MI gov will review request to remove Detroit mayor

Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office will review a City Council request to remove Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office, the governor's staff said Tuesday.

Kilpatrick already faces perjury and other criminal charges involving a whistle-blowers' lawsuit settlement, and Granholm has said she wants the criminal process to play out.

But that could last months, leading the council to ask the governor to remove Kilpatrick. State law allows the governor to remove an elected official from office for a number of reasons, including when an officeholder has been guilty of official misconduct.

The 10-page petition and the supporting evidence delivered Tuesday to the governor's staff covers actions by Kilpatrick and the council beginning with the verdict in the whistle-blowers' trial in September 2007.

Granholm's spokeswoman Liz Boyd confirmed the office received the petition. She said Granholm has been easing back into her work schedule since abdominal surgery April 29. She's not expected to resume public appearances until next week.

The law does not require her to act within a certain time after receiving the petition. Kilpatrick has steadfastly said he will not resign, even as the council has asked him to do so.

Kilpatrick's deputy press secretary, James Canning, criticized the submittal and those signing it as playing politics. "Council President (Ken) Cockrel is trying to backdoor his way into becoming Detroit's next mayor," Canning said.

Council members say they were misled in approving the $8.4 million whistle-blowers settlement because they were unaware of a confidentiality agreement Kilpatrick signed that referenced sexually explicit text messages between him and his ex-top aide, Christine Beatty.

Both denied under oath at the trial that they had a romantic relationship, but the text messages published in January by the Detroit Free Press contradicted them.

Kilpatrick and Beatty now face criminal charges of perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice stemming from the trial, and also are accused of lying under oath about their roles in the firing of a top police official.

If convicted of a felony, Kilpatrick would be forced to vacate the mayor's office under the city charter.

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Associated Press writer Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.