By Allan Lengel For Deadline Detroit DETROIT — The prosecution lit into Kwame Kilpatrick in opening arguments today, and the defense countered with sharp criticism of the charges. By 1:55p.m., the first day of battle was over, opening the way for the government to call its first witnesses on Monday in the biggest case in…
By The New York Times Editorial Page The recklessness of federal officials in their harebrained scheme to assist in illegal gunrunning to Mexican drug cartels was laid bare in a scathing report by the Justice Department’s inspector general. Primary blame for the botched program — known as Operation Fast and Furious — was placed on…
By Allan Lengel For Deadline Detroit DETROIT — More than two years after he was indicted by the feds, and four years after he resigned in disgrace as mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick steps into the legal ring in federal court Friday, ready to do battle as he tries to stay free and remain with his wife…
By Allan Lengel For Deadline Detroit DETROIT — Back in 9th grade I remember a teacher yelling me and a classmate as we laughed uncontrollably. We were watching a movie about a 1960s psychological experiment at Yale on peoples’ willingness to obey authority. It was called the Milgram Experiment. A male volunteer was assigned to…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com As jury selection continues in the corruption trial of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, FBI agents are investigating suburban Warren city government over a trash hauling contract, the Detroit News reports. The FBI is focusing on Deputy Public Service Director Gus Ghanam (pictured here) and the purchase of garbage trucks, according…
By Allan Lengel For Deadline Detroit DETROIT — U.S. District Court Judge Nancy G. Edmunds, who is overseeing the corruption trial of ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in downtown Detroit has a reputation for being a first-rate judge. But Edmunds is attracting attention because she appears to be unusually concerned with what the media can report during…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Ex-ATF official Bernie La Forest is at it again. The prolific La Forest has just knocked out his third mystery novel, “A Matter of Lex Talionis,” the story of a Lt. Andre de Avilés, who heads the Detroit Police Department’s Intel Squad. Described as a forty-somethin’, ‘balls-to-the-wall” detective known for…
By Allan Lengel For Deadline Detroit DETROIT –– Ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick must have been frustrated on Thursday as he sat at the defense table in federal court in downtown Detroit during jury selection for his public corruption trial. Kilpatrick complained recently that there weren’t enough prospective black jurors in the jury pool. Lawyers will…
