Cocktails & Popcorn: Michigan Is Beginning To Throw Its Dirty Laundry On The Front Lawn Of Public Discourse

This is not over.

This is just beginning to be revealed.

*Smooches*!

Former state Rep. Todd Courser pleads no contest to willful neglect of duty

Todd Courser, with the salt and pepper beard.

Former state lawmaker Todd Courser has pleaded no contest to willful neglect of duty by a public officer, a misdemeanor related to the 2015 scandal that forced him out of office.

The misconduct involves soliciting a state employee to send out a false email. The misdemeanor is punishable by imprisonment for not more than one year or a fine of not more than $1,000.

Courser had been facing felony charges of willful neglect of duty and perjury. The perjury charge will be dismissed as part of the plea agreement. Courser’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 16 before Chief Judge Nick O. Holowka in Lapeer County Circuit Court.

“Today’s decision by Todd Courser to plead no-contest to a one-year misdemeanor may be the wisest decision he has made in years,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a press release announcing the plea agreement. “This case has had a long, torturous history and his decision to acknowledge responsibility for his actions is long overdue."

As a Tea Party Republican, Courser was elected in 2014 as the state representative in the 82nd House District. But in the summer of 2015, he became the focus of a sex scandal involving his affair with then state Rep. Cindy Gamrat, R-Plainwell.

To cover up the affair, he asked an aide to share an email containing outlandish allegations against him so that rumors of his affair with Gamrat would pale in comparison and not be believed.

A House investigation found the freshman lawmakers “abused their offices” by directing staff to facilitate their affair, and they also blurred lines between official and political work, a potential violation of Michigan campaign finance rules.

In the wake of that report, Courser resigned and Gamrat was expelled by her House colleagues. The two maintained that they were targeted by fellow Republicans for challenging the GOP establishment.

In 2016, Attorney General Bill Schuette charged Courser with three counts of misconduct in office and one charge of perjury, all felonies, and Gamrat with two counts of misconduct in office, also felonies.

After a preliminary examination in June 2016, Lansing District Court Judge Hugh B. Clarke Jr. dropped the charges against Garmat and ordered Courser to stand trial on one count of perjury and one count of misconduct in office.

Courser’s case had been on hold pending appeals. But this past April, the Michigan Supreme Court rejected his request to dismiss the perjury charge.

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