U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter finally spoke out about his petition scandal that resulted in him resigning in disgrace, saying his staff hoodwinked him.
You might recall he couldn't get on the ballot after authorities discovered a lot of signatures on the petition were forged.
"Every inquiry made, including my own, is that we were on target," McCotter testified in 16th District Court in Livonia on Thursday, the Detroit News reported. "The answer was always, 'Everything is fine.'"
McCotter, who is not charged in the case, testified at a preliminary examination for staff members Paul Seewald, his former district director and deputy district director Don Yowchuang, who are charged in a forgery scheme to make up for a huge shortage in petition signatures to get on the ballot for the upcoming election.
The News reported that testimony on Thursday revealed that some signatures were identitcal to those turned in during the 2006 campaign.
District Judge Sean P. Kavanagh will rule Oct. 23 on whether the men will stand trial, the News reported.
Ed White of the Associated Press reported that deputy director Yowchuang incriminated himself during interviews with the state Attorney General's Office. In a transcript of the interview, White writes that "Yowchuang admitted to state investigators that he made copies of petition signatures and then took the stack to the secretary of state's office last May to get McCotter in the August primary. He said he "panicked' and knew copies were illegal."
