SENATOR DAVID JAYE POSTS:
In April 2001, Senator David Jaye was arrested for domestic violence. The Michigan Senate began an investigation for his two domestic violence assault; his three drunken driving convictions; probation violations; allegations that he verbally abused Senate staff members and that he kept naked photos on his Senate issued laptop computer.
On May 24, 2001 Senator David Jaye was ousted from the Michigan Senate. It was the first time in Michigan history that a senator had been ousted.
A special election was held to fill Jaye's senate seat and Jaye ran in the election despite being removed from office.
Charges against Sen. Jaye to remain
Detroit News
December 21, 2000
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP -- Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran said Wednesday he will not drop misdemeanor charges against state Sen. David Jaye, despite Jaye's claim that he did nothing wrong when stopped by state police and charged with driving on a restricted license.
Sheeran released a copy of the police report of the Nov. 19 traffic stop along Interstate 75 in Bay County, which showed troopers were responding to a call about a possible abduction of a woman by a man who later turned out to be Jaye.
"I don't normally give out these kinds of details," Sheeran said. "But I feel I owe it to the public to respond to some of the statements I've heard the last few days from Sen. Jaye and his allies."
Jaye, 42, R-Washington Township, told The Associated Press that he didn't know why he was stopped.
According to the police report, a witness at a Mobil gas station off Interstate 75 said he saw a man arguing with a woman. The man then slapped her with an open hand three or four times, kicked her twice in her legs, pushed her into his 1989 Plymouth Sundance and drove onto southbound I-75.
When troopers pulled over the car, the driver told them he was a state senator. "I advised him it did not matter at this time," Trooper Brad Cox wrote in his report.
Jaye's brother, Joseph, 34, of Warren, was a passenger in the rear of the car. The two men were handcuffed "until we could figure out what was going on," Cox wrote.
The woman in the car was Jameela Kloss, 36, of Ft. Myers, Fla. Jaye identified her to police as his girlfriend for the past two years. David Jaye and Kloss denied that he struck her.
Kloss told police that at the service station, David Jaye "began yelling at her for using the men's restroom," according to the report.
She said the women's restroom was full, so she went into the men's room, although two men were in there at the time. David Jaye told police he became upset because "he was running late and needed to get to the airport."
Kloss displayed no visible signs of injuries, police said.
The senator's lawyer, Robert Huth, denied that Jaye had assaulted Kloss.
"You have one witness saying an assault took place, but two other witnesses (David Jaye and Kloss) who say nothing happened," Huth said.
In a statement released Wednesday, Jaye said: "Couples occasionally have squabbles and it is unfortunate that this happened to occur in public."
Police found two long guns in the passenger compartment of the car. David Jaye said he had been hunting deer. The Jayes were released after being told to put the guns in their trunk.
David Jaye, who was convicted March 5 of drunken driving, was charged Monday with violating restrictions on his license. He is limited to driving between home and work, treatment or support group meetings, a probation office, community service and school.
An affidavit filed with the Bay County Prosecutor's Office says Jaye went to a deer camp near Atlanta, Mich., in mid-November to address landowners on hunting issues and the environment. That address makes the trip work-related, according to the affidavit.
Sen. Jaye will not face traffic charges
Arresting officer did not inform lawmaker of Miranda Rights
Detroit News
March 22, 2001
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP -- State Sen. David Jaye, known as much for his run-ins with the law as his controversial viewpoints, is off the hook after his latest encounter with police.
Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran on Wednesday dropped charges against the Washington Township senator for driving on a restricted license because a state trooper failed to read Jaye his Miranda rights last November.
Sheeran said without statements Jaye made to police -- which a Bay County District Court judge suppressed last week -- the case couldn't proceed. A trial was scheduled to start today.
"Without this evidence, I would not be able to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt," Sheeran said.
Jaye was convicted March 5, 2000, of drunken driving. It was his second offense, and he served 35 days in jail. In 1993, he was jailed for 10 days for a similar offense.
His license was restricted last June, limiting him to driving between home and work, treatment or support group meetings and community service and school.
The 42-year-old Republican maintains he was on state business when he was stopped in November in Monitor Township near Bay City after a motorist notified police about a man kicking and slapping a woman at a nearby rest stop. Police pulled over Jaye, who was then handcuffed and questioned for 40 minutes.
Jaye's fiancee has denied being assaulted. Attorney Rob Huth said Jaye was on his way back from official business at the Turtle Creek Hunt Club in northern Michigan.
Jaye, a gun advocate, blamed Sheeran's anti-gun politics for his arrest.
"He apparently saw the situation as an opportunity to improperly persecute and embarrass me, and filed baseless charges for driving outside of the former restrictions permitted on my driver's license," Jaye said Wednesday.
Said Sheeran: "I'm a fair prosecutor that makes decision based on the facts of the law," Sheeran said.
Senator Jaye Gets Assignments Restored
Republican Stripped Of Duties After Pleading Guilty To Drunken Driving
Click On Detroit
Republican Stripped Of Duties After Pleading Guilty To Drunken Driving
Click On Detroit
March 27, 2001
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/561191/detail.html
State Sen. David Jaye had his committee assignments restored Tuesday after completing an alcohol rehabilitation program.
Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, Mich., was stripped of his Senate duties in June after pleading guilty to drunken driving. .He was charged with driving on a restricted license six months later, but was cleared of those charges last week
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow restored Jaye as Chairman of the Senate Hunting, Fishing and Forestry Committee.
Jaye will also return to his membership on the Economic Development, International Trade and Regulatory Affairs Committee, the Families, Mental Health and Human Services Committee and the Senate Financial Services Committee.
Neither DeGrow nor Jaye commented on the restored positions.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/561191/detail.html
State Sen. David Jaye had his committee assignments restored Tuesday after completing an alcohol rehabilitation program.
Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, Mich., was stripped of his Senate duties in June after pleading guilty to drunken driving. .He was charged with driving on a restricted license six months later, but was cleared of those charges last week
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow restored Jaye as Chairman of the Senate Hunting, Fishing and Forestry Committee.
Jaye will also return to his membership on the Economic Development, International Trade and Regulatory Affairs Committee, the Families, Mental Health and Human Services Committee and the Senate Financial Services Committee.
Neither DeGrow nor Jaye commented on the restored positions.
Senate suspends Jaye's committee jobs
The move is in reaction to his arrest in Florida
Grand Rapids Press
April 14, 2001
LANSING -- Michigan Sen. David Jaye, who last year served time in jail for drunken driving, was arraigned in Florida on charges of assaulting his fiancee. Now, his committee assignments have been suspended.
The fiancee, Sonia Kloss, said Jaye was arraigned Friday and was to be released from jail in the afternoon. Kloss said she would ask for the charges to be dropped and said she and Jaye plan to get married this year.
"I hope David will do the appropriate thing with whatever is necessary for that, even if it means that he does see a counselor," said Kloss, of Fort Myers, Fla.
Jaye, R-Washington Township (Macomb County), was booked and held overnight Thursday in the Lee County Jail on a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence battery. Jaye's attorney, Robert Huth, said Jaye was beaten in jail Thursday and required stitches on his ear.
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, said Friday he was immediately suspending Jaye's committee assignments, which were recently restored after the drunken driving sentence.
Jaye also is losing his Senate mail and travel privileges.
"We, in the Senate, take this very seriously," DeGrow said. "Senator Jaye's behavior is unacceptable."
Jaye is chairman of the Senate Hunting, Fishing and Forestry Committee. He also is a member of the Economic Development, International Trade and Regulatory Affairs Committee, the Families, Mental Health and Human Services Committee and the Financial Services Committee.
Jaye, 43, told police he didn't hit Kloss, 36.
David Jaye Refuses To Quit
Washington Township Republican Arrested Last Week
Click on Detroit
Washington Township Republican Arrested Last Week
Click on Detroit
April 15, 2001
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/713815/detail.html
State Sen. David Jaye is heading back to the Legislature four days after his Florida arrest for allegedly assaulting his fiancée.
The Washington Township Republican spoke out Tuesday morning in Lansing. He's charged with a misdemeanor for hitting his fiancée, Sonia Kloss, 36, outside her Florida home last week. Jaye (pictured, left), 43, said that there is stress from a long-distance relationship, but the police report is wrong in saying that he struck her.
Jaye's lawyer said that the couple plans to get counseling. While jailed, Jaye was attacked and needed 24 stitches to repair an injured ear.
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow suspended Jaye's committee assignments on Friday, the day after the arrest. DeGrow had restored the assignments just two weeks earlier after Jaye had lost them after a drunken-driving conviction. Jaye planned to attend Tuesday's Senate session.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/713815/detail.html
State Sen. David Jaye is heading back to the Legislature four days after his Florida arrest for allegedly assaulting his fiancée.
The Washington Township Republican spoke out Tuesday morning in Lansing. He's charged with a misdemeanor for hitting his fiancée, Sonia Kloss, 36, outside her Florida home last week. Jaye (pictured, left), 43, said that there is stress from a long-distance relationship, but the police report is wrong in saying that he struck her.
Jaye's lawyer said that the couple plans to get counseling. While jailed, Jaye was attacked and needed 24 stitches to repair an injured ear.
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow suspended Jaye's committee assignments on Friday, the day after the arrest. DeGrow had restored the assignments just two weeks earlier after Jaye had lost them after a drunken-driving conviction. Jaye planned to attend Tuesday's Senate session.
Jaye returns to Senate today after spending a night in jail
The Michigan Daily
April 17, 2001
Lansing [AP]- State Sen. David Jaye plans to return to session today, four days after being charged in Florida with assaulting his fiancee, his attorney said yesterday.
Robert Huth of Mount Clemens said the Washington Township Republican "hopes to continue his relationship with his fiancée," and said the couple plans to get counseling.
Jaye was booked and jailed overnight last Thursday on a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence battery after police responded to a 911 call on a reported dispute between Jaye and his fiancée, Sonia Kloss. He was released Friday after she posted his $2,500 bond.
Jaye, 43, told a Lee County [Fla] sheriff's deputy that he didn't hit Kloss, 36. He plans to make a statement at 8:45 a.m. today in Lansing on the matter.
While in the Lee County Jail in Florida, Jaye was attacked and needed 24 stitches to repair his injured ear, according to a report filed by sheriff's officials. He plans to get further surgery on his injured ear, Huth said.
A jail inmate was charged with aggravated battery after witnesses said he struck Jaye because he though the senator was using the phone for too long.
"He complains about a loss of hearing in that ear," Huth said. But he expressed optimism about the outcome of Jaye's problems.
"David's faced adversity before," Huth said. "He's upbeat and is facing the situation."
Jaye, who last year served 35 days in jail for drunken driving, was charged Friday in Florida with assaulting Kloss. She said then she would ask for the charges to be dropped. The Fort Myers, Fla., woman said she and Jaye plan to get married this year.
Under Florida's domestic violence law, authorities could still try to prosecute Jaye even if his fiancee doesn't want to pursue the case.
Senator accused of assaulting fiancée returns to Legislative session Tuesday
Ludington Daily News
April 17, 2001
Lansing, Mich [AP] - David Jaye, who was charged last week with assaulting his fiancée in Florida, on Tuesday denied any physical altercation with the woman and said he has no plans to resign from the state Senate.
"I want to make clear that this dispute involved no hitting, no striking, no pushing, no shoving, no assault," the Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township said.
When asked at a Tuesday morning news conference if he had a "spousal abuse problem," Jaye responded, "No, I do not."
Jaye was booked and jailed overnight last Thursday on a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence battery after police responded to a 911 call on a reported dispute between Jaye and his fiancée, Sonia Kloss, 36. He was released Friday after she posted his $2,500 bond.
Jaye, 43, said the police reports "do not accurately reflect the events of that morning."
In a statement released later Tuesday morning, Jaye said the police pressured Kloss to "use words in the report she did not want to use."
While in the Lee County Jail in Florida, Jaye was attacked and needed 24 stitches to repair his injured ear, according to a report filed by sheriff's officials. He plans to get further surgery on his injured ear, said his defense lawyer, Robert Huth.
A jail inmate was charged with aggravated battery after witnesses said he struck Jaye because he thought the senator was using the phone for too long.
"Jaye, who termed the Florida incident "inappropriate," said he and Kloss have experienced stress from their long-distance relationship.
"I am in love with a very strong-willed, independent, passionate, beautiful woman, Sonia Kloss.
On Monday, Sen. Leon Stille, R-Spring Lake, called Jaye "an embarrassment" and said he is considering creating an expulsion resolution.
"The rules are pretty clear," Stille told the Detroit News for a story on Tuesday. "The Senate has the responsibility for keeping its house clean."
After the news conference, Jaye went into a caucus meeting with fellow Senate Republicans.
Jaye, who last year served 35 days in jail for drunken driving, was charged Friday in Florida with assaulting Kloss, of Fort Myers, Fla.
Under Florida's domestic violence law, authorities could still try to prosecute Jaye even if his fiancée doesn't want to pursue the case.
Jaye was arrested about noon Thursday after Kloss said he struck her in the face, and a witness gave a statement confirming her claim, according to arrest records.
The Michigan Daily
April 17, 2001
Lansing [AP]- State Sen. David Jaye plans to return to session today, four days after being charged in Florida with assaulting his fiancee, his attorney said yesterday.
Robert Huth of Mount Clemens said the Washington Township Republican "hopes to continue his relationship with his fiancée," and said the couple plans to get counseling.
Jaye was booked and jailed overnight last Thursday on a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence battery after police responded to a 911 call on a reported dispute between Jaye and his fiancée, Sonia Kloss. He was released Friday after she posted his $2,500 bond.
Jaye, 43, told a Lee County [Fla] sheriff's deputy that he didn't hit Kloss, 36. He plans to make a statement at 8:45 a.m. today in Lansing on the matter.
While in the Lee County Jail in Florida, Jaye was attacked and needed 24 stitches to repair his injured ear, according to a report filed by sheriff's officials. He plans to get further surgery on his injured ear, Huth said.
A jail inmate was charged with aggravated battery after witnesses said he struck Jaye because he though the senator was using the phone for too long.
"He complains about a loss of hearing in that ear," Huth said. But he expressed optimism about the outcome of Jaye's problems.
"David's faced adversity before," Huth said. "He's upbeat and is facing the situation."
Jaye, who last year served 35 days in jail for drunken driving, was charged Friday in Florida with assaulting Kloss. She said then she would ask for the charges to be dropped. The Fort Myers, Fla., woman said she and Jaye plan to get married this year.
Under Florida's domestic violence law, authorities could still try to prosecute Jaye even if his fiancee doesn't want to pursue the case.
State Senator says he won't resign
Northern Michigan 9 & 10 News
Northern Michigan 9 & 10 News
April 17, 2001
http://www.9and10news.com/category/story/?id=63915
(Lansing-AP) -- State Senator David Jaye says he won't resign from the Legislature and didn't hit his fiancée.
http://www.9and10news.com/category/story/?id=63915
(Lansing-AP) -- State Senator David Jaye says he won't resign from the Legislature and didn't hit his fiancée.
The Macomb County Republican is charged in Florida with hitting the woman.
His committee assignments were suspended the day after the arrest last week.
Ludington Daily News
April 17, 2001
Lansing, Mich [AP] - David Jaye, who was charged last week with assaulting his fiancée in Florida, on Tuesday denied any physical altercation with the woman and said he has no plans to resign from the state Senate.
"I want to make clear that this dispute involved no hitting, no striking, no pushing, no shoving, no assault," the Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township said.
When asked at a Tuesday morning news conference if he had a "spousal abuse problem," Jaye responded, "No, I do not."
Jaye was booked and jailed overnight last Thursday on a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence battery after police responded to a 911 call on a reported dispute between Jaye and his fiancée, Sonia Kloss, 36. He was released Friday after she posted his $2,500 bond.
Jaye, 43, said the police reports "do not accurately reflect the events of that morning."
In a statement released later Tuesday morning, Jaye said the police pressured Kloss to "use words in the report she did not want to use."
While in the Lee County Jail in Florida, Jaye was attacked and needed 24 stitches to repair his injured ear, according to a report filed by sheriff's officials. He plans to get further surgery on his injured ear, said his defense lawyer, Robert Huth.
