Philandering Politician Blames Mafia, Thanks Jesus in 1,900 Word Facebook Rant

Last week, the Detroit News broke the rather curious story of Michigan State Representative Todd Courser, who tried to cover up the affair he was having with a fellow state rep by inventing a gay sex scandal. That didn’t work. Now, Courser is indicating that the shadowy-sounding “Lansing Mafia” is responsible for his downfall. He followed that up today with a spectacular Facebook rant about how he’s still in good with Jesus.

Courser’s Plan A, according to audio tapes made by a disgruntled former aide, was to plant a story about how he was having sex with men behind nightclubs, the logic being that when everyone found out he was merely sleeping with fellow State Rep. Cindy Gamrat, it wouldn’t seem quite so bad. Plan B is telling everybody that the “Lansing Mafia” is trying to “blackmail” him. On Thursday, he shared a series of text messages on Facebook that he claims his brother Dan received from said blackmailing mafia guys. (Dan Courser told TV station WNEM that the blackmail texts are real, that he really did receive them from someone who told him he needed to convince his brother to resign.)

Before releasing the texts, Courser wrote that he was aware everyone thinks he’s merely inventing a “wild conspiracy theory” here to hide some run-of-the-mill extramarital cheatin’:

Tomorrow I will be releasing more texts from another person who received them from the blackmailer at same moments; I’ll release them so you all can continue to complain that it’s all in my mind and I made it up as a wild conspiracy theory to hide my actions. But please don’t let evidence taint your conclusions, because I am in no way offering these up to make you concerned about state reps being blackmailed; or to make you in anyway concerned about a Speakers office that seems not at all that concerned about reps being blackmailed; if that doesn’t bother you then don’t be bothered. Sleep well and I hope God blesses you tonight! [Smiley face]

While all this was going on, State Rep. Cinday Gamrat held a tearful press conference, standing next to her husband and saying that while she won’t be resigning right now, she’s very sorry. She didn’t mention or blame the mafia, blackmailers, or a cabal of imaginary gay men having imaginary sex behind any nightclubs.

On Sunday, Courser took to Facebook again, answering the question all of us might have at this time: how does Jesus Christ, a close personal friend of Todd’s, feel about all this? The answer is that he’s still a just and righteous God, okay?

Courser begins:

My lack of righteousness does not negate God’s righteousness –

In all of this – it is nothing short of a massive earthquake for me and my family and those who have supported me and even to those who hate me; thru this a series of common themes have emerged and many will take days weeks months and generations to see the full fruit of, but one that is clear is that I am now the poster boy for those who would say “God is dead,” or “ Christians are failures,” or “Christians are hypocrites.” Instantly I have been shown to be a hypocrite in my life, a liar, a laughable joke; much if not all of that is presently justified. But in spite of all of that I am a Christian and I am a follower of Christ, and my failures in no way reduce or negate God’s promises; no unfortunately they showcase Him and His promises –both positive and negative.

He adds, too, that his fellow sinners have reached out to him to share their own struggles, including people with — please prepare yourselves— “homosexual tendencies:”

This sin in my life has been and will continue to reap its reward. In all of this many have commented publicly and have enjoyed the spectacle of watching a man burn and have reveled in the joy it has brought in themselves, but all of this has also brought so many who have been absolutely encouraging and supportive. A special group has been of those men who have come forward to express their own failures to me in fidelity and what guilt and shame they have felt for their own failures in their own faith and faithfulness to God, His holy word, and to their wives and children. Just having heard their stories has been some of the most humbling experiences of my life; with several have come forward to share their pain for participating in/and addicted to pornography and what that has wrought in themselves and their families. And finally a couple have come forward to express their guilt and shame for being faith filled but struggling with how to reconcile that with having homosexual tendencies and trying to reconcile that with their faith. In every one of these experiences it has been an incredibly humbling to me. I am not sure why all of this coming out about me has brought them forward, but I am eternally grateful for their words and their experiences. One pastor told me – “Todd I can’t condemn you, I have committed every sin in the bible, but for one and that is murder, and that last one I have thought about enough to be guilty of it.” He said and I am a pastor.

It goes on for a while in that vein, with quotes from Romans and pleas not to blame his behavior on his wife or children. We weren’t.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Free Press points out that both Gamrat and Courser were getting low marks from their constituents even before the affair was revealed, failing to attend any local meetings or events or getting a single bill heard in the Legislature, despite the fact that both were Tea Party Republicans in a Republican-controlled body. Gamrat was also kicked out of the GOP caucus for posting on Facebook during their private meetings.

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Courser just before doing an “Ice Bucket Challenge,” which he was nominated for by Rep. Garmat, last year. Screenshot via Facebook