Embattled House Newcomer Digs in Against 'Blackmail' by 'the Lansing Mafia'

Embattled state Rep. Todd Courser takes a combative approach to damage control, posting a feisty 27-minute audio statement in response to what he calls a "Detroit News hit piece."

The freshman Republican refers to a front-page blockbuster Friday by Chad Livengood of The Detroit News, which says he asked an aide to e-mail a false report that he hired a male prostitute. The idea, Courser says in two conversations the now-fired aide taped, was to divert attention from an expected disclosure of his adulterous affair with Rep. Cindy Garmat, a conservative coalition ally.

First-term Michigan Reps. Todd Courser, 43, and Cindy Gamrat, 42. (Facebook photos)

In his unusual response, posted around dawn Monday at his website and promoted on one of his two Facebook pages (below) , the 43-year-old Lapeer legislator acknowledges the late May scheme "to misdirect attention" and claims he was a blackmail victim.

Kathleen Gray reports on the new development in the Detroit Free Press:

The long and rambling audio tape blames his former staffers, Ben Graham, Josh Cline and Keith Allard, for colluding with "the Lansing mafia” establishment to bring him down. And it didn’t work, he said, because he’s decided to stay in office to expose the “political shenanigans” that are happening in Lansing.

“The e-mail was put in motion to disrupt the blackmailer and give me some clues as to the surveillance of my life. It was all done in a pressure cooker and . . . it put me in a situation where a bad choice was the choice that I made,” he said, noting the alleged blackmailer’s intent was to get him to resign. . . .

“I have chosen to stay and make them play their hand. I think it is absolutely necessary to have these clandestine operations to control public officials [so they can] be exposed. So I have refused to leave quietly and have decided that these efforts really need to come out. . . .

"I see this as the establishment machine getting everyone to do what they’re told to do and no one dare question their authority,”

The conservative political newcomer says resigning from the seat he won last November would be "submit[ting] to the authority of the establishment machine and in doing so to protect myself and my family. And most of you would say this is the right decision. But I really thought that this would allow them to win.”

As he does regularly, Courser uses biblical language:

To change the country, men and women must be able to stand unafraid even when they're a broken messenger. And I'm a certainly a broken messenger.

Courser said "it was vital for the course to the liberty" to "expose the political hit." "Absolutely critical to liberty" to do this.
— Gongwer News Service (@GongwerMichigan) August 10, 2015

Courser and Gamrat, 42, are being investigated for a possible breach of House rules. She participated in a May 22 cover-up discussion taped by former aide Ben Graham, who gave the evidence to Livengood.

This update comes Monday from a House reporter for Gongwer News Service:

@Rep_Cotter says all electronic correspondence has been seized from Courser, Gamrat offices. Won't call for the two reps to resign, yet.
— Ali Kasben (@kasbenal) August 10, 2015

In his audio statement, Courser says Graham betrayed him and was working for House Speaker Kevin Cotter, R-Mt. Pleasant, to monitor him.

"I will let you decide what these men's motivations are" Courser says. Also says he will let the public decide what his legacy is.
— Gongwer News Service (@GongwerMichigan) August 10, 2015