A jail inmate was charged with aggravated battery after witnesses said he struck Jaye because he thought the senator was using the phone for too long.
"Jaye, who termed the Florida incident "inappropriate," said he and Kloss have experienced stress from their long-distance relationship.
"I am in love with a very strong-willed, independent, passionate, beautiful woman, Sonia Kloss.
On Monday, Sen. Leon Stille, R-Spring Lake, called Jaye "an embarrassment" and said he is considering creating an expulsion resolution.
"The rules are pretty clear," Stille told the Detroit News for a story on Tuesday. "The Senate has the responsibility for keeping its house clean."
After the news conference, Jaye went into a caucus meeting with fellow Senate Republicans.
Jaye, who last year served 35 days in jail for drunken driving, was charged Friday in Florida with assaulting Kloss, of Fort Myers, Fla.
Under Florida's domestic violence law, authorities could still try to prosecute Jaye even if his fiancée doesn't want to pursue the case.
Jaye was arrested about noon Thursday after Kloss said he struck her in the face, and a witness gave a statement confirming her claim, according to arrest records.
Two Strikes
The Argus-Press
April 23, 2001
Sen. David Jaye, shown in this 1997 handout, has two strikes against him as he tries to save his seat in the state Senate. A third strike, if it comes could happen as early as this week. Existing handicaps for him are his latest run-in with the law, his arrest in Florida on charges of domestic battery of his fiancée, and what colleagues say is little friendship among fellow Republicans. And now threatening to lower the boom on Jaye is the Senate Republican caucus, which is slated to meet Tuesday and could vote to expel, censure or reprimand him at any time afterward.
The Argus-Press
April 23, 2001
Sen. David Jaye, shown in this 1997 handout, has two strikes against him as he tries to save his seat in the state Senate. A third strike, if it comes could happen as early as this week. Existing handicaps for him are his latest run-in with the law, his arrest in Florida on charges of domestic battery of his fiancée, and what colleagues say is little friendship among fellow Republicans. And now threatening to lower the boom on Jaye is the Senate Republican caucus, which is slated to meet Tuesday and could vote to expel, censure or reprimand him at any time afterward.
Lawmaker Jaye risks expulsion from Senate
The Blade - Toledo, Ohio
April 23, 2001
Lansing - David Jaye has two strikes against him as he tries to save his seat in the state Senate. A third strike, if it occurs could happen as early as this week.
The newest trouble for Mr. Jaye, a blunt-spoken Republican lawmaker from Macomb County's Washington Township, is an April 12 arrest in Florida on charges of domestic battery stemming from a dispute with his fiancee. This occurred less than a year after he finished serving time in jail for drunken driving.
Mr. Jaye this week faces the judgement of the Senate Republican caucus, which meets tomorrow and could vote to expel, censure, or reprimand him then or soon afterward. No senator has ever been expelled.
"The caucus is very upset," said Senate Majority Floor Leader Joanne Emmons [R., Big Rapids]. "It's not so much anger as it is disappointment...He never seems to get it together. It's very embarrassing. Something is going to happen."
That something is not likely to be good news for Mr. Jaye.
Mr. Jaye, 43, spent the night in the Lee County Jail after being arrested April 12 in Fort Myers, Fla. He was assaulted by an inmate while there and taken to the hospital to have his ear stitched.
His fiancee, Sonia Kloss, posted his $2,500 bail the next day after his arraignment. Ms. Kloss, 36, has said she doesn't want to press charges.
But Florida prosecutors are going ahead with the case. Mr. Jaye has a May 8 court appearance on a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence battery, and faces a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Mr. Jaye denies hitting Ms. Kloss and said police in Florida pressured her to use words she did not want to use in their police report. "I want to make it clear that this dispute involved no hitting, no striking, no pushing, no shoving, no assault," he said last week.
It isn't the first time that state lawmakers have found themselves reacting to Mr. Jaye's controversies. He has been convicted twice of drunken driving offenses in the past decade, dropped a gun in a House GOP caucus meeting, and has twice been stripped of his Senate committee assignments.
All of his convictions have been for misdemeanors. The charge he faces in Florida is a misdemeanor as well.
Bill Ballenger, editor of Inside Michigan Politics, said Mr. Jaye is certain to be disciplined in some way. But he questions whether a lawmaker should be expelled after being charged with a misdemeanor.
"It would be a quick fix and easy solution if they have the guts to kick him out. But, it could cause them long-term problems, for the institution and for senators," said Mr. Ballenger, a former Republican senator.
State Sen. Alma Wheeler Smither [D. Salem Township] has some of the same concerns. A lawmaker can be expelled automatically only if he or she is convicted of subversion or a felony involving a breach of public trust in the past 20 years.
But the state constitution and state law gives the Senate and the House broad power over who can sit in each chamber. She said that makes it all too easy for lawmakers to get rid of someone who's a thorn in the majority's side or unpopular for other reasons.
Mr. Ballenger said Mr. Jaye might get more favorable treatment if he had built friendships during his nine years in the House and three in the Senate. Instead, he has often taken hard-line positions that have alienated even those who sometimes agree with his views.
"David Jaye scarcely has a friend in the Legislature," Mr. Ballenger said. "He has made himself obnoxious. He is his own worst enemy and he seems to get worse. People are fed up...It makes it easier to say, 'Let's get rid of him.' "
An informal survey of senators found they aren't taking his problems lightly, although many Democrats are deferring to what the Republican caucus decides. Republicans control the Senate 23-15.
Sen. Leon Still [R., Spring Lake] has drafted a resolution to penalize Mr. Jaye. "I hope he would resign and if he doesn't, I think he should be expelled," Mr. Stille said.
Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus, who presides over the Senate, recommended last week that Mr. Jaye resign.
The Blade - Toledo, Ohio
April 23, 2001
Lansing - David Jaye has two strikes against him as he tries to save his seat in the state Senate. A third strike, if it occurs could happen as early as this week.
The newest trouble for Mr. Jaye, a blunt-spoken Republican lawmaker from Macomb County's Washington Township, is an April 12 arrest in Florida on charges of domestic battery stemming from a dispute with his fiancee. This occurred less than a year after he finished serving time in jail for drunken driving.
Mr. Jaye this week faces the judgement of the Senate Republican caucus, which meets tomorrow and could vote to expel, censure, or reprimand him then or soon afterward. No senator has ever been expelled.
"The caucus is very upset," said Senate Majority Floor Leader Joanne Emmons [R., Big Rapids]. "It's not so much anger as it is disappointment...He never seems to get it together. It's very embarrassing. Something is going to happen."
That something is not likely to be good news for Mr. Jaye.
Mr. Jaye, 43, spent the night in the Lee County Jail after being arrested April 12 in Fort Myers, Fla. He was assaulted by an inmate while there and taken to the hospital to have his ear stitched.
His fiancee, Sonia Kloss, posted his $2,500 bail the next day after his arraignment. Ms. Kloss, 36, has said she doesn't want to press charges.
But Florida prosecutors are going ahead with the case. Mr. Jaye has a May 8 court appearance on a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence battery, and faces a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Mr. Jaye denies hitting Ms. Kloss and said police in Florida pressured her to use words she did not want to use in their police report. "I want to make it clear that this dispute involved no hitting, no striking, no pushing, no shoving, no assault," he said last week.
It isn't the first time that state lawmakers have found themselves reacting to Mr. Jaye's controversies. He has been convicted twice of drunken driving offenses in the past decade, dropped a gun in a House GOP caucus meeting, and has twice been stripped of his Senate committee assignments.
All of his convictions have been for misdemeanors. The charge he faces in Florida is a misdemeanor as well.
Bill Ballenger, editor of Inside Michigan Politics, said Mr. Jaye is certain to be disciplined in some way. But he questions whether a lawmaker should be expelled after being charged with a misdemeanor.
"It would be a quick fix and easy solution if they have the guts to kick him out. But, it could cause them long-term problems, for the institution and for senators," said Mr. Ballenger, a former Republican senator.
State Sen. Alma Wheeler Smither [D. Salem Township] has some of the same concerns. A lawmaker can be expelled automatically only if he or she is convicted of subversion or a felony involving a breach of public trust in the past 20 years.
But the state constitution and state law gives the Senate and the House broad power over who can sit in each chamber. She said that makes it all too easy for lawmakers to get rid of someone who's a thorn in the majority's side or unpopular for other reasons.
Mr. Ballenger said Mr. Jaye might get more favorable treatment if he had built friendships during his nine years in the House and three in the Senate. Instead, he has often taken hard-line positions that have alienated even those who sometimes agree with his views.
"David Jaye scarcely has a friend in the Legislature," Mr. Ballenger said. "He has made himself obnoxious. He is his own worst enemy and he seems to get worse. People are fed up...It makes it easier to say, 'Let's get rid of him.' "
An informal survey of senators found they aren't taking his problems lightly, although many Democrats are deferring to what the Republican caucus decides. Republicans control the Senate 23-15.
Sen. Leon Still [R., Spring Lake] has drafted a resolution to penalize Mr. Jaye. "I hope he would resign and if he doesn't, I think he should be expelled," Mr. Stille said.
Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus, who presides over the Senate, recommended last week that Mr. Jaye resign.
Jaye's fate rests in hands of 6 fellow senators
A decision is expected in two to three weeks from a panel made up of three Republicans and three Democrats
Grand Rapids Press
April 24, 2001
LANSING -- A bipartisan Senate panel will investigate Sen. David Jaye's pattern of arrests and convictions and make a recommendation on whether he should be expelled.
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow on Tuesday said the six-member committee, made up of three Republicans and three Democrats, will make its recommendation in the next two to three weeks.
Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, was arrested in Florida April 12 on a domestic battery charge after a dispute with his fiancee, Sonia Kloss. The charge is a misdemeanor.
The latest controversy comes less than a year after Jaye finished serving time in jail for drunken driving. He has had two convictions for drunken driving in the last 10 years, dropped a gun in a House GOP caucus meeting and has twice been stripped of his Senate committee assignments, most recently after his Florida arrest.
Unless the Senate panel finds some reason to allow Jaye to hold onto his seat, "he's not fit to serve in the Michigan Senate," DeGrow said today during a Capitol news conference. The Port Huron Republican did not say whether he would vote to expel Jaye if that's the committee's recommendation.
The panel also could recommend that Jaye be censured or reprimanded. DeGrow did not announce who would serve on the panel.
Jaye has denied he hitting Kloss and said police in Florida pressured her to use words she did not want to use in their police report. "I want to make clear that this dispute involved no hitting, no striking, no pushing, no shoving, no assault," he said during a news conference last week.
Several Republican lawmakers said it's time for Jaye to leave the Senate, either by resigning or by being expelled.
"I asked him to resign," said Sen. John Schwarz, R-Battle Creek.
"It would serve the best interests of the Senate and is in the best interest of Senator Jaye."
Republican Sen. Leon Stille had the same feelings.
"I hope he would resign and if he doesn't, I think he should be expelled," said Stille, of Spring Lake.
Others were more reluctant to kick Jaye out -- especially since he hasn't been convicted of the Florida charge.
"We have to wait and see," said Sen. Glenn Steil, R-Grand Rapids. "We can't rush to judgment."
MICHIGAN: STATE SENATOR FACES PEER CENSURE
New York Times
April 24, 2001
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/24/us/national-briefing.html
A state senator with a history of run-ins with the law could face an unprecedented effort to expel him from office after a meeting with legislative leaders today.
New York Times
April 24, 2001
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/24/us/national-briefing.html
A state senator with a history of run-ins with the law could face an unprecedented effort to expel him from office after a meeting with legislative leaders today.
The senator, David Jaye, a conservative Republican from the Detroit suburbs, is being urged to resign in the wake of an arrest this month in Florida on a misdemeanor charge of hitting his fiancée in the face. He denies striking her.
Mr. Jaye has been convicted of drunken driving twice.
The Senate majority leader, Dan DeGrow, said he would meet with Mr. Jaye and Republican leaders today to discuss the matter. Several senators have said they would support action to remove Mr. Jaye from the Senate.
State senator risks ouster
Telegraph Herald
April 24, 2001
Lansing, Mich. - David Jaye has two strikes against him as he tries to save his seat in the state Senate. A third strike, if it comes, could happen as early as this week.
The newest trouble for the blunt-spoken Republican is an April 12 arrest on charges of domestic battery stemming from a dispute with his fiancee. This comes less than a year after he finished serving 35 days in jail for drunken driving.
This week, Jaye faces the judgement of the Senate Republican caucus, which meets today and could vote to expel, censure or reprimand him.
David Jaye
State Senate should call for his resignation
Detroit Free Press
April 25, 2001
When in doubt, form a committee. That's what the state Senate did Tuesday, creating a six-member, bipartisan panel to review the conduct of Sen. David Jaye, R-Washington Township, and recommend what to do about this bad boy. Jaye will not make it easy for them by resigning, despite his recent arrest for domestic violence in Florida and his three previous busts for drunken driving. He should, though. Jaye's going to have a hard time doing much for his district...
Senate panel will consider Jaye's fate
He asks forgiveness
Detroit Free Press
April 25, 2001
Sen. David Jaye will face expulsion hearings launched Tuesday by a top-ranking senator who called Jaye unfit to serve his Macomb County district. Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow denounced Jaye, R-Washington Township, and named a six-member special Senate committee with subpoena power to investigate the maverick Macomb County lawmaker, including his April 12 arrest in Florida on charges of assaulting his fiancée. "Maybe 30 years ago it was OK to drive drunk and slap a...
Attorney for Jaye rips bid to expel
Proceedings by Senate termed a witch-hunt
Detroit Free Press
May 2, 2001
An attorney for Sen. David Jaye fired blistering criticism at Jaye's Senate accusers Tuesday, calling a move to expel Jaye a witch-hunt based on meritless charges. The counterattack from the Macomb County Republican further charged the atmosphere in the Capitol, where expulsion hearings against him are to begin next week. Earlier Tuesday, formal charges against Jaye of Washington Township were filed in the Senate by Sen. Leon Stille, R-Spring Lake. Stille's...
David Jaye isn't worth expelling
Detroit Free Press
May 2, 2001
The state Senate's dilemma about Sen. David Jaye reminds me of the story about the old frontier editor who got into a fight with the sheriff of his town. When the conflict reached its climactic phase, the editor thundered in his editorial column that "Sheriff Jones ought to be shot." Sheriff Jones, understandably upset, demanded a retraction. The editor agreed that he shouldn't let the dispute stand there. So when the paper appeared the...
Group funds probe of Senators
Jaye's lawyer says he had nothing to do with it
Detroit Free Press
May 3, 2001
A Macomb County-based group that once worked to free convicted Detroit police officers Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn from jail is paying for the private investigation of state Senate members. Citizens for Legal Reform wants to show that other senators have committed the same kinds of misdemeanors or misconduct for which they seek to expel Sen. David Jaye, R-Washington Township, said the group's director, Darin Chase. Chase, of Clinton Township, confirmed that his...
Panel to meet Tuesday on ousting state senator
The Blade - Toledo, Ohio
May 4, 2001
Lansing - A special committee investigating Sen. David Jaye said yesterday it will begin hearing arguments next week on whether to oust the controversial Republican from the Senate, despite pleas for more time from Mr. Jaye's attorneys.
The committee plans to meet Tuesday after the Senate's 10 a.m. session. It defeated, on a 3-3 tie vote, a Democratic move to delay the next hearing until Thursday.
A resolution was released Tuesday listing the reasons to expel Mr. Jaye of Macomb County's Washington Township.
It included three misdemeanor drunken driving convictions, his April arrest in Florida on domestic battery charges, "a pattern of verbal abuse," against Senate staff members, and having a sexually explicit photo of his fiancée on his Senate-owned laptop computer where Senate staff members could see it.
Jaye vows to quit if convicted
The Argus-Press
May 7, 2001
Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. [AP] - State Sen. David Jaye says he will resign if a Florida court convicts him of beating his girlfriend, but says he is innocent and accuses authorities of violating his rights.
He also attacked Senate hearings that could remove him from office.
