attorney general said his office will look into new claims that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (right) threw a party with strippers at the mayor’s mansion in 2002.
Attorney General Mike Cox told reporters Thursday he wants to meet with retired Detroit police desk clerk Joyce Rogers. The woman recently came forward and said she read a report filed by stripper Tamara Greene claiming she was assaulted by Kilpatrick’s wife during a party at the mansion.
Rumors of a party involving strippers at the mayor’s official residence have never been substantiated. Kilpatrick repeatedly has denied the party ever occurred, and Cox and Michigan State Police investigators also said earlier they found no evidence of one.
Rogers made the claim in an affidavit included in a $150 million federal lawsuit filed by the family of Greene’s son against Kilpatrick and other city officials.
Greene was found shot to death in 2003 in a car on the city’s northwest side and the lawyer representing the family of Greene’s son claims that Kilpatrick’s office has stifled the investigation into her death.
Cox, a Republican, has called on Kilpatrick to resign, accusing the Democratic black leader of race-baiting during Tuesday’s annual State of the City address.
Kilpatrick, facing possible perjury charges from testimony during a whistle-blowers’ trial and criticism over sexually explicit text messages he sent to his former top aide, said during his speech that he and his family have been subjected to racial slurs.
Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm has not called on Kilpatrick to resign. But her spokeswoman said Thursday the governor was shocked the mayor used the word in his speech.
–AP