LAPEER, Mich. – Former state representative Todd Courser said he is not fearful of the criminal investigation now underway into his alleged misuse of taxpayer funds to hide his affair with a fellow lawmaker.
He spent Sunday in church with his wife and family as he continues to try to re-build his marriage and salvage his legal career.
We last saw him in the wee hours Thursday morning abruptly dashing off a resignation letter once his expulsion was assured. Had he taken that route months ago, he could have avoided embarrassment, a criminal investigation, and a lot of trouble.
Why resign then?
"It was time. I felt that with all my heart," said Courser.
Question: It wasn't a desperate attempt to save face?
Courser: "No, I was fine."
Question: You didn't want to be that guy, the first in 18 years to be expelled?
Courser: "It wouldn't have bothered me in the slightest."
Courser said he's not fearful the Michigan State Police will find grounds for criminal charges, even though we've all heard tape recordings where he asks his House office aide to help in the affair's contrived cover-up.
"It was here (Lapeer law office), it was at night, it was off-hours, it was off state property, off state facilities and there were no state computers used," said Courser.
He acknowledges his credibility is damaged, which is a major problem for an attorney practicing in a small town.
"You obviously have to do the hard work, repairing those relationships, and walking through those steps personally with those people, and as you do you have to play the ball on the the field where it's at," he said.
Mending his home life will be more challenging.
"I'm working through those steps. We were at church together yesterday. We are going through the steps. Watched movies together last night. You can't really describe how difficult that is to walk through and have that happen in private, much less on the public stage," said Courser.
He said he's eager for investigators to conclude their inquiry and to find the source of the blackmail texts which he said ignited the cover-up.