A special Senate committee meets Tuesday to consider 14 cases of alleged misconduct. Jaye also faces a court hearing Tuesday in Florida on charges that he assaulted his fiancée at her Fort Myers home on April 12.
At a news conference Sunday at a lawyer's home here, Jaye said he was confident of getting a fair hearing in the Senate. But Jaye called the effort to remove him a "railroad job" by Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, and other political enemies.
"DeGrow's got 50 employees keeping secret files against people like Herbert Hoover. He's convicting me guilty before I've ever had a day in court," said Jaye, R- Washington Township.
Jaye said he has been targeted because he is "not the guy who goes along to get along," and because of a newsletter he writes, the "Pork Belly Pamphlet."
He said he is confident that he will be exonerated by the full Senate.
"Most of the state senators are going into this with open minds," Jaye said.
He said he is disappointed with the Senate for spending time on his hearings.
"This is taking away time from the people's business," he said.
Jaye told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens for a Sunday story that voters in his Macomb County district should decide his fate.
We've got a bunch of Lansing politicians telling 54,160 people how to vote," said Jaye. He got 54,160 votes when he was elected in 1998.
The voters can throw me out of office next year if they choose," he told the newspaper. Senators "don't want to respect Macomb County voters. I say, let the voters decide."
"I've done some things I'm not proud of," he told The Macomb Daily.
'But I've never hit a woman. If convicted I will leave - myself, I wouldn't want to be in office. I will leave office."
Jaye, 43, has three misdemeanor drunken driving convictions, besides the charge that he committed domestic battery against his fiancee, Sonia Kloss. DeGrow has said Jaye also has a pattern of verbal abuse against Senate staff members.
Jaye on Sunday confirmed his earlier statement to the newspaper that he would quit if convicted of the Florida charge.
Telegraph Herald
April 24, 2001
Lansing, Mich. - David Jaye has two strikes against him as he tries to save his seat in the state Senate. A third strike, if it comes, could happen as early as this week.
The newest trouble for the blunt-spoken Republican is an April 12 arrest on charges of domestic battery stemming from a dispute with his fiancee. This comes less than a year after he finished serving 35 days in jail for drunken driving.
This week, Jaye faces the judgement of the Senate Republican caucus, which meets today and could vote to expel, censure or reprimand him.
State Senate should call for his resignation
Detroit Free Press
April 25, 2001
When in doubt, form a committee. That's what the state Senate did Tuesday, creating a six-member, bipartisan panel to review the conduct of Sen. David Jaye, R-Washington Township, and recommend what to do about this bad boy. Jaye will not make it easy for them by resigning, despite his recent arrest for domestic violence in Florida and his three previous busts for drunken driving. He should, though. Jaye's going to have a hard time doing much for his district...
Senate panel will consider Jaye's fate
He asks forgiveness
Detroit Free Press
April 25, 2001
Sen. David Jaye will face expulsion hearings launched Tuesday by a top-ranking senator who called Jaye unfit to serve his Macomb County district. Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow denounced Jaye, R-Washington Township, and named a six-member special Senate committee with subpoena power to investigate the maverick Macomb County lawmaker, including his April 12 arrest in Florida on charges of assaulting his fiancée. "Maybe 30 years ago it was OK to drive drunk and slap a...
Cherry to play key role in deciding Jaye's future
Flint Journal
April 25, 2001
State Sen. John D. Cherry Jr., D-Vienna Twp., is in the uncomfortable position again of judging a fellow politician and deciding his future.
Cherry, the Senate minority leader, is one of six senators - three Republicans and three Democrats - appointed Tuesday to investigate state Sen. David Jaye, R-Washington Twp. The recommendation could range from doing nothing to expulsion, but Cherry thinks expulsion is possible.
Cherry is the most senior member of the committee.
Just three years ago, Cherry found himself policing his own party. State Sen. Henry Stallings, D-Detroit, pleaded guilty in 1998 to a felony charge of taking more than $100 under false pretenses. Stallings used state funds to pay a member of his Senate staff to work at his art gallery for three months.
"I had to convince him to resign," Cherry said. "I had to play the role (Senate Majority Leader) Dan L. DeGrow is now going through.
"In a way, David's behavior has exceeded that of Henry Stallings. I wouldn't be at all surprised if expulsion is the result."
DeGrow, R-Port Huron, said he favors Jaye's expulsion "given the evidence I've seen," including the domestic battery charge Jaye faces in Florida.
Asked if he thought Jaye would resign, DeGrow said, "I hope so."
DeGrow, whose district includes Lapeer, made his comments after the majority Republican caucus met behind closed doors. Jaye has vowed to remain in office, despite pleadings and disdain from fellow legislators.
During the morning's Senate session, Jaye ignored reporters trying to get his reaction to the investigation.
In a prepared statement, Jaye again denied the assault charges, as did his fiancee, Sonia Kloss. Kloss is quoted in the statement as saying, "David did not hit, punch, smack or abuse me that day." Jaye predicted the assault charges would be dropped.
"If I am sanctioned or removed from office for these untrue charges and found innocent, how will the Michigan Senate repair the damage to me and the thousands of taxpayers who elected me?" Jaye said.
Jaye was arrested April 12 in Florida on a domestic battery charge after a dispute with Kloss. The charge is a misdemeanor.
Jaye on Tuesday insisted the dispute didn't lead to any violence.
"I am innocent of these charges pending against me, and the attorneys say the charges will almost certainly be dismissed in as early as 60 to 90 days," he said in the statement.
"I am very sorry and ask the taxpayers' forgiveness for my mistakes and personal life problems. ... However, none of my mistakes have ever extended to physical abuse of any person."
Jaye has been convicted three times of drunken driving in 1984, 1993 and 2000. He served 35 days last year in the St. Clair County Jail on the most recent conviction. While serving as a state representative, he once dropped a gun in a House GOP caucus meeting and twice has been stripped of his Senate committee assignments, most recently after his Florida arrest.
Cherry said he is keeping an open mind, and in naming other Democrats to the committee, he looked for senators who had not made up their minds and would not be afraid to make hard decisions.
Also serving on the committee are state Sens. Thaddeus G. McCotter, R-Livonia, chairman of the panel; Philip E. Hoffman, R-Horton; Donald Koivisto, D-Ironwood; Walter H. North, R-St. Ignace; and Alma Wheeler Smith, D-Salem Twp.
A legislator automatically is barred from office only if he or she is convicted of subversion or a felony involving a breach of public trust in the past 20 years. All of Jay's previous convictions and the current charge are misdemeanors.
"It's not that I believe that, short of a felony, a member should not be expelled. What we don't want to have happen is members subjectively judged by their colleagues," Cherry said.
Above all, Cherry said he hopes Jaye gets professional counseling.
"I guess whether it is inside the Senate or outside the Senate, I would hope that we could somehow get him on the right track," Cherry said. "He obviously has some severe personal problems."
Once the committee makes its recommendation, the Senate could vote to expel, censure or reprimand Jaye.
No senator ever has been expelled. The only House member to be expelled was Rep. Monte Geralds, D-Madison Heights, who was ousted in 1978 after being convicted of embezzling from a law client before he joined the Legislature.
Information from The Associated Press and The Journal's Lansing Bureau is included in this report.
Panel looks to see if Jaye crossed the line
The bipartisan panel is charged with examining his "fitness to continue holding the high office to which he was elected."
Grand Rapids Press
April 25, 2001
LANSING -- Short of felonious behavior, just what can get a member kicked out of the Michigan Legislature?
The Michigan Senate on Tuesday embarked on a three-week trial of sorts to determine that threshold of wrongdoing and whether Sen. David Jaye, R-Washington Twp., has exceeded it.
Jaye, arrested two weeks ago in Florida on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge, had already ducked out of the Senate chambers Tuesday when his colleagues voted for a resolution to investigate his "fitness to continue holding the high office to which he was elected."
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, said a separate expulsion resolution would be introduced later this week outlining Jaye's misconduct.
He said the resolution would detail Jaye's history of drunken driving, allegations of physical abuse against Jaye's fiancee and other incidents in which he said Jaye had broken Senate rules through mistreatment of staff.
Jaye served a 45-day jail sentence for drunken driving last summer. Charges are pending against him in Florida on the domestic violence charge involving his fiancee, which he denies.
DeGrow, who says Jaye should resign, charged there had been enough wrongdoing for the Senate to consider expelling Jaye from his $77,440-a-year job.
"I think that 30 years ago in this nation there was a wink-wink if you hit a woman a couple of times and drove drunk. I think that era is over," DeGrow said. "What was acceptable in the good-old-boy network 30 years ago probably isn't acceptable now."
In a prepared statement, Jaye again denied the assault charges, as did his fiancee, Sonia Kloss, who is quoted in the statement as saying, "David did not hit, punch, smack or abuse me that day." Jaye predicted the assault charges would be dropped.
"If I am sanctioned or removed from office for these untrue charges and found innocent, how will the Michigan Senate repair the damage to me and the thousands of taxpayers who elected me?" Jaye said.
Under the Michigan Constitution, a member is automatically expelled upon conviction of a felony. Monte Geralds, a Democratic member of the House, was expelled in 1978, after he was convicted of embezzlement committed before he took office. No senator has ever been expelled.
But the House and Senate also have wide latitude in determining whether non-felonious behavior renders a member unfit to serve. That's the tricky part.
Some senators worry unless objective standards are employed, the case could establish precedent that could make it easier to expel members in the future.
A six-member committee appointed by DeGrow will issue subpoenas and require witnesses testify in public under oath. But unlike a court of law, lawmakers do not have to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
"It's very difficult to remove somebody for something less than a felony charge or conviction," said Sen. John Cherry of Clio, the Democratic leader in the Senate. "We don't want to see this incident develop into one in which judgments about people's behavior are made in a subjective way.
"At the same time, everybody is staring at the reality of Sen. Jaye's behavior and saying this is above and beyond anything we've seen in the past."
Cherry will serve on the special panel, which will be chaired by Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia. Other members are: Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith, D-Salem Twp.; Sen. Phil Hoffman, R-Horton; Sen. Walter North, R-St. Ignace; and Sen. Donald Koivisto, D-Ironwood.
Jaye dares Senate to probe all lawmakers
Embattled senator strikes back against ethics investigation
Detroit News
April 27, 2001
LANSING -- Sen. David Jaye attacked his accusers Thursday from the Senate floor, challenging fellow lawmakers to set up a permanent ethics committee to look into each member's misdeeds.
Jaye, R-Washington Township, was arrested on domestic abuse charges April 12 in Florida. Citing that incident and other run-ins with the law, the Senate leadership has begun moving toward a vote on expelling him. Senate leaders angrily blasted back.
The exchange was witnessed by some children of lawmakers, who were attending the day's session as part of a school-sponsored work-experience program.
In his first Senate speech since the most recent arrest, Jaye proposed a standing committee that would investigate any accusation or conviction of a misdemeanor, assault "or domestic dispute."
"I intend to use this ethics committee to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the allegations against me are false, as my fiancee Sonia Kloss has said publicly and repeatedly," Jaye said. "If I am sanctioned or removed from office for these untrue charges and found innocent, how will the Michigan Senate repair the damage?"
Michael Sessa, a commissioner of Macomb County, which includes Jaye's district, predicted that if the Senate ousts Jaye, "the voters will put him back in (in 2002) for spite."
Sessa also said: "David Jaye has been for us for years."
Jaye is accused of striking Kloss during a dispute in her home at Ft. Myers, Fla. Jaye served 35 days in jail last year for drunken driving, his second such offense while a member of the Legislature.
In his speech, Jaye apologized for those incidents and described himself as a recovering alcoholic with "challenges" in personal relationships. "Like many other senators, I have made mistakes," he said.
"I shouldn't be convicted by the Senate and thrown out of my office that the voters elected me to until I have had my day in court," he said.
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, angrily replied: "Senator Jaye, you will get your day in court." He added pointedly that, in court, Jaye will be questioned under oath. "One of the oldest tricks in the books is (to say) everybody else does it, too."
Oakland County-based Taxpayers United Inc. also defended Jaye this week. Its state chairman, Bill McMaster, charged that Jaye is being persecuted in part for his thorny conservative politics and annual "pork barrel" lists of what he considers to be wasteful government spending.
Senators say Jaye, queries linked
Investigator asks about taxes, drugs, assaults
Detroit Free Press
May 1, 2001
Three Senate Republicans who received calls last weekend from a private investigator who attempted to grill them about their pasts all said Monday that Sen. David Jaye or his supporters were behind the inquiry.
Investigator asks about taxes, drugs, assaults
Detroit Free Press
May 1, 2001
Three Senate Republicans who received calls last weekend from a private investigator who attempted to grill them about their pasts all said Monday that Sen. David Jaye or his supporters were behind the inquiry.
Jaye, R-Washington Township, is facing expulsion proceedings in the Senate. The proceedings were prompted by a string of incidents including domestic violence battery charges filed last month in Ft. Myers, Fla., involving an alleged incident with his fiancée. Sens. Leon...
Jaye fiancée rambles on 911 tape
Transcripts of April call tells of blood, scratches
Detroit Free Press
May 1, 2001
A transcript of a 911 call placed by state Sen. David Jaye's fiancée the day of their now-legendary Florida spat describes their tussle over her keys, his decision to retrieve his clothes from her house and her accusation that he struck her face. In a rambling exchange with a 911 operator, Sonia Kloss, 36, accuses Jaye, 43, of hitting her. She first says she is bleeding and later that she is bruised. Toward the end of the call, she describes her injuries as scratches...
Jaye fiancée rambles on 911 tape
Transcripts of April call tells of blood, scratches
Detroit Free Press
May 1, 2001
A transcript of a 911 call placed by state Sen. David Jaye's fiancée the day of their now-legendary Florida spat describes their tussle over her keys, his decision to retrieve his clothes from her house and her accusation that he struck her face. In a rambling exchange with a 911 operator, Sonia Kloss, 36, accuses Jaye, 43, of hitting her. She first says she is bleeding and later that she is bruised. Toward the end of the call, she describes her injuries as scratches...
Allegations outlined against Jaye; his defenders rally
Today's resolution will be considered by a six-person panel charged with recommending possible action against the state senator
Grand Rapids Press
May 1, 2001
LANSING -- State Sen. David Jaye has verbally abused Senate staff, called up sexually explicit material on his Senate-owned computer and compiled a record of repeat criminal convictions that should lead to his expulsion, the Senate's top Republican says.
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, says Jaye's behavior was enough for him to recommend to a Senate select committee investigating Jaye's behavior that the Washington Township Republican be kicked out.
DeGrow today released the charges in a resolution the committee will consider when it meets Thursday.
Jaye declined to comment on DeGrow's resolution. He planned to issue a statement later today.
"By willfully and repeatedly committing serious personal transgressions, Senator David Jaye has violated the Senate rules, failed to maintain the integrity and responsibility of his office and seriously undermined the confidence and trust of the citizenry in the institutions of their government," the resolution reads.
The six-member bipartisan committee can recommend that Jaye be censured, reprimanded or expelled. If it approves DeGrow's resolution, two-thirds of the Senate would have to vote for Jaye's expulsion. He would be the first senator ever kicked out of office in Michigan.
The resolution, which was given to members of the Senate Republican caucus this morning, cites a list of Jaye's activities DeGrow said are unacceptable, including:
-- His three misdemeanor drunken driving convictions.
-- His arrest April 12 in Florida on domestic battery charges stemming from a dispute with his fiancee, Sonia Kloss.
-- His arrest last Nov. 19 on charges he was driving in violation of the conditions on his restricted license. The charge was dropped because police had not read Jaye his Miranda warning.
-- His decision on Nov. 29, 2000, to have "sexually explicit material on his Senate-owned laptop computer to which Senate staff members were exposed in the performance of their official duties."
-- His "pattern of verbal abuse of Senate staff members, particularly female staff members, including the use of swearing, profanity and demeaning language."
Despite the tide of feelings running against him in the Senate, some of Jaye's fellow conservatives have denounced the investigation. One said it would cast a chill on any lawmaker who defended taxpayer rights. Jaye has been strongly anti-tax during his 12-year legislative career.
