LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan lawmaker apologized Monday but said he would not resign after orchestrating a campaign suggesting he had sex with a male prostitute to distract attention from his relationship with another legislator.
Republican Rep. Todd Courser of Lapeer said he was the target of a blackmail attempt before he devised the plan “to misdirect attention” from a threat to expose his extramarital affair with GOP Rep. Cindy Gamrat of Plainwell.
“It was over the top. It was wrong,” Courser said in a 27-minute audio file posted on his campaign website. “It was not my finest moment. It was the only option I felt would be unpredicted by the blackmailer.”
In the recording, Courser asked for forgiveness from his wife and children and his constituents, as well as from Gamrat, her family and “especially her husband.”
Gamrat has not commented and canceled a planned Monday night meeting with constituents.
The two lawmakers are among the Legislature’s most outspoken social conservatives and have said their legislative work is inspired by the “Divine hand of God.”
Both have had friction with Republican leaders, and calls for their resignations have come from Republicans as well as from liberal groups. The Associated Press
