Motion: Kilpatrick Is ‘Darker Version’ of Clinton

A motion to postpone Kwame Kilpatrick’s arraignment for a probation violation refers to the former Detroit mayor as a “darker version” of ex-President Bill Clinton and claims his legal troubles continue to hold the city back.

The document, filed late Tuesday with the Michigan Court of Appeals by defense attorney Daniel Hajji, asks the court to grant a stay of the arraignment set for Friday in a lower court, which could land Kilpatrick back in jail.

Kilpatrick, whose marital infidelities were revealed in sexually explicit text messages between him and his former top aide, was ordered to appear by Judge David Groner in Wayne County Circuit Court after he failed to make a $79,011 restitution payment to the city on Feb. 19.

“The underlying victim in this case is the City of Detroit,” according to the document filed by Hajji. “It always was and it continues to be. The town is divided, with many of the opinion that Mr. Kilpatrick is nothing more than a darker version of Bill Clinton, many of the opinion that he was corrupt, and many of the opinion that this is just another giant fiasco that is accomplishing little more than giving Detroit another black eye.”

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Kilpatrick, who is black, and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, denied having a romantic relationship and playing any roles in the firing of a police official during a 2007 whistle-blowers’ trial. Text messages first published in January 2008 by the Detroit Free Press contradicted their testimony.

The scandal led to perjury and other charges against both. Kilpatrick later entered pleas in two criminal cases and resigned in September 2008.

He spent 99 days in jail and agreed to pay Detroit $1 million in restitution over the five years of his probation.

He now lives in an affluent Dallas suburb and works as a salesman for software company Covisint.

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