"This will be a precedent for everyone who stands up for taxpayers' rights," said Richard Paul, a construction worker and Libertarian activist from Hazel Park.
Paul aligned himself with two other critics of the Jaye investigation:
-- Bill McMaster, chairman of the anti-tax group Taxpayers United Inc., who charged last week that Jaye was "unjustly defamed" by GOP critics in the Senate.
-- John Mangopoulos, a conservative political activist from Lansing. Mangopoulos, who hosts a public-access cable TV show, offered up to $2,000 for information about "serious wrongdoing" by DeGrow.
Senate leader lists reasons to expel Jaye
Muskegon Chronicle
May 1, 2001
State Sen. David Jaye has verbally abused Senate staff, called up sexually explicit material on his Senate-owned computer and compiled a record of repeat criminal convictions that should lead to his expulsion, the Senate’s top Republican says.
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, says Jaye’s behavior was enough for him to recommend to a Senate select committee investigating Jaye’s behavior that the Washington Township Republican be kicked out.
DeGrow today released the charges in a resolution the committee will consider when it meets Thursday. The resolution’s chief sponsor is Sen. Leon Stille, R-Spring Lake, but DeGrow said it has his support.
Jaye declined to comment on DeGrow’s resolution. He planned to issue a statement later this morning.
DeGrow said Jaye has been in trouble in one way or another since joining the Senate in 1997 after winning a special election.
“It’s not one incident, it’s a series of incidents,” DeGrow told reporters today. “It shows a pattern of abusive behavior, a pattern of behavior that flouts the rules of the Senate ... (and) would never be tolerated in the private sector.”
The resolution was given to members of the Senate Republican caucus Tuesday morning. DeGrow said the only objection came from senators who wondered why it was taking so long to take action against Jaye.
The six-member bipartisan committee can recommend that Jaye be censured, reprimanded or expelled.
Proceedings by Senate termed a witch-hunt
Detroit Free Press
May 2, 2001
An attorney for Sen. David Jaye fired blistering criticism at Jaye's Senate accusers Tuesday, calling a move to expel Jaye a witch-hunt based on meritless charges. The counterattack from the Macomb County Republican further charged the atmosphere in the Capitol, where expulsion hearings against him are to begin next week. Earlier Tuesday, formal charges against Jaye of Washington Township were filed in the Senate by Sen. Leon Stille, R-Spring Lake. Stille's...
David Jaye isn't worth expelling
Detroit Free Press
May 2, 2001
The state Senate's dilemma about Sen. David Jaye reminds me of the story about the old frontier editor who got into a fight with the sheriff of his town. When the conflict reached its climactic phase, the editor thundered in his editorial column that "Sheriff Jones ought to be shot." Sheriff Jones, understandably upset, demanded a retraction. The editor agreed that he shouldn't let the dispute stand there. So when the paper appeared the...
Problems are piling up for Jaye
He faces more accusations, but his lawyer fights back
Detroit News
May 2, 2001
LANSING -- New charges that he verbally abused staff members and had sexually explicit materials on his state-owned laptop computer were leveled Tuesday in the Michigan Senate against Sen. David Jaye as part of a move to expel him.
Sen. Leon Stille of Spring Lake introduced an expulsion resolution that also included now-familiar misdeeds: three drunken-driving convictions and a misdemeanor charge in Florida that Jaye punched his fiancee. Hearings are to start Thursday to determine whether the Senate should make Jaye the first member ever to get booted.
"We have an obligation to investigate," said Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron. "Once you're in the Senate, the Senate decides what gets you expelled."
The new charges accuse Jaye of making "inappropriate, degrading and humiliating comments" to a female Senate staffer in February 1999 and of a "pattern of verbal abuse" of staffers in previous years.
Philip Thomas, one of two lawyers representing the Washington Township Republican, dismissed the charges in a news conference at Jaye's office as "totally without merit." Thomas of Grosse Pointe Woods said most of the alleged incidents occurred years ago and "don't constitute grounds for his dismissal."
Jaye's attorneys played an April 29 videotape in which the fiancee, Sonia Kloss, is seen recanting the statement she made to Fort Myers, Fla., police that Jaye had hit her during an April 12 argument. Kloss tells an off-camera questioner she and Jaye were wrestling over a garment bag when "he just let go and it smashed me in the nose and mouth."
Separately, a Troy security firm is looking into whether other senators committed similar misdeeds. Thomas vehemently denied suggestions by other senators that Jaye hired the firm, Huffmaster Associates.
"If there's such an investigation, we're not connected with it in any way," Thomas said.
Nancy Beyer, Huffmaster's operations manager for investigations, confirmed that her company was hired and was given a list of "probably five to eight" senators to investigate. She said she can't disclose the client's name or the specifics of the investigation.
"It's private information between us and our client," Beyer said. "However, we have not been told that it has anything to do with David Jaye."
Republican Sens. Stille, John Schwarz of Battle Creek and Thaddeus McCotter of Livonia said they received calls last weekend from Huffmaster. They said they were asked whether they had ever been involved in cases of drunken driving, tax evasion, spousal abuse or illegal drugs.
McCotter, who will head the committee conducting the Jaye hearings, said a "very polite" female investigator also asked him about a Wayne County judge rumored to have used illegal drugs. McCotter is a former Wayne County Commissioner.
"I just laughed, because that's how Jim Rockford would investigate," said McCotter referring to an old TV show called The Rockford Files. "If intimidation was the intent, it certainly won't have that effect. I've led a pretty dull life."
Stille said it was obvious to him the calls were an "intimidation effort" by someone connected to Jaye. He said the caller asked him about other senators and said any misdeeds uncovered would be presented at the Jaye hearings.
Jaye last week introduced a resolution calling for a permanent Senate committee to investigate wrongdoing by any senator. He implied others have past misdeeds similar to those of which he is accused.
Group funds probe of Senators
Jaye's lawyer says he had nothing to do with it
Detroit Free Press
May 3, 2001
A Macomb County-based group that once worked to free convicted Detroit police officers Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn from jail is paying for the private investigation of state Senate members. Citizens for Legal Reform wants to show that other senators have committed the same kinds of misdemeanors or misconduct for which they seek to expel Sen. David Jaye, R-Washington Township, said the group's director, Darin Chase. Chase, of Clinton Township, confirmed that his...
Possible revocation of probation could send Jaye back to jail
An assistant prosecutor says the embattled state senator is liable for a year in jail if convicted of domestic battery charges in Florida
Grand Rapids Press
May 3, 2001
LANSING -- State Sen. David Jaye could be headed back to jail to serve more time on a drunken driving conviction if Macomb County officials decide to ask a judge to revoke his probation.
John Courie, Macomb County assistant prosecutor, said the Macomb County Probation Department is likely to act within the next few days because of allegations that Jaye was involved in domestic disputes with his fiancee in Bay County and Florida.
"Anybody on probation cannot be involved in assaultive behavior," Courie said Wednesday. He added it was likely Jaye would face probation revocation charges.
Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, had no comment on the possible revocation.
Courie made his comments the day before a special Senate committee was to begin debating a resolution to expel Jaye from the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, on Tuesday released a resolution listing behavior by Jaye that DeGrow called unacceptable.
The list included three misdemeanor drunken driving convictions, an April arrest on domestic battery charges, "a pattern of verbal abuse" against Senate staff members and having a sexually explicit photo of his fiancee on his Senate-owned laptop computer where Senate staff members could see it last November.
Courie said Jaye is liable for a year in jail if convicted of violating his probation. Jaye was sentenced to 45 days but was released after 35 after being given time off for good behavior.
Jaye is facing charges of domestic battery in Florida stemming from an April 12 dispute with his fiancee, Sonia Kloss. He was also stopped -- but no charges were filed -- last Nov. 19 after it was reported he was involved in an altercation with Kloss at a gas station in Bay County.
Cowrie said probation revocation requires a lighter burden of proof than convicting someone of breaking a law. While someone can be convicted only if his guilt is proven beyond a reasonable doubt, Jaye doesn't need to be convicted of domestic battery in Florida to have his probation revoked, Cowrie said.
It will be up to a judge to decide if Jaye has violated his probation requirements.
Panel to meet Tuesday on ousting state senator
The Blade - Toledo, Ohio
May 4, 2001
Lansing - A special committee investigating Sen. David Jaye said yesterday it will begin hearing arguments next week on whether to oust the controversial Republican from the Senate, despite pleas for more time from Mr. Jaye's attorneys.
The committee plans to meet Tuesday after the Senate's 10 a.m. session. It defeated, on a 3-3 tie vote, a Democratic move to delay the next hearing until Thursday.
A resolution was released Tuesday listing the reasons to expel Mr. Jaye of Macomb County's Washington Township.
It included three misdemeanor drunken driving convictions, his April arrest in Florida on domestic battery charges, "a pattern of verbal abuse," against Senate staff members, and having a sexually explicit photo of his fiancée on his Senate-owned laptop computer where Senate staff members could see it.
Sen. Jaye: Limit the Damage
Detroit News
May 4, 2001
An organizational meeting was held Thursday for the state Senate committee that will hold hearings on a resolution to expel Sen. David Jaye. The hearings begin next week. Already, however, the Jaye situation is threatening to become an ugly circus.
Mr. Jaye, R-Washington Township, has called for a committee to investigate wrongdoing by all senators, a local citizens group has hired a private investigation firm to look into the background of senators who sit on the Jaye committee and a local cable access TV host has reportedly offered a reward for derogatory information on Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron.
None of this is helpful for the Senate or Mr. Jaye, whose attorney has wisely disavowed any connection with the group that hired the private detective firm. But given the rancor displayed by other senators at Mr. Jaye's call for a permanent investigating committee and the tactics of his supporters, it would still be best for the senator to resign. He clearly has no leverage left with his colleagues.
The committee is looking into charges that Mr. Jayne has not only racked up three drunken-driving convictions and has been charged with domestic abuse in Florida, but that he engaged in a public physical altercation with his fiance in Michigan, placed pornographic material on his Senate-owned laptop computer in such a way that Senate staff could be exposed to it, verbally abused and demeaned staffers, and required prospective hires to serve as unpaid political volunteers.
Sen. DeGrow and others in the Senate contend that it is the cumulative weight of these incidents that is motivating the expulsion resolution. Mr. Jaye and his attorney have vowed to refute the charges. It has been suggested that if the senator is disciplined, the matter could end up in court.
If it does, it would weaken the institutional independence of the Senate, which is granted exclusive authority to act as "sole judge" of its members and may expel any member on a two-thirds vote under Article IV, Section 16 of the state Constitution.
But it really shouldn't come to that. And why would the senator wish to go through a protracted, scorched-earth hearing process? A legislator who had affection and respect for the institution of the Senate could not be happy with private detectives investigating colleagues or talk show hosts offering rewards for dirt on them.
Mr. Jaye has admitted he has problems and challenges. Unfortunately, those problems have now not only damaged his own ability to serve his constituents, but also threaten to damage the Senate. The graceful thing to do remains to limit the damage through resignation. In doing so, he would best serve his constituents, the Senate and himself.
The Issue
What is the best way to limit the damage caused both to the Senate and Sen. David Jaye by his misconduct charges?
Jaye panel to call 11 witnesses
Senator's lawyer is critical of those trying to help by digging up dirt on others
Detroit News
May 4, 2001
LANSING -- The attorney representing Sen. Dave Jaye -- who faces possible Senate expulsion over a series of drunk-driving convictions and a pending charge of domestic abuse -- said people who are trying to dig up dirt on other senators are hurting rather than helping his client.
Philip Thomas insisted Thursday that Jaye, R-Washington Township, played no role in the hiring of a private investigating firm by a Macomb County-based group called Citizens for Legal Reform. The private security firm has reportedly been checking the backgrounds of some senators for instances of drunk driving, drug usage, tax evasion, domestic assault and other misdeeds.
Nor, he said, did Jaye have anything to do with a current "cash for dirt" campaign being carried out by a conservative suburban Lansing activist who is offering up to $2,000 for tips about misbehaving senators phoned into his "Senate Corruption Hotline."
John Mangopoulos, who is the host of a conservative call-in, cable TV show in Lansing, said his hotline has produced more than 50 tips about wrongdoing by senators. He declined to name the senators but said the tips include allegations of infidelity, homosexuality, drunk driving and spousal abuse. He said he is in the process of checking out the claims.
"I am truly concerned that (Republican) members of the state Senate feel that we have somehow initiated this man's bounty that's been placed on certain Republican senators, or that we have somehow tried to work with investigative agencies to dig up dirt," Thomas said.
Thomas' comments came after a special six-member Senate committee weighing Jaye's ouster completed its first meeting, during which it voted to subpoena 11 witnesses to testify at hearings beginning Tuesday.
Jaye attended the meeting but did not speak.
Among those who are to receive subpoenas is Jaye's finance, Sonia Jameela Kloss of Fort Myers, Fla. Kloss accused Jaye, 43, of assaulting her April 11 at her home, leaving cuts on her face.
She later recanted and said she was not assaulted. Jaye also denies the accusation. A court hearing into that matter, a misdemeanor that could result in a year's jail term, could come as early as next week.
Thomas was unsuccessful in seeking to delay the hearings until fall -- or at least for a couple of weeks so he could prepare a defense.
"I have never seen the type of rush to justice that I have seen today," Thomas said. "A public lynching is what is trying to be carried off here."
Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, the Livonia Republican who chairs the Senate panel, said delaying a decision on Jaye's fate would reflect poorly on the Senate. "The longer it continues, (the more) the institution is being damaged," he said.
Head of panel probing Jaye vows to move swiftly
Grand Rapids Press
May 4, 2001
LANSING -- A special committee investigating Sen. David Jaye said Thursday it will begin hearing arguments next week on whether to oust the controversial Republican from the Senate, despite pleas for more time from Jaye's attorneys.
"The interests of the institution and the interests of the individual must be balanced," said Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, chairman of the Senate panel.
He warned that promptness is needed since the full Senate could take the matter away from the committee and hold its own hearings if the committee's investigation stretches on too long.
"This is not a trial. This is a committee hearing," said Sen. Philip Hoffman, R-Horton, said after Jaye's attorney asked a postponement. "What we are doing is fair. It's not unusual."
The committee plans to meet Tuesday after the Senate's 10 a.m. session. It defeated, on a 3-3 tie vote, a Democratic move to delay the next hearing until Thursday.
It also approved a list of subpoenas for people called to testify at the hearing. Included were the names of Jaye's fiancee, Sonia Kloss, and of law enforcement officers in Florida, where Jaye faces a charge of domestic battery after getting into a dispute with Kloss.
Jaye has denied doing anything wrong, and she has asked that the charge be dropped.
A resolution was released Tuesday listing the reasons to expel Jaye, of Macomb County's Washington Township.
It included three misdemeanor drunken driving convictions, his April arrest in Florida on domestic battery charges, "a pattern of verbal abuse" against Senate staff members and having a sexually explicit photo of his fiancee on his Senate-owned laptop computer where Senate staff members could see it last November.
Jaye's attorney, Phillip Thomas, asked the committee Thursday for more time to prepare Jaye's defense. Thomas told the committee he met Jaye only recently and needs more time to prepare. At one point, he urged the hearings be postponed until fall, but ended up asking for a few more weeks.
"If Senator David Jaye is going to have effective representation, we should not proceed to hearings next week," Thomas said. "It would be a miscarriage of justice. ... These hearings are going to be tainted."
Although the resolution against Jaye urges his eviction, the six-member committee and full Senate could censure or reprimand him instead.
No senator has even been evicted. Jaye already has been stripped of his committee assignments.
The Argus-Press
May 7, 2001
Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. [AP] - State Sen. David Jaye says he will resign if a Florida court convicts him of beating his girlfriend, but says he is innocent and accuses authorities of violating his rights.
He also attacked Senate hearings that could remove him from office.
A special Senate committee meets Tuesday to consider 14 cases of alleged misconduct. Jaye also faces a court hearing Tuesday in Florida on charges that he assaulted his fiancée at her Fort Myers home on April 12.
At a news conference Sunday at a lawyer's home here, Jaye said he was confident of getting a fair hearing in the Senate. But Jaye called the effort to remove him a "railroad job" by Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, and other political enemies.
