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Judge dismisses Courser’s lawsuit against House, ex-leaders

Posted at 4:23 PM, Jul 15, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-15 16:23:52-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit in which a former Michigan lawmaker who resigned over a sex scandal accused ex-leaders of the state House of Representatives of conspiring to remove him from office and subject him to criminal charges.

Todd Courser’s suit was tossed last week by U.S. District Judge Gordon Quist.

He ruled that the House and its former leaders and staffers have immunity. He said Courser’s claim of a conspiracy “is not only implausible, but absurd on its face.”

Courser resigned in 2015 while another legislator, Cindy Gamrat, was expelled. Courser had asked an aide to send a bogus, sexually explicit email to thousands of fellow Republicans as a trick so his extramarital affair with Gamrat would not be believed if it was revealed by an extortionist.