The Citizen’s watchdog group Progress Michigan sent a letter last week to the U.S. Attorney for eastern Michigan calling for the U.S. Justice Department to conduct an independent investigation of allegations that Attorney General Mike Cox and the Detroit police may have obstructed an investigation linked to former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and the 2003 murder of a Detroit stripper.
“It’s time to clear the air and have, at last, an outside, uncompromised investigation into the events leading up to and surrounding the death of Tamara Greene,” said David Holtz, executive director of Progress Michigan, in a press release. “These longstanding allegations are more than just “gum on the shoe” of Mike Cox, they’re a black eye on a state that can ill afford it.”
The Michigan State Police detectives involved in the investigation said in a deposition last month in the wrongful death civil lawsuit that they believed the DPD was destroying evidence in the case. But one investigator’s testimony also said because of actions by Cox, they were powerless to stop them. They also claimed Cox met with Kilpatrick privately off the record, and that he refused to allow the detective to interview the mayor’s wife.
Cox, a Republican candidate for Michigan governor, has told every news outlet he can that the long rumored party at the Detroit Manoogian Mansion never happened and the detectives are lying. However, he has never gone on record. That will change Dec. 11 when Cox will give a deposition in the federal lawsuit against the City of Detroit brought by Greene’s family.
However, that deposition will be sealed. Cox made the grandstand ploy of asking the judge that his deposition be made in public and his deposition unsealed. But he, as an attorney, knew the answer before he asked, or he would not have asked.
“The common-sense solution here is to have an outside organization take charge of the investigation,” . Holtz said. “With corruption being one of the Justice Department’s top investigative priorities, it seems U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg is the right man for the job.”
Cox has a history of problems with honesty, and he also has a history of only coming clean when busted. In 2005 he called a press conference to tell the state that he cheated on his wife. But it was a preemptive move because he falsely accused high profile Oakland County lawyer Geoffrey Fieger of blackmail, and he believed Fieger would rat him out.
In 2007 Cox tried to build a personal gym in his office at taxpayer expense, but he had to back off only when he got caught.
Progress Michigan’s mission is to provide a strong credible voice that holds public officials and government accountable, assists in the promotion of progressive ideas and uses state-of-the-art web based new media to creatively build grassroots support for progressive ideas.
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