"DeGrow's got 50 employees keeping secret files against people like Herbert Hoover. He's convicting me guilty before I've ever had a day in court," said Jaye, R- Washington Township.
Jaye said he has been targeted because he is "not the guy who goes along to get along," and because of a newsletter he writes, the "Pork Belly Pamphlet."
He said he is confident that he will be exonerated by the full Senate.
"Most of the state senators are going into this with open minds," Jaye said.
He said he is disappointed with the Senate for spending time on his hearings.
"This is taking away time from the people's business," he said.
Jaye told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens for a Sunday story that voters in his Macomb County district should decide his fate.
We've got a bunch of Lansing politicians telling 54,160 people how to vote," said Jaye. He got 54,160 votes when he was elected in 1998.
The voters can throw me out of office next year if they choose," he told the newspaper. Senators "don't want to respect Macomb County voters. I say, let the voters decide."
"I've done some things I'm not proud of," he told The Macomb Daily.
'But I've never hit a woman. If convicted I will leave - myself, I wouldn't want to be in office. I will leave office."
Jaye, 43, has three misdemeanor drunken driving convictions, besides the charge that he committed domestic battery against his fiancee, Sonia Kloss. DeGrow has said Jaye also has a pattern of verbal abuse against Senate staff members.
Jaye on Sunday confirmed his earlier statement to the newspaper that he would quit if convicted of the Florida charge.
Inquiry excuse to ax Jaye, defenders say
Backers cite troubled senator's hard-right positions, work ethic to justify counterattacks
Detroit News
May 7, 2001
LANSING -- To those who have rushed to the support of state Sen. David Jaye, the Republican leadership's move to expel him is really about getting rid of a hard-nosed opponent of taxes and an advocate of hard-right positions.
According to these defenders, some of whom have taken the unorthodox tack of seeking dirt on his colleagues, the Senate's inquiry into Jaye's history of convictions for drunken driving and allegations of domestic abuse is only a smokescreen for trampling on Jaye's rights.
"This is bigger than Dave Jaye," said John Mangopoulos, a conservative cable TV talk-show host. "This is about justice."
The Senate's newly created six-member Select Committee to Examine Qualifications of Senator Jaye is scheduled to start taking testimony Tuesday from police officers and others subpoenaed by the committee.
The hearings are likely to continue into next week. At the conclusion, the panel could recommend that the full Senate expel, censure or reprimand the 13-year legislative veteran. An expulsion would be the first in the 164-year history of the Michigan Senate.
Until now, the Senate wouldn't get to the point of considering such a step unless a felony conviction were involved.
Jaye, a 43-year-old Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, hasn't been accused of anything more serious than a misdemeanor, including three drinking-and-driving convictions and a pending domestic-abuse charge in Florida stemming from an alleged April 12 assault on his fiancee.
Clearly, Jaye is a man who stirs strong passions for and against him. Many of his constituents say he accurately represents their views. They have elected him to office seven times, including his 1998 re-election to the Senate with 62 percent of the vote.
His legal run-ins notwithstanding, Jaye is known as a hard-working senator who labors to document what he believes to be wasteful spending, publishing his findings each year on Fat Tuesday. Jaye has bachelor's and master's degrees with honors in public policy from the University of Michigan.
"We're not defending Sen. Jaye at all in terms of his conduct, and this isn't an effort to try to salvage his career," declared Darin Chase, a Chesterfield Township mortgage banker who leads a group called Citizens for Legal Reform. "There are bigger issues than Jaye's career at stake."
Chase's group and at least two other independent individuals or organizations have come to Jaye's defense. Citizens for Legal Reform acknowledged hiring a Troy private security concern to look for legal skeletons in the closets of other senators. And a Lansing talk-show host has been offering cash for dirt on Jaye's colleagues. Much of this support is coming from people who share some of Jaye's extreme political views, which tend to be stridently pro-gun, pro-death penalty, anti-tax, anti-affirmative action, anti-abortion and anti-welfare.
Philip Thomas, one of Jaye's three attorneys, has denied that Jaye was behind such efforts, as some of his colleagues had suspected. Last week Thomas told one of those attempting to dig into the past of other senators that this could backfire and hurt Jaye's chances of getting a fair hearing in the Senate.
"We're talking about equal standards of justice, and what I see happening is a violation of one of our most sacred principles -- due process under the law," declared Mangopoulos. He has been offering as much as $2,000 for tips about misdeeds committed by Jaye's colleagues. He said he has already received more than 50 tips and is checking them out before deciding what to do with the information.
Mangopoulos said he may turn his information over to Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron. If DeGrow doesn't act, he said, "I may have to take matters into my own hands."
Mangopoulos is controversial in his own right. The slightly built, 38-year-old suburban Lansing man dabbles in real estate. But he's best known for his TV call-in show, The Battle of Ideas, where he routinely condemns abortion and homosexuality. He has thrice been an unsuccessful candidate for public office, running twice for the U.S. House and once for U.S. Senate. He's run on the Republican, Reform Party and U.S. Taxpayers tickets.
"I cannot stand to see this type of injustice," Mangopoulos said last week, vowing he won't abandon his dig for dirt.
'He's one of a kind'
Bill McMaster, the tireless chairman of Taxpayers United Inc., was one of two people Jaye allowed to visit him during his stay in jail last year for his most recent drunk-driving conviction. McMaster is a 62-year-old Birmingham public relations specialist who was part of the successful 1978 Headlee tax limitation ballot proposal.
McMaster attended the Jaye hearing in the Senate last week and described it in a press release as "the day his Senate colleagues embark on a kangaroo court trial intended to expel Sen. Jaye for his tax-cutting political views."
To explain his public support for Jaye, McMaster said: "He's one of a kind. He is the only guy that has come to the defense of the taxpayer in state legislation."
McMaster argued that Jaye's drinking problems are in the past. "His first drunk-driving conviction came before he even ran for office," McMaster said. "His second was eight years ago. And the last one was a year ago, and he admitted he had a drinking problem, pleaded guilty and took his punishment like a man.
"He hasn't had a drink in a year he paid his price," McMaster said. "This is a kangaroo court because of his political views and nothing more."
Probing other senators
Most perturbing to state senators was the hiring of Huffmaster Security of Troy to explore the backgrounds of senators by Chase's Citizens for Legal Reform. Chase said the investigation should be completed later this week, and he will turn the results over to DeGrow. If DeGrow does nothing, Chase said, he will make the findings public.
Chase wouldn't say how much his group was paying for the probe or what it has unearthed. But he did say the examination has broadened from the half-dozen or so senators it focused on in the beginning. Investigators are calling certain senators and asking them questions about drunk driving, tax evasion, domestic abuse and other criminal activities.
Chase, 35, played a role in efforts to win the release of former Detroit police officers Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn, who were convicted in the 1992 beating death of Detroiter Malice Green. Chase maintained the officers did not receive a fair trail.
Chase said his group's involvement in the Jaye matter has nothing to do with Jaye's politics. He said Jaye is being denied due process by having the Senate panel examine the domestic-abuse case in Florida before it goes before a judge.
Jaye denies the charge. His fiancee has recanted her previous statement about the matter and now says Jaye never assaulted her. The case could reach a Florida courtroom this week.
"I really believe the prosecutors in Florida are going to get a videotape of this whole Senate thing, study it and get a preview of what to expect from Jaye's defense team," Chase said.
Equally troubling, he said, is that the Senate is considering undoing the vote of Jaye's constituents. "If they are going to overturn the results of that election, they have to have a much more substantial reason," Chase said.
Jaye vows to quit if found guilty
Washington Township state senator pledges to resign if convicted of beating his fiancee
Detroit News
May 7, 2001
GROSSE POINTE WOODS -- State Sen. David Jaye, facing hearings in Lansing that could lead to his expulsion from the Legislature, said Sunday he will resign if convicted in Florida of beating his fiancee.
But Jaye, R-Washington Township, said he expects to be found innocent of the battery charge, which comes up for a hearing in a Ft. Myers, Fla., court Tuesday. That's the same day a special Senate committee begins its hearing in Lansing on 14 cases of alleged misconduct by Jaye.
"It (the April 12 assault) didn't happen," Jaye said at a Sunday night news conference.
State Sen. Leon Stille, R-Spring Lake, said he thinks Jaye's offer to resign if convicted is an attempt "to get the Senate to back off" from the expulsion hearing.
Stille introduced a resolution in the Senate that lists 14 reasons why Jaye should be disciplined and possibly expelled from that body.
The Florida domestic abuse charge is one of the 14, but others include Jaye's alleged mistreatment of Senate staffers and his three misdemeanor drunken driving convictions.
"It's the culmination of incidents over some time," Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, said Sunday. "No one of them may be enough to have a senator expelled. But you have to take all these incidents as a whole."
Jaye contended Sunday he is being railroaded out of the Senate by what he called "the DeGrow machine." He portrayed himself as a political maverick who has alienated mainline politicians.
"They don't believe in a presumption of innocence," Jaye said.
DeGrow said the Senate showed restraint against Jaye last year when he was jailed for his latest drunken driving conviction.
"Some senators felt we should not have a sitting senator who was in jail," DeGrow said. "We could have taken action at that time, but we didn't."
It's a 'railroad job,' Jaye calls move to oust him from Senate
Grand Rapids Press
May 7, 2001
GROSSE POINTE WOODS -- State Sen. David Jaye says he will resign if a Florida court convicts him of beating his girlfriend, but says he is innocent and accuses authorities of violating his rights.
He also attacked Senate hearings that could remove him from office.
A special Senate committee meets Tuesday to consider 14 cases of alleged misconduct. Jaye also faces a court hearing Tuesday in Florida on charges he assaulted his fiancee at her Fort Myers home on April 12.
At a news conference Sunday at a lawyer's home here, Jaye said he was confident of getting a fair hearing in the Senate. But Jaye called the effort to remove him a "railroad job" by Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, and other political enemies.
"DeGrow's got 50 employees keeping secret files against people like Herbert Hoover. He's convicting me guilty before I've ever had a day in court," said Jaye, R-Washington Township.
Jaye said he has been targeted because he is "not the guy who goes along to get along," and because of a newsletter he writes, the "Pork Belly Pamphlet."
He said he is confident he will be exonerated by the full Senate.
"Most of the state senators are going into this with open minds," Jaye said.
He said he is disappointed with the Senate for spending time on his hearings.
"This is taking away time from the people's business," he said.
Jaye told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens for a Sunday story that voters in his Macomb County district should decide his fate.
"We've got a bunch of Lansing politicians telling 54,160 people how to vote," said Jaye. He got 54,160 votes when he was elected in 1998.
"The voters can throw me out of office next year if they choose," he told the newspaper.
Jaye, 43, has three misdemeanor drunken driving convictions, besides the charge that he committed domestic battery against his fiancee, Sonia Kloss. DeGrow has said Jaye also has a pattern of verbal abuse against Senate staff members.
Jaye on Sunday confirmed his earlier statement to the newspaper that he would quit if convicted of the Florida charge.
"I've done some things I'm not proud of," he told The Macomb Daily. "But I've never hit a woman. If convicted, I will leave -- myself. I wouldn't want to be in office. I will leave office."
The Florida charges could lead to the revocation of Jaye's probation in the most recent drunken driving conviction, said Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor John Courie.
Hearings to begin today on ouster
Jaye says his views, not actions, spurred Senate
Detroit Free Press
May 8, 2001
Did he hit her, or didn't he?
Jaye says his views, not actions, spurred Senate
Detroit Free Press
May 8, 2001
Did he hit her, or didn't he?
A historic Senate hearing that begins today on whether to expel Sen. David Jaye, R-Washington Township, was borne on allegations that he struck his fiancée in the face during an argument at her Florida home last month and at a gas station on I-75 in Bay County in November.
While Jaye is charged with 12 incidents of misconduct -- including three misdemeanor convictions for drinking and driving and verbally abusing Senate staffers -- the alleged...
Sen. Jaye faces a triple-barreled attack in hearing today
Ludington Daily News
May 8, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - State Sen. David Jaye faces a triple-barreled attack today on his ability to keep his Senate seat.
But the Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township isn't heading into his legal struggle alone. Charles Horton, a member of the 10th District Republican Committee, announced over the weekend that a legal defense fund has been established to help Jaye pay his lawyers.
Horton, of Macomb County, said Jaye is being punished for his conservative politics.
In what could be his toughest day in a career checked with legal runs-ins, Jaye faces a trio of challenges to keeping his seat:
-- A special Senate committee opens hearings on a resolution proposing Jaye's expulsion from the Senate. It cites a series of drunken driving convictions, a pending domestic battery charge in Florida over a dispute with his fiancée and what is termed "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
-- A court hearing is to be held in Florida on the domestic battery charge. He was arrested April 12 and spent the night in the Lee County Jail in Florida. If convicted of the misdemeanor, Jaye faces a maximum of one year in jail.
Sen. Jaye faces a triple-barreled attack in hearing today
Ludington Daily News
May 8, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - State Sen. David Jaye faces a triple-barreled attack today on his ability to keep his Senate seat.
But the Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township isn't heading into his legal struggle alone. Charles Horton, a member of the 10th District Republican Committee, announced over the weekend that a legal defense fund has been established to help Jaye pay his lawyers.
Horton, of Macomb County, said Jaye is being punished for his conservative politics.
In what could be his toughest day in a career checked with legal runs-ins, Jaye faces a trio of challenges to keeping his seat:
-- A special Senate committee opens hearings on a resolution proposing Jaye's expulsion from the Senate. It cites a series of drunken driving convictions, a pending domestic battery charge in Florida over a dispute with his fiancée and what is termed "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
-- A court hearing is to be held in Florida on the domestic battery charge. He was arrested April 12 and spent the night in the Lee County Jail in Florida. If convicted of the misdemeanor, Jaye faces a maximum of one year in jail.
Jaye faces triple threat in state Senate fight
But he's "being punished for being an independent watchdog for the taxpayers," the head of his legal defense fund says
May 8, 2001 Grand Rapids Press
LANSING -- Embattled state Sen. David Jaye faces a triple-barreled attack today on his ability to keep his Senate seat.
But the Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township isn't heading into his legal struggle alone. Charles Horton, a member of the 10th District Republican Committee, announced over the weekend that a legal defense fund has been established to help Jaye pay his lawyers.
Horton, of Macomb County, said Jaye is being punished for his conservative politics.
"Senator Jaye is not part of the Lansing good-old-boy system. Senator Jaye is being punished for being an independent watchdog for the taxpayers," Horton said in a news release. "Senator Dave Jaye has always stood up for us and now it's time for us to stand up for Senator Dave Jaye, the taxpayers' best friend."
In what could be his toughest day in a career checkered with legal run-ins, Jaye today faces a trio of challenges to holding onto his Senate seat:
-- A special Senate committee opens hearings on a resolution proposing Jaye's expulsion from the Senate. It cites a series of drunken driving convictions, a pending domestic battery charge in Florida over a dispute with his fiancee and what it termed "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
-- A court hearing is to be held in Florida on the domestic battery charge. He was arrested April 12 and spent the night in the Lee County Jail in Florida. If convicted of the misdemeanor, Jaye faces a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. He denies that he struck his fiancee, Sonia Kloss. She has asked that the charges be dropped.
-- Macomb County officials have said they likely will seek the withdrawal of Jaye's probation for his conviction last summer on drunken driving charges. They cite the Florida charges and the fact Jaye was stopped -- but no charges were filed -- last Nov. 19 after it was reported he was involved in an altercation with Kloss in Bay County.
Jaye called a news conference Sunday to say he will resign if the Florida court convicts him of hitting Kloss. But he said he expects to be acquitted and accused Senate opponents of violating his rights.
He said he was "going broke" because of his legal expenses. Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, has rejected his request for financial assistance, but the legal defense fund announced by Horton was designed to help.
"It's outrageous that Senator Dan DeGrow is using unlimited taxpayer funds to prosecute Senator Dave Jaye and DeGrow has denied any funds for Senator Jaye's defense," Horton said. A spokesman for DeGrow said he had no comment on Horton's statements.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the special Senate committee said Jaye's offer to resign upon conviction in Florida isn't expected to delay the Senate move to oust him.
