I wonder if this has anything to do with the Detroit Land Bank Authority and campaign finance?
Why Detroit city council president's deposition was abruptly halted
A lawyer for the City of Detroit abruptly ended a deposition of City Council President Brenda Jones on Wednesday after Jones was asked repeatedly whether she had been contacted by the FBI in the last year.
Jones responded "I do not wish to answer" three times during the line of questioning in the deposition, which is part of a civil lawsuit unrelated to the FBI.
A city lawyer later said the deposition was ended because the questions were part of a "fishing expedition" and a plan to embarrass Jones, who is not a defendant in the lawsuit in which she was slated to give the deposition. Jones also has not been named in connection with two ongoing, unrelated FBI investigations involving city officials: a probe of the city's demolition program and separate scrutiny of towing magnate Gasper Fiore.
The council president's sworn deposition was being taken as part of a lawsuit that two downtown bar owners filed in November 2016 against Mayor Mike Duggan and other city officials based on claims of police harassment and alleged favorable treatment that Dennis Archer Jr., former mayor Dennis Archer's son, received while buying the building their bar occupies. The plaintiffs allege that Jones is one of the council members the bar owners had contacted about their situation.
Although Jones has not been implicated in the separate federal investigations, her colleague, Councilman Gabe Leland, was described in January in FBI wiretap recordsas willing to keep the Fiore family updated with information that might help their towing businesses.
Drew Paterson, the bar owners' lawyer, asked Jones during the deposition whether any FBI agents had contacted her in the last year. Paterson's fifth question honed in on Leland.
It came after she repeatedly said she did not want to answer such questions.
Jones told the Free Press on Thursday she didn't answer the questions about the FBI because the deposition was supposed to be about the bar involved in the lawsuit, the Centre Park Bar. "You want to do a deposition about the Centre Bar and what I know about the Centre Bar, I don't have a problem," she said.
Jones said she has not been in touch with the FBI. "The FBI has not contacted me for anything," she said.
READ MORE: Detroit Councilman Gabe Leland targeted in FBI investigation of towing titan Gaspar Fiore
During the deposition, city attorney James Noseda appeared fed up with the FBI questions, according to a transcript of the deposition.
Noseda already had objected to previous questions about Jones' political fund-raisers, use of her city-owned vehicle and how she hires staff.
"Counsel, if you want to continue with this line of questioning and all the similar lines of questioning that has nothing to do with this case, I am adjourning this deposition and I'm going to seek a protective order. Are you going to — then fine, we're adjourned. I'm seeking a protective order," Noseda said, according to the transcript.
Jones was escorted out by counsel, the transcript reads.
Hours later, Noseda followed through, filing a motion to prohibit the depositions of Jones and two other council members who were scheduled to give testimony out of court — Mary Sheffield and Leland — because, the document alleges, the depositions are being taken in bad faith and seek to embarrass council members.
The filing also claimed the questions asked during Jones' deposition were the work of community activist and political agitator Robert Davis, who has been represented by Paterson in scores of lawsuits filed against various municipalities in recent years, often alleging violations of the state's Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act.
"The questions were undoubtedly drafted by Robert Davis and are nothing more than a fishing expedition by a non-party intended to harass and annoy high-ranking city officials," the filing reads.
Davis, who is working as Paterson's law clerk on this case, said the assertion is absurd.
Paterson responded Thursday, asking the court to continue with the council members' depositions. The city's objections to questions about the FBI do not fall within the legal framework for withholding an answer during a deposition, Paterson wrote in his court filing.
"Brenda Jones is an 'elected' official. If she was contacted and/or interviewed by the FBI concerning certain activities in her official capacity as a duly elected official of the defendant City of Detroit, that is certainly public information," Paterson wrote.
Detroit Corporation Counsel Lawrence Garcia, the top lawyer for the city, said in a statement that Paterson and Davis clearly are trying to harass the council members with matters irrelevant to the case. "In our latest filing, we are seeking sanctions against Mr. Paterson, as we have been successful obtaining in past cases involving Mr. Paterson and Mr. Davis," the statement read.
Depositions of the council members were sought to shed light on their knowledge of the dispute between the Centre Park Bar owners and city officials. One of the owners, Christopher Williams, talked with the council members about his problems with the deal to sell the building his bar occupies to Archer Jr., according to court records.
The Centre Park Bar was shuttered about a month ago, Paterson said.
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