Testimony has begun in the case of two staffers of former Congressman Thaddeus McCotter accused of ballot petition fraud. As Michigan Radio’s Jake Neher reports, McCotter was in court Thursday to testify at the preliminary hearing.
It was McCotter’s first public appearance since news of the scandal broke. The former U.S. Representative said he was shocked when the Secretary of State told him only a small fraction of signatures on his nominating petitions were valid. He claims he believed at the time his staff was doing a responsible job collecting the signatures
David Ottenwess is McCotter’s attorney.
“He is cooperating, he has always cooperated with the Attorney General’s office in this investigation,” he says.
McCotter admits many signatures clearly appear to be invalid. Four former campaign staffers face felony and misdemeanor charges for alleged petition fraud. One pleaded no-contest to five misdemeanor counts last month.