Politician resigns after faking gay rent boy scandal
A Republican has resigned – after he was exposed faking a story about himself hiring a gay rent boy, to hide a straight affair.
Last month, the Detroit News published secret recordings of Michigan state representative Todd Courser plotting to cover up allegations that he was having an affair with Republican colleague Cindy Gamrat – by planting a fake liaison with a male prostitute.
The Republican eventually admitted that he conspired to leak the fake story about himself, in a plot so convoluted and twisty, it makes House of Cards seem like Teletubbies.
Speaking afterwards, he explained he was being “blackmailed” over his affair – and invented the fake story to flush out the blackmailers and throw off his critics.
In the clip, Courser read an anonymous e-mail to be sent to political activists in the state, suggesting that he had sex with a male prostitute.
However, he explains the rent boy story is fabricated – so that he could deny it, making genuine scandals also seem like random attacks.
Despite their own affair, the pair had conspired to stop gay people from marrying – filing desperate bills to try to ban all weddings outside of churches.
Following the scandal, both Courser and Gamrat have kept a low profile – but this week they were finally ousted from politics.
After a concerted effort in the Michigan House to gain enough votes to expel the pair, Courser opted to resign instead. Gamrat was expelled on a 91-12 vote.
Courser told the Detroit Free Press: “I felt is was the appropriate thing to do. I put everybody through a whole bunch, my family, constituents and the people in this room.
Of the efforts to oust him, he said: “I felt they were just going to go until they got their answer.”
He added: “It’s an unfortunate chapter where we’re at, but it’s time to turn a page and go in a different direction and obviously heal, in my own house and in this body as well… it’s been hell.”
However, Courser may be subject to a police investigation into the scandal.
A spokesperson for the state’s Attorney General Bill Schuette said: “The Attorney General has discussed this issue with Col. Kriste Etue of the Michigan State Police.
“We will work with the Michigan State Police and conduct a joint investigation, which will be complete and thorough, without fear or favour.”
