Kilpatrick Defends Self, Says He Still Loves Christine Beatty

Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who is due back in court today, says he still loves Christine Beatty and is stronger for what he considers ongoing persecution from those disappointed he wasn't destroyed by the scandal and criminal charges that drove him from office last year.

"I have talked to her since all of this stuff happened," Kilpatrick told The Final Call, the Nation of Islam's newspaper, according to a video excerpt of the interview posted online Monday.

"I tried to make sure that she understands that I still care about her very deeply. A lot of times when women get caught in a situation like that, they get perceived as a whore. I think that is so unfair. It takes two to tango. She is a very good person. ... We made some bad decisions and we are living with the consequences of those decisions, but I respect her tremendously and love her."

Kilpatrick used a similar line during a civil trial two years ago to deny an affair with Beatty, his former chief of staff. That lie -- and mistruths about firing police officers -- led to an $8.4 million settlement that jailed both Kilpatrick and Beatty.

Kilpatrick is set to be back in Detroit today to continue a probation hearing. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy contends Kilpatrick deliberately hid his wealth to avoid making $6,000 per month payments toward $1 million restitution he agreed to pay when he took a plea deal that included jail time and his resignation.

On Oct. 29, Kilpatrick testified he has little knowledge of his finances because he has turned them over to his wife, Carlita Kilpatrick. The prosecution contends more than $1 million flowed through family accounts last year, while Kilpatrick claimed he had only $6 a month left for restitution payments after expenses for living in Southlake, Texas. He said Carlita Kilpatrick leased a Cadillac Escalade and $1 million home in the town described as the most affluent community in America.

A prosecutor expressed surprise when Kilpatrick said he didn't even know if his wife has a job.

His lawyer, Michael Alan Schwartz, later explained Kilpatrick remains "in the dog house" with his wife and is in a delicate position when it comes to demanding answers about how the family should run.

The prosecutor could call Carlita Kilpatrick as a witness because rules for a probation violation hearing are different than at trials, but that's unlikely, said Cooley Law School Professor Curt Benson.

"His tactic now is to deny any knowledge," said Benson. "He doesn't have a shred of credibility anymore, but that doesn't matter. After the prosecution asks him some more questions, they will go about the less exciting task of showing where the money came from and where it went. The reality is Kwame Kilpatrick is now a sideshow. This is now about collecting the money and the reality will be found buried in the bank records and transactions."

But Kilpatrick told Ashahed Muhammad, assistant editor of The Final Call newspaper, that racism and the media are to blame for his troubles. Kilpatrick said no one disputed his accomplishments, but antipathy toward his style formed a "theater of hatred" against him.

"I don't think there's been any mayor scrutinized like I was every day. Day in, day out. It was tough. It was tough to do the job under that kind of scrutiny," Kilpatrick said. "Then afterwards, there's definitely a campaign -- an overt campaign -- they were against me. Now it's turned into something else. He didn't die. He wasn't destroyed. We did everything we possibly could and he's still standing, he's still married, he's still happy, he's still blessed and that has been a real issue for a lot of people."

The interview was recorded two weeks ago in Chicago. Kilpatrick told authorities he planned to travel there to make a sales presentation for his employer, Covisint, a division of Compuware.

During the interview, Kilpatrick said Detroit "is a very racially separated city" and has never healed from the race riots of the 1960s. He said that while he was mayor, he and his family received death threats.

"I was never fearful or scared of that at all," Kilpatrick said. "I knew that God had me. ... We continued to march."

He spoke about rebuilding hope in a city that had been the butt of jokes before he was mayor. He took credit for new parks, recreation centers, and investments in new buildings and businesses.

"We restored hope in the city of Detroit, that we could be something better than this degraded, deteriorating city. That we can have new stuff, new opportunities, new businesses, new events."

Kilpatrick also slammed the politics of the city.

"The commentators are running the town," Kilpatrick said. "They can never understand or even have that kind of responsibility to do anything in a meaningful or positive way. It's bad. I'm not the mayor. I've been gone a year. They come to Texas, film my house, illegally subpoena my bank records and my wife. They film my kids' school. They film my kids at football games. They've done some tremendous things. They've conspired, they've consorted -- it's well known -- to gain information they didn't have access."

Kilpatrick's bank documents PDF

PDF: Letter from Matty Maroun to Carlita Kilpatrick

Kilpatrick testifies in court today

Kilpatrick/Beatty Text Messages