"It doesn't really change anything," Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, said Monday. "We will proceed as scheduled."
Barbs fly as Senate opens Jaye hearings
Panel Chair, lawyers spar
Detroit Free Press.
May 9, 2001
Senate hearings to expel embattled Sen. David Jaye had a fractious start Tuesday, veering between testimony from witnesses and sparring between Jaye's attorneys and the chairman of the committee considering Jaye's fate. As questions for early witnesses focused on whether Jaye, R-Washington Township, assaulted his fiancée, Sonia Kloss, at a Bay County gas station last November, tension filled the cavernous Senate hearing room. In other testimony, a police...
Fla. cops say Jaye choked his fiancée
2 officers' testimony caps testy day in Senate inquiry
Detroit Free Press.
May 9, 2001
Testimony from two Florida sheriff's officers that state Sen. David Jaye hit and choked his fiancée capped a long first day of hearings before a special Senate committee that is considering whether to expel the senator. Two Lee County, Fla., sheriff's officers said Tuesday that Sonia Kloss told them that Jaye hit her in the face during an argument at her Ft. Myers, Fla., home, and that he once choked her. The officers said Kloss asked them not to arrest Jaye...
Senate's rush to boot Jaye may backfire
Detroit Free Press.
May 9, 2001
I won't be sending any checks to David Jaye's legal defense fund. And the campaign to defend Jaye by digging up dirt on other state senators is silly, echoing Warren District Judge Susan Chrzanowski's similarly misguided attempts to deflect blame for her misconduct. But Jaye may have a legitimate beef with the state Senate's hurry-up effort to roast his chestnuts before Memorial Day. And if the object of this exercise is to defend...
Hearings to resume whether Sen. Jaye should be expelled
The Argus-Press
May 9, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - A police officer from Florida, where state Sen. David Jaye is accused of hitting his fiancée, testified that the woman was cut and still bleeding when he arrived at the scene.
"She said he's hit her in the past," Corp. Robert Macarelli of the Lee County sheriff's office said Tuesday. "She said she wanted him to stop beating her."
Jaye was arrested April 12 in Florida after a dispute with Sonia Kloss and spent the night in the Lee County Jail. Jaye denied he struck Kloss, and she has recanted any accusations against him.
The officer's comments came as a special state Senate committee held its first full hearing on Jaye's right to remain in the Senate. The hearing was to resume Wednesday.
Jaye attended the committee hearing with three attorneys but didn't comment. He issued a letter Tuesday complaining that the hearing violated his civil rights and right to due process.
When it concludes its investigation, the six-member bipartisan committee could recommend that Jaye be expelled, censured or reprimanded.
In the letter he issued, Jaye argued that he hadn't had enough time to prepare and complained about "capricious and arbitrary committee rules" that would prevent discussion of their legislators' conduct besides his own.
The resolution recommending that Jaye be expelled cites a series of drunken driving convictions, a pending domestic battery charge in Florida and what it termed "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
Jaye said in his letter that he is owed a presumption of innocence on the domestic battery charge. He promised Sunday to resign if the Florida court convicts him, but he said he expects to be acquitted and accused Senate opponents of violating his rights.
At the hearing Tuesday, Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran said he may resurrect the charges stemming for a dispute last Nov. 19 at a Bay County gas station between Jaye and Kloss.
Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, was never charged with assault in the Bay County incident. Prosecutors did charge him with violating the restrictions placed on his driver's license, but the charge was later dropped because Jaye had not been read his Miranda rights.
Meanwhile, a Florida judge on Tuesday delayed Jaye's hearing on the domestic battery charge for one week to give prosecutors more time to question witnesses.
Tony Schall, a spokesman for the state attorney's office in Florida, said the hearing is now scheduled for May 15. On that date, prosecutors will decide whether to retain the domestic violence charge, amend the charge or drop it, Schall said.
Panel Chair, lawyers spar
Detroit Free Press.
May 9, 2001
Senate hearings to expel embattled Sen. David Jaye had a fractious start Tuesday, veering between testimony from witnesses and sparring between Jaye's attorneys and the chairman of the committee considering Jaye's fate. As questions for early witnesses focused on whether Jaye, R-Washington Township, assaulted his fiancée, Sonia Kloss, at a Bay County gas station last November, tension filled the cavernous Senate hearing room. In other testimony, a police...
Fla. cops say Jaye choked his fiancée
2 officers' testimony caps testy day in Senate inquiry
Detroit Free Press.
May 9, 2001
Testimony from two Florida sheriff's officers that state Sen. David Jaye hit and choked his fiancée capped a long first day of hearings before a special Senate committee that is considering whether to expel the senator. Two Lee County, Fla., sheriff's officers said Tuesday that Sonia Kloss told them that Jaye hit her in the face during an argument at her Ft. Myers, Fla., home, and that he once choked her. The officers said Kloss asked them not to arrest Jaye...
Senate's rush to boot Jaye may backfire
Detroit Free Press.
May 9, 2001
I won't be sending any checks to David Jaye's legal defense fund. And the campaign to defend Jaye by digging up dirt on other state senators is silly, echoing Warren District Judge Susan Chrzanowski's similarly misguided attempts to deflect blame for her misconduct. But Jaye may have a legitimate beef with the state Senate's hurry-up effort to roast his chestnuts before Memorial Day. And if the object of this exercise is to defend...
Hearings to resume whether Sen. Jaye should be expelled
The Argus-Press
May 9, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - A police officer from Florida, where state Sen. David Jaye is accused of hitting his fiancée, testified that the woman was cut and still bleeding when he arrived at the scene.
"She said he's hit her in the past," Corp. Robert Macarelli of the Lee County sheriff's office said Tuesday. "She said she wanted him to stop beating her."
Jaye was arrested April 12 in Florida after a dispute with Sonia Kloss and spent the night in the Lee County Jail. Jaye denied he struck Kloss, and she has recanted any accusations against him.
The officer's comments came as a special state Senate committee held its first full hearing on Jaye's right to remain in the Senate. The hearing was to resume Wednesday.
Jaye attended the committee hearing with three attorneys but didn't comment. He issued a letter Tuesday complaining that the hearing violated his civil rights and right to due process.
When it concludes its investigation, the six-member bipartisan committee could recommend that Jaye be expelled, censured or reprimanded.
In the letter he issued, Jaye argued that he hadn't had enough time to prepare and complained about "capricious and arbitrary committee rules" that would prevent discussion of their legislators' conduct besides his own.
The resolution recommending that Jaye be expelled cites a series of drunken driving convictions, a pending domestic battery charge in Florida and what it termed "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
Jaye said in his letter that he is owed a presumption of innocence on the domestic battery charge. He promised Sunday to resign if the Florida court convicts him, but he said he expects to be acquitted and accused Senate opponents of violating his rights.
At the hearing Tuesday, Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran said he may resurrect the charges stemming for a dispute last Nov. 19 at a Bay County gas station between Jaye and Kloss.
Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, was never charged with assault in the Bay County incident. Prosecutors did charge him with violating the restrictions placed on his driver's license, but the charge was later dropped because Jaye had not been read his Miranda rights.
Meanwhile, a Florida judge on Tuesday delayed Jaye's hearing on the domestic battery charge for one week to give prosecutors more time to question witnesses.
Tony Schall, a spokesman for the state attorney's office in Florida, said the hearing is now scheduled for May 15. On that date, prosecutors will decide whether to retain the domestic violence charge, amend the charge or drop it, Schall said.
Jaye's hearing springs surprise
Prosecutor: Senator may yet be charged in Bay County case
Detroit News
May 9, 2001
LANSING -- Tempers and emotions ran high Tuesday as a Senate committee began hearing testimony on charges of misbehavior by Sen. David Jaye, R-Washington Township.
The controversial Jaye faces expulsion from the Senate over allegations contained in a 14-point bill of particulars. If he is booted by the full Senate, he would be the first senator in state history to be so stripped of office. Tuesday he sat quietly through the proceedings, occasionally whispering a few words to his attorney.
A dramatic revelation came from Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran, who said he was still considering filing charges against Jaye, 43, for an alleged assault of his fiancee, Sonia Kloss. That incident allegedly occurred Nov. 19 at a gas station along Interstate 75 near Bay City.
Other incidents the Senate panel was to consider include Jaye's arrest in Florida last month on charges of domestic battery against Kloss, his history of drunken driving and complaints of Jaye's abuse of female Senate staff members. Jaye's attorneys and a number of supporters from his Macomb County constituency and elsewhere continued to argue that none of this rises above the level of a misdemeanor and pointed out that in the past nothing short of a felony would be considered grounds for expulsion proceedings.
Meanwhile, a Florida judge Tuesday delayed for one week Jaye's hearing on the domestic battery charges there to give prosecutors more time to question witnesses. That misdemeanor charge carries a maximum one-year jail term.
Tuesday's parade of witnesses included four green-clad officers from the Lee County Sheriff's Department, who flew up from Florida at Michigan-taxpayer expense to testify about the alleged April 12 assault by Jaye of Kloss, a 36-year-old Trinidad native who lives in Fort Myers, Fla.
Kloss and her 52-year-old housemate, Jerry West, who police say witnessed the assault, apparently ignored subpoenas from the Michigan Senate and were not present during the day-long hearing. Even so, the panel did hear Kloss's voice on the tape of her 911 call to report the incident.
The hearings were to resume this afternoon, after senators had a chance to attend the funeral this morning of Phil Ginotti, 38, who was chief of staff to Sen. Bill Schuette, R-Midland. Ginotti, a close friend of Jaye's, apparently committed suicide at his East Lansing home Friday. Jaye's attorneys had planned to call Ginotti as a character witness.
The Senate hearings at times produced angry comments from the trio of attorneys who are representing Jaye, at a cost to him of about $500 an hour, and Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, the Livonia Republican, is chairing the committee.
"I don't know if you're exceedingly thick or just rude," McCotter snapped at Jaye attorney Roland Jersevic after Jersevic asked for a second time whether a Florida police officer was working for his sheriff's department or for the Michigan Senate.
At another point, Sen. Don Koivisto, D-Ironwood, said: "Maybe we should restrict ourselves to decaf coffee."
In Bay County last November, a witness to the incident along I-75 called 911 and reported seeing a woman being slapped and kicked by a man and then possibly kidnapped by him, according to testimony at the hearing. State Police pulled Jaye's car over a short time later, drew their weapons, handcuffed and arrested Jaye.
Kloss, who displayed no evidence of cuts or bruises, denied that an assault occurred, and Jaye was not charged, according to the testimony. The Bay County prosecutor now says at least three other witnesses from among as many as 45 people who were at the gas station on that day have called to say they saw the assault, and he could file charges without the cooperation of Kloss.
"The door has not been shut on that, and this matter continues to fester," Sheeran told reporters during a break in the hearings. "Additional witnesses are coming forward, and I will have to assess what they say."
Philip Thomas, an attorney for Jaye, called Sheeran's suggestion he would file assault charges "grotesque." He declared: "I do not believe it was appropriate for him to make his thought process public at this proceeding. ... Look at how he's tainted the proceedings."
About a dozen Jaye supporters also were in attendance. "This is nothing but a Kangaroo court," declared Jaye defender Mary MacMaster, an office manager from Orion Township who heads the Oakland County Taxpayers Association.
The Senate panel is to make recommendations on action to the full Senate that could range from censure, to reprimand to expulsion. Expulsion would require approval by two-thirds of the Senate.
'She wanted him to stop beating her'
Florida officer testifies before state Senate panel investigating David Jaye
Grand Rapids Press
May 9, 2001
LANSING-- A police officer from Florida, where state Sen. David Jaye is accused of hitting his fiancee, testified that the woman was cut and still bleeding when he arrived at the scene.
"She said he's hit her in the past," Cpl. Robert Macarelli of the Lee County sheriff's office said Tuesday. "She said she wanted him to stop beating her."
Jaye was arrested April 12 in Florida after a dispute with Sonia Kloss and spent the night in the Lee County Jail.
He has denied he struck Kloss, and she has recanted accusations against him.
The officer's comments came as a state Senate committee held its first full hearing on Jaye's right to remain in the Senate.
The hearing was to resume today.
Jaye attended the committee hearing with three attorneys but didn't comment. He issued a letter Tuesday complaining that the hearing violated his right to due process.
When it concludes its investigation, the six-member bipartisan committee could recommend that Jaye be expelled, censured or reprimanded.
In the letter he issued, Jaye argued that he hadn't had enough time to prepare and complained about "capricious and arbitrary committee rules" that would prevent discussion of other legislators' conduct besides his own.
The resolution recommending that Jaye be expelled cites a series of drunken driving convictions, a pending domestic battery charge in Florida and what it termed "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
Jaye said in his letter that he is owed a presumption of innocence on the domestic battery charge.
He promised Sunday to resign if the Florida court convicts him, but he said he expects to be acquitted and accused Senate opponents of violating his rights.
Meanwhile, a Florida judge on Tuesday delayed Jaye's hearing on the domestic battery charge for one week to give prosecutors more time to question witnesses.
Tony Schall, a spokesman for the state attorney's office in Florida, said the hearing is now scheduled for May 15.
On that date, prosecutors will decide whether to retain the domestic violence charge, amend the charge or drop it, Schall said.
Witnesses say Jaye hit his fiancée
Kloss recants charge she was beaten in separate incident
Detroit Free Press.
May 10, 2001
In crucial testimony, three witnesses told a special Senate committee Wednesday that they saw Sen. David Jaye slap his fiancee during an altercation last November in the parking lot of a convenience store.
Kloss recants charge she was beaten in separate incident
Detroit Free Press.
May 10, 2001
In crucial testimony, three witnesses told a special Senate committee Wednesday that they saw Sen. David Jaye slap his fiancee during an altercation last November in the parking lot of a convenience store.
Jaye, who faces expulsion for a list of misbehaviors, has repeatedly denied that he has ever hit Sonia Kloss. James Matthews, 18, a cashier at a convenience store off I-75 near Bay City, said Jaye hit Kloss with an open hand as he forcibly led her to the parking lot and their car...
Hearings underway over political future of State Senator David Jaye
Northern Michigan 9 &10 News
May 10, 2001
http://www.9and10news.com/category/story/?id=64442
(Lansing-AP) -- Hearings are under way in Lansing over the legislative future of state Senator David Jaye. Hearings began after the Macomb County Republican was charged in Florida with hitting his fiancée. He's already on probation for misdemeanor drunken driving.
Defense shows tape as Jaye expulsion hearings continue
Ludington Daily News
May 10, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - State Sen. David Jaye's fiancée said on a videotape that she and Jaye tussled over a garment bag and that Jaye did not hit her during an April incident in Florida.
The account came Wednesday, the second day of a hearing before a six-person, bipartisan Senate committee investigating whether Jaye should be expelled. If he is forced to leave, the Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township would be the first senator expelled in Michigan history. The hearing was to resume Thursday morning.
Jaye, 43, has said repeatedly he never struck Sonia Kloss and has offered to resign if found guilty of domestic battery charges in Florida.
Kloss said she and Jaye tussled April 12 over a garment bag outside her home in Forty Myers, Fla. According to the taped account, the bag struck her in the face when she pulled on it and he let go. She said she had been drinking heavily that day and said several times that she didn't recall details of the altercation.
"It was like a tussle, back and forth," she said. She said she had wanted Jaye to give back her keys, which she said she later found in her bag.
Asked several times on the tape if Jaye had struck or beaten her, she answered, "No."
Jaye complained earlier this week that he hasn't been given enough time to prepare a defense. The Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union took the same stance Wednesday.
"He should be accorded a full and fair public hearing safeguarded by basic due process requirements," the organization said in a news release.
Although it takes no position on the charges against Jaye, it said it has "serious concerns" about the way the hearings are being run.
"We believe that the Senate should ensure that all basic due process requirements are afforded him, including adequate notice and time to prepare, and that it establish a high standard for expulsion for both Senator Jaye as well as any other senator whose conduct merits review by his or her colleagues in the future," the statement said.
When it concludes its investigation, the Senate committee could recommend that Jaye be expelled, censured or reprimanded.
