BREAKING: Michigan Lawmakers Caught in Sex Scandal Out

Updated at 10:30 a.m.

Sex scandals inevitably have their roots in some dirty deeds banged out in the dark of night. Last night, Michigan lawmakers toiled into the wee hours of the morning to oust two House members whose sex lives mimicked a tragicomedy.

Reps. Todd Courser, R-Lapeer, abruptly resigned at 3:12 a.m., and the House voted an hour later to oust Rep. Cindy Gamrat, R-Plainwell, The Detroit News reports.

“I felt is was the appropriate thing to do. I put everybody through a whole bunch, my family, constituents and the people in this room,” Courser said, according to the Detroit Free Press. “You go 14-15 hours later, they would have been doing a third vote. I felt they were just going to go until they got their answer.

“It’s an unfortunate chapter where we’re at, but it’s time to turn a page and go in a different direction and obviously heal, in my own house and in this body as well,” Courser said. “It’s been hell.”

Gamrat decided to leave her fate with her colleagues and continued to press for censure instead of expulsion, a deal she said she had been promised after a meeting with House Speaker Kevin Cotter, R-Mount Pleasant, last week.

“I firmly believe in restoration and redemption,” she said.” I have done everything I can to redeem this situation and I’m sincerely sorry for what this has caused. I still believe my actions warrant censure, but not expulsion.”

At 4:13 a.m., the House voted, 91-12, to oust Gamrat, making her only the fourth legislator in Michigan history to be expelled.

Fake Gay Sex Diversion

Courser and Gamrat’s exit from the Legislature came five weeks after an expose by The Detroit News detailing secret audio recordings made by former aides who had been asked to participate in a bizarre cover-up scheme orchestrated by Courser.

The aides refused to go along with the misinformation campaign, which involved the distribution of sexually explicit emails accusing Courser — a staunch gay marriage opponent — of paying for sex with a male prostitute. Courser reportedly figured the fake scandal would be so over the top that no one would believe it, and would deflect attention away from the real extramarital affair.

Catch Up on This Story:

• State Rep Wanted to Cover Up Affair With Fake Gay Sex Scandal
• Rep. Courser’s Brother Posts Alleged Blackmail Texts Online
• Not My Finest Moment’ – State Rep Apologizes for Fake Sex Scandal Scheme
• Legislators Not Quitting, Ex-Aide Shares Steamy Details of Affair
• Lawmakers OK Inquiry into House Sex Scandal and Cover-Up
• Select Committee to Decide Fate of Lawmakers in Sex Scandal: Read the Report
• Watch Sex Scandal Hearings Live: Gamrat Expected to Admit Guilt to Keep Job
• Courser Pleads for His Job, Says His ‘Heart Is Sincere’: Watch the Hearing
• Republican-Controlled House Can’t Muster Enough Votes to Oust Courser and Gamrat

The affair between the two has made sizzling headlines since it was exposed in August, with a former aide offering salacious details of the interoffice romance that became such a distraction that it created “untenable” working conditions.

Romantic Embraces, Intimate Tuck-Ins

In a news conference days after the scandal broke, former aide Joshua Cline said Courser and Gamrat took long afternoons away from the office they shared, late-night dinners, romantic embraces and intimate tuck-ins when Courser napped in their shared office space.

Cline said “everything in the office was done and intertwined around their relationship — from time management to who’s going to get what bills.”

Cline resigned in April because he said the affair between two created “untenable” working conditions, offered salacious details of the interoffice romance. Cline began to suspect the affair in January, the same month the two officially took office, and subsequent reports have indicated that Gamrat’s husband, Joe, had been following her months.

In February, Joe Gamrat confronted the two legislators at a Radisson Hotel in Lansing in February, Cline said.

“He told me, as a warning that ‘you’re going to be in for a very bad day.’ He had seen Todd and Cindy stay in their legislative offices until late at night. He had also seen Cindy leave Todd’s hotel room at 2 a.m.,” Cline said. “Cindy arrived late that day looking disheveled. ... And (Courser) spent most of the time leaning on cabinets in Rep. Gamrat’s office. He was distraught, despondent, very quiet. They spent a lot of time in their back office that day.”

Democrats Swayed by Amendments

It appeared late Thursday the freshmen tea party Republicans might keep their jobs after the Republican-controlled House failed to muster enough votes from Democrats to obtain the constitutionally required two-thirds majority to expel them, the recommendation of a select committee named to help determine their fitness to continue serving in office.

The unofficial tentative vote on the resolution to expel Courser early Thursday evening was 67-14, with 26 lawmakers abstaining.

Holdout Democrats wanted a more thorough investigation — specifically about what Cotter knew about the affair and cover-up — and eventually got one with amendments to the Gamrat expulsion resolution calling for investigations into the controversy by the Michigan State Police and state attorney general’s office.

This is a developing story. Come back to Patch for more details.