LANSING (WKZO-AM) — The first meeting of the House Select Committee looking into the Cindy Gamrat-Todd Courser sex scandal was over in five minutes, as members accepted a list of ground rules and were told they would be receiving the voluminous investigation from the House Business Office.
In attendance, Rep. Cindy Gamrat, who says she felt compelled to be there and cooperate.
“It’s not easy – (I’m) trying to understand the process better, to understand the the allegations that have been brought against me better so I can be part of the solution,” the Republican from Plainwell said.
She said she doesn’t know if she’ll be asked to testify.
Rep. Ed McBroom, who was selected to chair the committee, said their charge is to determine if Gamrat and Courser are qualified to serve, or if they have violated the public trust to the point where it can no longer be met.
“There are many troubling questions that the report brings forward that we need to examine and seek answers to,” the upper peninsula Republican said.
That’s different than the question Democratic Chair Brandon Dillon wants answered: Did they violate the law?
He told WKZO-AM that the panel, which consists of four Republicans and a pair of Democrats, isn’t equipped or authorized for that specific job.
“The only way to get to the bottom of this, I believe, is for a full report to be done by the attorney general, who has subpoena power — who can compel testimony under oath — then, we can have confidence that all the right questions have been asked,” Dillion said Tuesday morning.
Courser, of Lapeer, claims the scandal is nothing more than a set-up by the GOP House leadership to get rid of him.
– John McNeill
