Local businessman Robert Carmack
Local businessman Robert Carmack
Robert Carmack, a central figure in the federal government’s bribery case against Detroit Councilman Gabe Leland, and the griping businessman behind the secret recordings of Mayor Mike Duggan's travels around Metro Detroit, is dropping another stink bomb on the political landscape.
Carmack filed a lawsuit Monday claiming Duggan doesn't really live in the city, which would be a violation of the Detroit city charter, Kat Stafford of the Detroit Free Press reports. The mayor's office calls the claim "silly."
Carmack told the Free Press last week that his reason for going after Duggan is to get him to appear for a deposition in a lawsuit the city filed to evict him from his collision shop in southwest Detroit.
Carmack's video, which was released to the media and displayed outside city hall, attempted to humiliate Duggan by suggesting he is having an affair with a woman in the suburbs. Duggan and his wife issued a statement that day saying they were proud of their marriage.
Carmack's lawsuit, filed in Wayne County Circuit Court, also alleges that the city attempted to charge him more than $41,000, to obtain security footage from the official mayor's residence, the Manoogian Mansion -- footage he claims could prove his allegation about Duggan's residency.
Carmack's attorney, Andrew Paterson, tells the Free Press a private investigator hired by his client has "intel" that proves Duggan resides in the suburbs.
"This conversation is silly," mayoral Chief of Staff Alexis Wiley told the Freep Monday night. "The mayor lives at the Manoogian and has since he took office."
Carmack agreed to wear an FBI wire to implicate Councilman Leland in a bribery scheme. Carmack alleged Leland asked for $15,000 in campaign contributions to settle a property dispute he had with the city.
According to the indictment issued last month by a federal grand jury, Leland conspired in 2017 with Elisa Grubbs, a campaign worker, to solicit and accept bribes consisting of $15,000 in cash and free auto body work from Carmack.
The indictment also alleged that Leland agreed to help delay or prevent the city’s sale of property that Carmack believed he owned in exchange for the bribes. Leland is charged with taking a $7,500 cash bribe four days before the 2017 primary election for Detroit City Council.