Sexy photos cited in Jaye hearing
Senate staffers say computer display offensive to them
Detroit Free Press
The panel is meeting in Lansing to determine whether Mr. jaye should be expelled from office. The Macomb County Republican is accused of breaking the law, verbally abusing Senate staff members, and violating Senate rules.
Mr. Jaye singled out Sen. Thaddeus McCotter [R - Livonia], the committee's chairman, and Majority Leader Dan DeGrow of Port Huron, who has recommended expulsion for Mr. Jaye. Mr. DeGrow is not on the panel. "Obviously these senators have a personal problem with me," Mr. Jaye said at a news conference. "This committee will only allow witnesses to testify about negative claims against me."
Attorneys have wrapped up their case for Mr. Jaye's expulsion.
In Wednesday night testimony, Carol Viventi, secretary of the Senate, said she found about 10 pictures on Mr. Jaye's laptop computer where a woman was topless or scantily clad in public places with men. One of Mr. Jaye's attorneys identified the woman pictured as Mr. Jayee's fiancée, Sonia Kloss.
"It is an outrage that McCotter would even allow private files and private photographs as evidence into the committee record," Mr. Jaye said. "I bet just about every legislator has hard-core porn on their laptop."
Mr. Jaye said he doesn't know how the photographs got on his laptop.
A Macomb County official said Friday that county probation officials expect to ask a judge tomorrow that Mr. Jaye's probation for drunken driving be revoked, based on allegations of assaults against his fiancée. No hearing will be requested until after the Senate hearings conclude.
The bipartisan committee looking into Mr. Jaye's behavior is considering a resolution that cites Mr. Jaye's series of drunken-driving convictions, a pending domestic battery charge in Florida, and what it termed "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
A Senate vote to expel Mr. Jaye could come as early as this week, said Mr. DeGrow. He and Mr. Jaye are Republicans.
Hearings underway over political future of State Senator David Jaye
Northern Michigan 9 &10 News
May 10, 2001
http://www.9and10news.com/category/story/?id=64442
(Lansing-AP) -- Hearings are under way in Lansing over the legislative future of state Senator David Jaye. Hearings began after the Macomb County Republican was charged in Florida with hitting his fiancée. He's already on probation for misdemeanor drunken driving.
Defense shows tape as Jaye expulsion hearings continue
Ludington Daily News
May 10, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - State Sen. David Jaye's fiancée said on a videotape that she and Jaye tussled over a garment bag and that Jaye did not hit her during an April incident in Florida.
The account came Wednesday, the second day of a hearing before a six-person, bipartisan Senate committee investigating whether Jaye should be expelled. If he is forced to leave, the Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township would be the first senator expelled in Michigan history. The hearing was to resume Thursday morning.
Jaye, 43, has said repeatedly he never struck Sonia Kloss and has offered to resign if found guilty of domestic battery charges in Florida.
Kloss said she and Jaye tussled April 12 over a garment bag outside her home in Forty Myers, Fla. According to the taped account, the bag struck her in the face when she pulled on it and he let go. She said she had been drinking heavily that day and said several times that she didn't recall details of the altercation.
"It was like a tussle, back and forth," she said. She said she had wanted Jaye to give back her keys, which she said she later found in her bag.
Asked several times on the tape if Jaye had struck or beaten her, she answered, "No."
Jaye complained earlier this week that he hasn't been given enough time to prepare a defense. The Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union took the same stance Wednesday.
"He should be accorded a full and fair public hearing safeguarded by basic due process requirements," the organization said in a news release.
Although it takes no position on the charges against Jaye, it said it has "serious concerns" about the way the hearings are being run.
"We believe that the Senate should ensure that all basic due process requirements are afforded him, including adequate notice and time to prepare, and that it establish a high standard for expulsion for both Senator Jaye as well as any other senator whose conduct merits review by his or her colleagues in the future," the statement said.
When it concludes its investigation, the Senate committee could recommend that Jaye be expelled, censured or reprimanded.
Macomb voters outraged by David Jaye's antics
Detroit News
May 10, 2001
In the verdant wilds of northern Macomb, finding a David Jaye loyalist is only slightly easier than finding a Starbuck's.
Here -- where roadside dead deer are as common as mini-mansion subdivisions -- lies the home territory of the renegade, besieged state senator. Washington Township, in particular, is said to be still a Jaye stronghold, a place where the lawmaker's minions remain loyal to his fierce and action-oriented style. Even today, a Lansing pollster assures me, Jaye could squeak to victory in a Republican primary.
Perhaps.
But my field research suggests that ferreting out Jaye supporters isn't nearly as easy as it once was, before the drunken driving arrests, the confusing girlfriend accusations of abuse, the bizarre behavior, and the excessive media attention from excitement-starved reporters.
From the Happiness Is Dancing studio in Washington Township to the homey Main St. Bar & Grill in Romeo, voters not yet bored with Jaye's antics or with politics in general were quick to vent outrage, not respect or loyalty.
Anger at Jaye, for manipulating the so-called justice system. Anger at the justice system in two states, Michigan and Florida, for not being as tough on Jaye as the system is to his Macomb County constituents.
"It isn't right," said Pat Tokar, strapping her toddler into the backseat of her minivan. "Other people go to jail for what he's done. I think he needs to be kicked out of the Senate and he needs help. He definitely needs help."
Tokar, who teaches tap-dancing and ballet to Washington Township little girls, isn't impressed with Jaye's ability to tap-dance his way through the court system. "I've been teaching dance here for 26 years and the scuttlebutt I hear is that people are just disgusted," she said.
I headed to Jaye territory to see whether anyone in his district was truly appalled. I've heard of no recall movement, no local pickets, no visible demonstration of outrage from those who voted the man into office.
His own colleagues seem poised to eject him -- an unheard of event in a body noted for its tolerance of bad behavior.
Meanwhile, his constituents have quietly endured the drunk driving convictions, the alleged girlfriend assaults, the spectacle of their lawmaker getting out of jail looking like a pit bull after a fight.
And pollster Ed Sarpolus of EPIC/MRA, says Jaye's support remains strong in his district. "He is very close to being able to win the primary, despite everything," he said.
The voters' tolerance might be interpreted as a sign of irresponsibility or of true loyalty. But I found Jaye loyalists hard to find randomly. There were none at the laundromat, the nail salon, or outside the drugstore in Washington Township. None presented themselves at the Romeo bar, until bartender Angie Mabinger got her mother on the line.
"He works for the people," Jane Mabinger said. "I once needed help and called his office and he called me immediately. I called Congressman Bonior too, and never got a call back."
A tip led me to Gail Hicks, the Armada Township clerk, another true-blue Jaye loyalist. Hicks, who praises' Jaye's advocacy for gun rights and low taxes, says "as flawed as he is, he's been an outstanding senator. People love him because he does what we elect him to do. He fights to protect our rights."
David Jaye is a star student of the "mad as hell/not going to take it anymore" school of politics. But the tune is changing in northern Macomb. And Jaye's constituents are -- justifiably -- mad as hell at him.
Jaye panel views video denials
Some senators wary of fiancée's statements
Detroit News
May 10, 2001
LANSING -- Attorneys for embattled state Sen. David Jaye showed a videotape Wednesday in which his fiancee recanted statements to police and denied that Jaye assaulted her in Florida last month.
But some of the Senate committee's six members who watched the tape said it was less than convincing, particularly when weighed against police statements and earlier testimony from Sonia Kloss that Jaye had beaten her and had done so in the past. The panel is weighing a resolution to oust Jaye, R-Washington Township.
In other testimony Wednesday, a teen said he saw Jaye slap a woman at a gasoline station near Bay City on Nov. 19. And former senate staffer Cathy Rubley said that in September 1998 the senator was abusive and swore at her when she could not get him mailing labels when he wanted them. She said he called her a female dog.
In the video testimony, Kloss, 36, said she suffered scratches and cuts to her face when she and Jaye tussled over his garment bag and the bag struck her. "I am not in fear of my life," Kloss said.
Also appearing in a videotape was Jerry West, 52, who called 911 on April 12 to report that Jaye was assaulting Kloss in her Fort Myers home. "He never struck her," West said in the tape made by Roland Jerservic, one of Jaye's attorneys.
"It always raises questions when you have two conflicting reports," said Sen. Walter North, R-St. Ignace. "But the police were testifying under oath and she wasn't, so that's a consideration."
Jaye, 43, was jailed overnight following his arrest in Florida. His arraignment is next week.
Jaye denies ever striking Kloss, but James Matthews, 18, a cashier at a gas station along Interstate 75 in Bay County, identified Jaye as the man he saw slap a woman on Nov. 19. He said the woman, whom he thought was Kloss, had locked herself in a men's restroom stall with a man for about 15 minutes while Jaye and another man stood outside the locked stall.
Matthews said when the woman finally opened the door, Jaye "pulled her out by her arms." Once inside the party store, Matthews said Jaye "did slap her with an open hand."
Jaye could face domestic violence charges in Bay County stemming from the dispute at the service station.
Macomb County officials also are considering revoking Jaye's probation because of the Florida charges. He's on probation for a 2000 drunken-driving conviction -- his third.
Sen. Jaye's fiancée denies she was struck
The woman testifies by videotape at Jaye's Senate expulsion hearing
Grand Rapids Press
May 10, 2001
LANSING -- State Sen. David Jaye's fiancee said on a videotape that she and Jaye tussled over a garment bag and that Jaye did not hit her during an April incident in Florida.
The account came Wednesday, the second day of a hearing before a six-person, bipartisan Senate committee investigating whether Jaye should be expelled. If he is forced to leave, the Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township would be the first senator expelled in Michigan history. The hearing was to resume late this morning.
Jaye, 43, has said repeatedly he never struck Sonia Kloss and has offered to resign if found guilty of domestic battery charges in Florida.
Kloss said she and Jaye tussled April 12 over a garment bag outside her home in Fort Myers, Fla. According to the taped account, the bag struck her in the face when she pulled on it and he let go. She said she had been drinking heavily that day and said several times that she didn't recall details of the altercation.
"It was like a tussle, back and forth," she said. She said she had wanted Jaye to give back her keys, which she said she later found in her bag.
Asked several times on the tape if Jaye had struck or beaten her, she answered, "No."
The resolution recommending that Jaye be expelled cites a series of drunken driving convictions, the pending charge in Florida and what it termed "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
The committee met late into the night Wednesday, with the secretary of the Senate discussing pictures of a nude and seminude woman found on Jaye's Senate laptop computer.
Jaye also could face domestic violence charges in Bay County stemming from a dispute with Kloss last November at a Bay County service station. No charges were filed at the time, but Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran told the committee Tuesday he's reconsidering that decision.
Wednesday, a Bay County party-store clerk testified that last November he saw Jaye strike a woman.
David Jaye's love story
Embattled senator paints a tender picture of the woman he is accused of abusing
Detroit News
May 11, 2001
LANSING -- David Jaye and Sonia Kloss were friends before they became lovers.
They met four years ago, when the Michigan senator and his father ate a meal at the Backwaters Seafood restaurant Kloss owns in Ft. Myers Beach, Fla., but they didn't date until December 1998, after both were divorced.
"She was a stunning woman, someone who really stands out," Jaye said Thursday in a series of brief conversations with The Detroit News. "I saw right away what a beautiful person she was. But we both were married and I didn't think of her that way until after our divorces."
The day Jaye and Kloss met, Jaye said, he and his dad had just finished an afternoon of scuba diving. "We were hungry enough to eat a horse," he said.
Jaye said he remembers Kloss that day because she had made a big deal about serving him herself.
"I remember her coming out and smiling and saying, 'If there's a senator in my restaurant, I want to meet him myself.' She brought a big smile to my face," Jaye recalled.
That romantic picture contrasts sharply with the one that has been painted of the Kloss-Jaye relationship this week as a special Senate panel held hearings to decide whether Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, should become the first senator in Michigan history to be expelled. The panel is looking at a number of legal run-ins Jaye has had during a 13-year legislative career, including two recent charges that Jaye physically assaulted Kloss, now his fiancee, in both Michigan and Florida.
Three days of testimony in support of the charges against Jaye wrapped up Thursday after seven topless pictures of Kloss were entered into the record. The pictures had been found on Jaye's Senate-owned laptop computer last November after Jaye requested help from a Senate staffer to retrieve some photos of a hunting trip.
"I consider them to be offensive. ... I was disgusted," Cathy Stewart, the Senate staff member, told the panel Thursday. The Senate expulsion resolution calls those photos "sexually explicit."
Jaye's attorneys dispute that characterization as well as much of what is contained in the 14-point bill of particulars against Jaye. They are to present their defense starting Tuesday.
Abuse charges
Although three drunken-driving convictions and several instances of verbal abuse of staff are included in the charges against Jaye, 43, it was the allegations of abuse of Kloss that dominated the six-member committee's attention this week.
Kloss, who has declined an invitation to appear before the Senate panel, has been variously depicted during the hearings as a party-loving flirt or as a dedicated mother and victim of domestic abuse. When reached at her Florida home Thursday by a reporter for the Ft. Myers News-Press, Kloss said: "I can't talk about this because there is an investigation going on. It's personal and not anyone's business."
Jaye told The News Thursday that regardless of the way his relationship with Kloss has been portrayed, the couple still plans to wed next April, although he said they intend to have premarital counseling. He said he hopes to be married at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Utica, where he is a parishioner.
"She and the boys are planning to spend the summer up here," Jaye said. "This is a distraction and very costly, but I am going to marry this woman. I won't give our enemies the satisfaction of destroying and intimidating us and trampling on our life. They will not make us buckle or keep quiet. I'm sorry for being rude and for drinking and driving. But that's behind me now."
The senator spoke warmly of the devotion of Kloss, a 36-year-old native of Trinidad, to her two boys, Joshua, 6, and Justin, 11. He said the couple's dates often involve bicycling, or fishing, or beach activities together with the boys. He recounted a fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico last October that ended at an emergency room, where a hook cast by Josh was removed from Jaye's hand.
"It didn't seem so bad when we got to the emergency room, and some other guy was there with a fishhook in his lip," Jaye said. Afterward, he added, "I spent the whole night and the next day consoling Josh about what had happened. Yes, I was in pain, but I didn't want Josh traumatized."
Jay portrayed Kloss as a victim of an unforgiving public spotlight brought on by "a spat, a quarrel -- nothing more."
"Dating a senator is like taking a shower on the corner of an intersection: you have no privacy," Jaye said. "Squabbles are an exaggeration of the truth blown out of proportion."
Jaye said he has lost 10 pounds during the expulsion hearings, which have run as late as 11:30 p.m. He said the system isn't fair because "only negative deeds and accusations can be discussed."
"I'm asking people to look in their heart and imagine what it's like to be threatened with being fired from your job, without being able to produce any positive achievements or witnesses on your behalf," Jaye said.
Standing in jarring contrast with Jaye's comments were the testimony of law enforcement officers and witnesses to certain incidents, and video and audio evidence introduced this week in Lansing. Specifically, senators spent the most time delving into allegations that Jaye assaulted Kloss Nov. 19 in Bay County.
During Thursday's testimony, senators grilled a pair of Michigan State troopers about what went on in a gas-station restroom during that incident along Interstate 75. Kloss went into the men's room, according to a witness, and spent as long as 15 minutes in a locked restroom stall with an unidentified man.
The witness, James Matthews, an 18-year-old cashier, Tuesday had told the panel that he saw Jaye grab Kloss by the arms and wrestle her out of the restroom when she finally unlocked the door, and then slap her across the face before forcing her into his car and driving away. Jaye's car was pulled over a short time later, and he was handcuffed and held 45 minutes before being released. Two other witnesses testified they saw the assault, got the license plate of the car but couldn't identify Jaye.
Panel views videotape
The only chance committee members had to take a measure of Kloss came Wednesday when Jaye's attorneys played a videotape of her recanting her previous statements to police that Jaye had assaulted her in Florida April 12.
In the video recording, Kloss came across as a soft-spoken, nervous woman who frequently played with her long, curly, dark hair while giving brief answers. Kloss several times answered "no" when Jaye's attorney asked whether Jaye had ever hit, slapped, kicked or otherwise assaulted her. At one point, the camera zoomed in for a closeup of Kloss' face, which showed no signs of cuts or bruises. The recording was made 17 days after the Florida incident.
