The Courser Option: Michigan Politicians Allegedly Orders Staffer To Accuse Him Of Sex With Male Prostitute To Conceal Affair With Fellow Politician

Michigan State Representative Todd Courser has an alleged bizarre way of spinning scandal. The conservative Republican ran on a religious right affiliation and was reportedly about to be implicated in an affair with another conservative lawmaker. According to a transcript released by Detroit News was to instruct his aide to implicate him in a sex scandal with a male prostitute. That’s right, it is better to be caught with a male prostitute than a fellow Republican legislator. It could be all part of Courser’s belief in what he calls “God inspired encouragers.”

According to The Detroit News, Courser told his aide Ben Graham to send out the bogus anonymous email filled with sensational details. It appears that once the scandal was disproved or blew over, his relationship with fellow state Rep. Cindy Gamrat would seem tame and unnewsworthy. Graham recorded the conversation with Courser who is married with children. Like Courser, Gamrat is a Tea-Party back candidate who is married with children.

Courser is quoted as reading the details for the fake email with the instructions that “You just get nasty about it.” The aide expresses shock and asks “Are you serious? … That’s ridiculous.” Courser is heard responding “I need it to be over the top.”

Graham says that when he refused to carry out the order, he was stripped of his duties and Courser fired him.

Courser describes a life of faith on his bio in the following way:

State Rep. Todd Courser was first elected to serve the 82nd District in the Michigan House of Representatives in November 2014. The 82nd District includes all of Lapeer County.

EARLY LIFE
Rep. Courser was born in Flint, Michigan to Daniel and Georgeann Courser, who were married shortly after his birth. When he was 4, Courser was sent to a vacation bible school, which changed the course of their lives, as first his mother and then his father, found salvation in Jesus Christ. Shortly afterwards, his family moved to a small family farm in Lapeer, Michigan. Both of his parents had grown up in difficult family situations and wanted a different experience for their family.

Daniel and Georgeann Courser were not only loving and nurturing parents, but they were followers of Christ, which was reflected in their lifestyle. Although they did not have much money, they operated their home as a place for all who needed compassion and love. They did not receive any resources for this and had no government involvement. They acted selflessly, as loving, God inspired encouragers. Todd Courser grew up in this household, with his brother, his 2 sisters and however many lost souls found their way to the Courser doorstep. The family would feed them, mend them, wash them up a little spiritually and then watch them get their feet back under them as they would go back out into the world when the timing was right. Courser learned that money, accomplishments and positions that the world tends to value, were not as important as advancing God’s plans for him to do the right things for the right reasons.

Aside from the family farm, Courser grew up with his father’s meat business. His father considered savings to be 3 chest freezers full of meat in his view of the world at that time. His mother attended college, ran a daycare, cub scout dens, church events, attended her children’s sport events and worked nights as a waitress when needed to make the finances work. Courser does not remember ever living in a household without other people, who were not related, there.

The love and compassion that Courser’s parents emulated shaped the “religious” part of Courser, one of genuine faith.

For her part, Gamrat also ran on her faith and commitment to God and family:

It has been an incredible and humbling journey over these last few years and would not have been possible without the hand of God, the love of my family, and the help from all those who have supported me.

Nothing worthwhile is ever easy but I believe together, and with God’s providence, we can conquer any rough or rocky areas that present themselves on the path between us and the precious gift of liberty.

What is most interesting is that Courser’s clever plan has drawn more attention to the scandal than would have occurred otherwise. It is certainly true that both would look like hypocrites in the eyes of their constituents. However, they would not be the first such politicians caught in affair. Courser however has added a bizarre twist that places both politicians in not only greater national exposure but a rather unhinged, desperate light.

Ironically, Courser was right in one respect. Few people are really that interested in the original affair.