Potential Detroit mayoral candidate Mike Duggan dragged into Kilpatrick corruption trial

DETROIT (WXYZ) - Mike Duggan’s run for Detroit mayor hasn’t even officially begun, but it’s already been hit by its first controversy.

Today in federal court, a captivated jury listened to a secret recording between Bernard Kilpatrick and Synagro vice-president James Rosendall.   Rosendall had hired Bernard Kilpatrick as a consultant on the Synagro deal.  During the recording meeting, Kilpatrick can be heard describing how he expects to be paid.

He reminded Rosendall about his time at Wayne County, when Kilpatrick worked for then County Executive Ed McNamara and his deputy, Mike Duggan. He said he remembered sitting down with both of them, hearing them talk about “carving up deals” that he thought were “borderline illegal.”  He implied that he would use that as a framework to carve up his own Synagro deal.

Rosendall said Kilpatrick stood to make millions. 

"I left the McNamara administration 13 years ago and nobody's ever accused me of doing anything wrong," McNamara said today by phone.

"I have no idea what Bernard Kilpatrick might have said to a client he was trying to get money from."

Duggan said Kilpatrick’s statement is outlandish. 

"I was never involved in the procurement process, I was never involved in any of that in the county.  The U.S. Attorney Jeff Collins, at the time, made a  public statement that I was never a subject of an investigation," he said.

"No one has ever accused me of doing anything, and I think what you have here is a conversation where Bernard Kilpatrick was trying to get a client to give him money."

For years, McNamara’s administration was dogged by rumors of corruption and graft. The FBI investigated McNamara’s office for four years, never charging him, but convicting 3 others. 

7 Action News confirmed today that Duggan was never a target of the FBI's probe.

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