Cocktails & Popcorn: Marion Brown, Elisa Grubbs & William Isaac Robinson Have A DOJ OIG Report Issue #MeToo Moment Coming Up

"How's that #MeToo working out, so far?"

I wonder if Marion Brown is going to visit Elisa Grubbs in prison, or just end up her cell mate, to keep the family together.

Melanie Sloane should try and get Perkins Coie to represent the rest of the individuals who were mean to my Sweetie.

Isaac can continue to help them with their #MeToo moments, as I am quite sure everyone involved is going to be in dire need of long term clinical psychological services.

I wonder the tales Elisa shall tell...

Oups j'ai dit une betis!

Again, the moral of the story is, "Do not be mean to my Sweetie, period."

Invest in popcorn and butter because the Horowitz DOJ OIG Report has yet to be publicly released.

Oh, by the way, the Michigan 2018 Primary Election has yet to be certified and recorded, just to let you know.

Leland linked to conspiracy involving cash bribes

Detroit — City Councilman Gabe Leland's campaign staffer was charged in federal court Wednesday with joining a conspiracy to bribe an unnamed Detroit politician with thousands of dollars in cash and valuable items.

Elisa Grubbs, 53, is expected to plead guilty amid a federal grand jury investigation targeting City Councilman Gabe Leland, who was first identified as being under investigation last year after The News obtained sealed FBI wiretap documents.

Leland is not named in the criminal filing but a Detroit businessman says he gave $7,500 to Grubbs in an envelope last year as a bribe for the councilman's help with a business dispute.

The conspiracy involving Grubbs is one of the latest corruption scandal to hit Detroit City Hall in the wake of the racketeering conspiracy scandal that sent former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to prison for 28 years.

Elisa Grubbs (front row) attended an event at Mr. Mapp's Lounge in
Detroit with City Councilman Gabe Leland (back row) in July 2017,
one month before prosecutors say she delivered a bribe. (Photo: Facebook)

Grubbs was charged 11 months after she leveled claims of inappropriate sexual behavior against Congressman John Conyers, a claim that contributed to the political titan's downfall after a 53-year career in public service. Grubbs, who said she worked for Conyers from 2001-13, claimed she was also touched by him inappropriately and that he appeared naked in front of her.

Grubbs' court-appointed lawyer did not respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday.

The city official who received bribes from Grubbs is not identified in court records. Instead, investigators refer to the politician as "City Official X."

The conspiracy outlined by the government involved "City Official X" receiving bribes in exchange for the city official using their official position to help an unnamed business owner.

In May 2017, "City Official X" met with an unnamed business owner and discussed helping the businessman in exchange for thousands of dollars.

Three months later, in August, the city official talked with the businessman on the telephone. The city official told the businessman to give the money to Grubbs.

On Aug. 4, 2017, Grubbs met the business owner and accepted thousands of dollars on behalf of "City Official X," according to federal court records. That same day, Grubbs gave the money to the city official.

The allegation and dates in the criminal case against Grubbs matches a claim involving bribes and Leland in a civil lawsuit in federal court.

Businessman Robert Carmack said he delivered $7,500 cash in an envelope to a Leland campaign worker in late summer 2017, according to the lawsuit filed against the councilman, Mayor Mike Duggan, the Detroit Land Bank and Wayne County Treasurer Eric Sabree.

The lawsuit’s allegations date to a few weeks before the August 2017 primary election in Detroit. Leland was running for re-election and Carmack was trying to resolve a dispute involving property he owned at 8124 Michigan Ave. Carmack alleges the city illegally demolished his commercial building using federal funds and was trying to sell the property.

“Leland demanded and requested...$15,000 for his reelection campaign,” Carmack’s lawyer Andrew Paterson wrote in the lawsuit.

Carmack says he ignored the request.

Leland, who chaired a City Council committee responsible for community development, promised not to sell the property in exchange for $15,000, Carmack alleges.

Leland's lawyer Steve Fishman declined comment about the Grubbs criminal case. Leland could not be reached for comment.

Carmack feared he was being extorted so he approached the FBI, according to the lawsuit. The FBI is investigating widespread corruption involving politicians, police officers in Detroit, Macomb County and across southeast Michigan.

“The FBI asked (Carmack to) wear a recording device and to pay defendant Leland as defendant Leland demanded,” Carmack’s lawyer wrote in the lawsuit.

The day after Leland asked for $15,000, Leland called the businessman and said he would be sending someone to pick up the cash, according to the lawsuit.

That same day, a woman who Carmack believed to be a Leland campaign worker met him on a side street near a bank on East Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, the lawsuit alleges.

“During the exchange, (Carmack) explains to the female campaign worker that the cash in the envelope was for defendant Leland and the female campaign worker responds by (stating) that it was not for her and that she would be delivering the money to defendant Leland immediately,” the lawsuit alleges.

The next day, Carmack said he met with Leland.

“Leland responded that he had in fact received the money from the campaign worker,” Paterson wrote.

Carmack was free to do whatever he wanted with the commercial property, Leland said, according to the lawsuit.

On Wednesday, Paterson identified Grubbs as the campaign staffer who received and delivered the bribe. Carmack believes he is the unidentified businessman referenced in the criminal case, Paterson said.

The lawyer said the criminal case proves Carmack was telling the truth about his dealings with Leland and other elected officials.

"My client has been unlawfully retaliated against by Councilman Leland and other elected city officials for exposing this corrupt behavior," Paterson said in a statement to The News. "Hopefully, today's (criminal charge) will send a clear message to other elected city officials who conspired with Councilman Leland to retaliate against my client that the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office are seriously investigating their unlawful conduct."

Grubbs is pictured with Leland in photographs posted on Leland’s official city council Facebook page.

In one photograph, Grubbs is posing with Leland and others inside Mr. Mapp's Lounge in Detroit on July 3, 2017, one month before prosecutors say she allegedly picked up and delivered the bribe.  

In other photos, she’s at Leland's side at a June 3, 2017, ribbon cutting at Rippling Hope, a ministry that helps with mission trips.

In one of the photos, posted by Isaac Robinson, an attorney and candidate for Michigan’s House District 4, Robinson notes “Leland and the District 7 team” were out supporting the cause. Grubbs is tagged in the Facebook post.

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