DETROIT, MI (AP)-- A former Detroit-area congressman who failed to make the 2012 ballot says he was "ruined" by a failure to turn in enough signatures to run for re-election.
The Associated Press has obtained a transcript of Thaddeus McCotter's June interview with state investigators. The Livonia Republican said three staffers had signed petitions as circulators although they didn't gather the names.
That wasn't McCotter's only problem. Many petitions submitted to the state were photocopies. He urged investigators to get to the bottom of it.
Three former McCotter staffers are facing felonies, including his district director and deputy director. McCotter hasn't been charged. He quit Congress in July.
He doesn't believe his staff wanted to harm him. He says he would trust his life to top aides Paul Seewald and Don Yowchuang.