"I am not in fear of my life," she said. "David isn't like that." But on one occasion, when asked whether he ever struck her, she responded: "No, I don't recall that."
In the video statement, Kloss said she had been drinking and had been up for 36 hours before the incident. She said the cuts and scratches were actually the result of a garment bag hitting her in the face when Jaye let go of it after the pair had wrestled for it.
Separately, Jerry West, 52, the boarder at Sonia Kloss' home who called 911 the night of the alleged assault, was arrested Monday by police in Collier County, Fla., and has been jailed on charges of driving drunk and running into another car three times. West didn't respond to a subpoena to testify before the Michigan Senate committee. Like Kloss, West has recanted a previous accusation against Jaye, arguing that his statement was coerced by police.
The videotape left some committee members unconvinced. The committee also had heard the audio tape of a 911 phone call to Florida authorities two months ago.
"... He smash (sic) me in my mouth, and I'm bleeding," Kloss says at one point. Then she says to Jaye, who is at her house, during the call: "Look at my hands. Look at my nose. Look at my mouth. How many more bruises you gonna put on me. ... When you finish with my face you know what? Nobody's gonna want to look at me."
The tape also has Jaye in the background denying that he had harmed her.
Kloss wrote a letter April 23 to Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, defending Jaye. She said the Florida case had been "blown all out of proportion" and noted that she was the one who put up the $2,500 to get Jaye out jail, putting up her house in a gated community as collateral for the bond.
"I am sometimes out of control with my relationship with David," she wrote. "I am sometimes very emotional since we love each other so much and face pressures of a long-distance relationship.
"David and I have been going to counseling together. I am seeing a counselor in Florida to help me and my family," she wrote. "David has made great improvements in his personal life and has gotten more family oriented, his counseling is helping him very much but it takes time."
2 lesser charges against senator dropped
Detroit News
May 11, 2001
LANSING -- An attorney for state Sen. David Jaye said his client was buoyed by an agreement Wednesday to drop two of the lesser charges against him, and predicted Jaye would avoid removal from the Senate.
"Two down and 10 to go," Philip Thomas said. "None of these allegations warrant the removal of a senator."
But the chairman of the special Senate committee hearing the case against Jaye said there was no agreement to drop any charges.
"Those charges are still in the resolution. It doesn't matter what they stipulate to," said Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia.
Thomas said the two sides had agreed not to dispute allegations that Jaye, R-Washington Township, had required prospective employees to work two weeks without pay before he'd hire them and that he installed unauthorized hardware and software on his Senate computer.
But still in contention are several more serious charges against Jaye, including what McCotter, in a resolution he introduced in the Senate, called Jaye's "recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
The resolution, which is being considered by a six-member, bipartisan committee, cites Jaye's three drunken driving arrests and a pending domestic battery charge against Jaye involving his fiancee in Florida.
The prosecution wrapped its case against Jaye in the Senate committee Thursday on the third day of hearings. The defense was to begin its case on Tuesday.
Jaye's probation could be revoked
Detroit News
May 11, 2001
SHELBY TOWNSHIP -- The Macomb County Prosecutor's Office expects to ask 41-A District Judge Douglas Shepard on Monday to revoke state Sen. David Jaye's probation for drunken driving.
Assistant Prosecutor John Courie said his office is seeking to have Jaye's probation rescinded because of allegations that the senator hit his fiancee in Bay County and Florida, in addition to driving while on a restricted license.
If Shepard considers the charges serious enough, he could sign a warrant Monday that would set an arraignment date that would precede a probation violation hearing.
While on probation "the judge has control of you," Courie said. "He at any time can modify his sentence."
Jaye was sentenced to one year in jail after being convicted of a March 2000 drunken driving case. He only served 45 days in jail before being released on probation.
Courie said Thursday he is acting on behalf of the Macomb County Probation Department by bringing the warrant against Jaye to the judge.
Senate staffers say computer display offensive to them
Detroit Free Press
May 11, 2001
While helping Sen. David Jaye retrieve deer-hunting photos from his computer last November, staff member Cathy Stewart was shocked by unexpected photos that popped up on the screen. They were pictures of a bare-breasted woman. "I consider them to be offensive; she didn't have clothes on," Stewart said Thursday while appearing before a Senate committee that's considering expelling Jaye from office. "I didn't expect to...
Jay may mull lawsuit if ousted from Senate
Detroit Free Press
While helping Sen. David Jaye retrieve deer-hunting photos from his computer last November, staff member Cathy Stewart was shocked by unexpected photos that popped up on the screen. They were pictures of a bare-breasted woman. "I consider them to be offensive; she didn't have clothes on," Stewart said Thursday while appearing before a Senate committee that's considering expelling Jaye from office. "I didn't expect to...
Jay may mull lawsuit if ousted from Senate
Detroit Free Press
May 11, 2001
State Sen. David Jaye, who sat stone-faced this week as witnesses testified about his boorish and sometimes illegal behavior, said Thursday evening that he may sue to keep his job if his Senate colleagues vote to oust him. Jaye said the benefits he derives from elective office, like salary and pension, could be considered property rights. As such, they cannot be removed without due process, he said. In an interview following the conclusion of the first three days of hearings on...
State Sen. David Jaye, who sat stone-faced this week as witnesses testified about his boorish and sometimes illegal behavior, said Thursday evening that he may sue to keep his job if his Senate colleagues vote to oust him. Jaye said the benefits he derives from elective office, like salary and pension, could be considered property rights. As such, they cannot be removed without due process, he said. In an interview following the conclusion of the first three days of hearings on...
Senate prosecutors wrap up Jaye case
The senator is expected to mount his defense at a hearing Tuesday
May 12, 2001
Grand Rapids Press
LANSING -- Attorneys wrapped up their case for Sen. David Jaye's expulsion by calling final witnesses to back up charges that Jaye has broken the law, verbally abused Senate staff members and violated Senate rules.
A Macomb County official said Friday that county probation officials expect to ask a judge Mondayto revoke Jaye's probation for drunken driving, based on allegations of assaults against his fiancee. No hearing will be requested until after the Senate hearings conclude.
"We're not going to run out and throw handcuffs on him," said Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor John Courie.
The lead attorney for Jaye's defense, meanwhile, said he was elated by an agreement he said would drop two charges against Jaye. He predicted Jaye would win his bid to keep his seat.
"Two down and 10 to go," attorney Philip Thomas said Thursday. "None of these allegations warrant the removal of a senator."
The resolution being considered by the six-member, bipartisan committee looking into Jaye's behavior cites his series of drunken driving convictions, a pending domestic battery charge in Florida and what it termed "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
Thomas said the two sides had agreed not to dispute allegations that the Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township had required prospective employees to work two weeks for free before he'd give them a job and that he improperly installed hardware and software on his Senate computer.
But Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, chairman of the special Senate committee hearing the case, said there was no final agreement to drop any charges.
"It doesn't matter what they stipulate to," he said. "Those charges are still in the resolution."
If he is forced to leave, Jaye would be the first senator expelled in Michigan history. The committee also could recommend that Jaye not be expelled but be censured or reprimanded.
Jaye has said that he may sue to keep his job if senators vote to oust him. He said the benefits he derives from elected office, including his salary and pension, could be considered property rights. As such, they cannot be removed without due process, he said.
"I'm asking people to look in their heart and imagine what it's like to be threatened with being fired from your job, without being able to produce any positive achievements or witnesses on your behalf," Jaye said.
The defense is scheduled to begin its case and call witnesses backing Jaye's version of events on Tuesday. Jaye, 43, has offered to resign if found guilty of domestic battery charges in Florida stemming from an April 12 dispute with fiancee Sonia Kloss, but maintains his innocence.
Jaye has said repeatedly he never struck Kloss.
Kloss, a native of Trinidad, runs the Backwaters Seafood Restaurant in Fort Myers, Fla. She met Jaye there in 1997 when he stopped in with his father for a meal.
Michigan senator condemns probe, cites 'Gestapo' tactics
The Blade - Toledo, Ohio
May 13, 2001
Sterling Heights, Mich. - Embattled state Sen. David Jaye lambasted a six-member Senate panel investigating his conduct and said yesterday that a pair of his fellow Senate Republicans are using "KGB, Gestapo-style tactics in their investigation."
Jaye's Senate jury weighs evidence for expulsion as hearings divert other business
May 13, 2001
Detroit News
Like the Nixon and Clinton impeachment hearings in Washington, the Jaye expulsion proceedings are a huge distraction in Lansing with political implications beyond the career of the targeted bad guy.
Embattled state Sen. David Jaye, R-Washington Township, is a jerk and embarrassment to the GOP and the state Senate. I've joined the call for his resignation, but not the demand that he be first senator expelled in Michigan history.
My focus today is on the Jaye jury -- fellow senators pondering his drunken driving convictions, a pending domestic assault charge in Florida, placement of "sexually explicit" pictures on a Senate-owned laptop computer and other alleged violations of Senate rules as part of "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
Chief among the key players is Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, who was in the past content to merely discipline Jaye, even when he was in jail on one of his three drunken driving convictions. But DeGrow now favors expulsion because, "I've seen enough."
Testimony about physical and verbal abuse of a woman was the final straw for DeGrow.
"He hits women and lies about it," says DeGrow. "He called (a Senate staffer) a ------- b----."
DeGrow formed the six-member special committee that heard three days of testimony against Jaye last week and will hear Jaye's defense this week.
DeGrow understandably bristles at attempts by some Jaye's supporters who are trying to intimidate some Republican senators by hiring detectives to dig up dirt on them.
"It's a strange world we live in," says DeGrow. "For 20 years, I've been fighting for education. Now I'm known as the arch foe of Jaye."
DeGrow last year talked of seeking the 2002 Republican nomination for governor. But he threw his support to Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus, who took the unusual step of declaring early support of DeGrow's bid to be the nominee for attorney general.
DeGrow took political heat last year for opposition to a House-approved resolution rolling back a massive pay hike for legislators and elected statewide officials.
Jaye's defenders make the ridiculous claim that DeGrow wants to expel Jaye because he's too conservative. Is DeGrow motivated by his own political ambitions?
"I don't think so," says state Sen. Bill Schuette, R-Midland, who is "looking very seriously" at challenging DeGrow for the attorney general nomination.
Although calling Jaye "a guy easy not to like," Schuette is not ready to rush to judgment on removing him for less than a felony.
Schuette chairs the Senate redistricting committee that is considering how to redraw maps for congressional and legislative districts. Jaye, if expelled by a two-thirds vote of the Senate, could win a special election in his current district. But redistricting by the GOP-ruled Legislature could produce a future district more favorable to another Republican in 2002.
Also on Schuette's committee is Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, a possible congressional candidate if a favorable district emerges for him. McCotter chairs the special committee on Jaye and has sharply rebuked Jaye's attorneys.
Another member of the McCotter-chaired committee with higher political aspirations is Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith, D-Salem Township. She's running for governor.
Also on the committee is Sen. Walt North, R-St. Ignace, who found testimony against Jaye to be "very upsetting" but declined to say how he will vote.
North says it is "a real shame that (the matter) is taking so much of the members' time and efforts" from the budget and other issues.
North is one of three members on the special committee who also are members of the Appropriations Committee that is racing to complete the state's budget.
The Jaye case is "a diversion of our efforts," says North, who does not minimize the seriousness of charges against Jaye.
Nor would anybody who heard what the committee heard last week.
Jaye accuses colleagues of 'Gestapo-style' tactics
He says GOP members on expulsion panel have decided to boot him
Detroit News
May 13, 2001
LANSING -- State Sen. David Jaye, who is scheduled Tuesday to open the defense for his seat in the Senate, says Republicans on the panel hearing his case have already decided to boot him.
Jaye, R-Washington Township, also said he would most likely bring suit if he becomes the first senator in state history to be kicked out. He said the Senate would have deprived him of his livelihood without giving him his constitutionally guaranteed right to due process of law.
On Saturday he accused two Republican senators of using "KGB, Gestapo-style tactics in their investigation."
The 43-year-old Macomb County senator could face an expulsion vote this week. The 14-point bill of particulars on which a special Senate committee has been hearing evidence includes three drunken-driving convictions and allegations of domestic abuse involving his 36-year-old fiancee, Sonia Kloss, in Michigan and Florida. Jaye and Kloss now deny the assault charges.
Though Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, predicts Jaye will be voted out, the chairman of the panel charged with making a recommendation disputed Jaye's assertions. Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, the Livonia Republican who heads the committee, said his mind isn't made up and Jaye's rights haven't been denied.
Jaye nonetheless maintained that "this whole proceeding has been stacked against me, and a number of senators have already made up their minds," including the three Republicans on the six-member committee. Leaders of his own party are trying to oust him, he asserted, "because I am the only Republican that has the courage and guts and energy level to point out when the Senate Republicans and the Republican administration are ripping off the taxpayers and consumers."
At a Sterling Heights news conference Saturday, Jaye blasted McCotter and DeGrow. "Obviously these senators have a personal problem with me," he said. "This committee will only allow witnesses to testify about negative claims."
DeGrow, the Senate majority leader, said: "He's going to sue us? Truth is an absolute defense. But he is capable of everything but telling the truth. Actually, more senators are worried about this guy coming on the Senate floor and shooting them than they are of being sued by him." A pistol once fell out of Jaye's pocket during a GOP caucus meeting in the Capitol.
DeGrow said private investigators had even asked DeGrow's acquaintances whether DeGrow could have been involved in the 1971 murder of a female high school student in Port Huron. A conservative political group acknowledged hiring private investigators to dig up dirt on other senators in an effort to help Jaye. Jaye said he has nothing to do with the inquiries.
McCotter, the committee chairman, said that "we have not heard his side as presented by his attorneys it's like halftime... I have the open mind where I want to see what the defense brings forward to prove these things that are alleged didn't happen. ... Then they can argue whether the allegations merit expulsion."
Committee member Alma Wheeler Smith, D-Salem Township, said that when she first heard of the Florida assault charge against Jaye, she "was among those who wanted to hang him, and the only question was how high?" But she said she now doesn't know how she will vote and is troubled by the idea of expelling a senator over a series of misdemeanors and alleged misdemeanors.
DeGrow: Jaye's finished
Detroit News
May 13, 2001
LANSING -- The leader of the Michigan Senate now believes that Sen. David Jaye will be expelled from the Senate -- a historic action that could come as early as this week.
"I think so," Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, told The Detroit News. "Others will have to decide on their own, but I think the last straw is that he hits women and lies about it. He has breached acceptable standards for a sitting senator."
The comments came before Jaye, R-Washington Township, was set to begin his defense Tuesday before a Senate committee considering whether to recommend his expulsion for a string of legal problems.
Those troubles include three drunken-driving convictions, a pending charge of domestic assault against his fiancee in Florida, and an alleged assault of her in Bay County last November that is being reviewed by the local prosecutor.
Jaye, 43, denies the assaults and says he is being railroaded by his party because of his outspoken conservative views on taxes, welfare, affirmative action and guns.
"I've made some mistakes, admitted to drunk driving and have been rude to some individuals. And I'm sorry for what I have done," Jaye said. "But they are looking at things going back 16 years -- before I was in the Legislature. "It's like being awake at my own autopsy."
Capitol allows poor behavior in workplace
Legislators have allowed on-the-job behavior that would not be tolerated in most businesses
Grand Rapids Press
May 13, 2001
Last week's hearings on Sen. David Jaye's fitness to hold office at first resembled a "Judge Judy" episode with a Jerry Springer theme: When Senators Go Bad.
Then it all got serious in a hurry. Sitting there in an ornate Senate hearing room with a frozen scowl on his face, David Jaye had to realize that he was in trouble.
Florida deputies told lawmakers that Jaye's fiancee, Sonia Kloss, had blood on her face when they responded to a 911 report of domestic battery in April. A clerk and two customers confirmed allegations that Jaye repeatedly slapped Kloss on the face at a Bay City gas station last November.
Add jail time for drunken driving, and Jaye's public behavior is probably grounds enough for senators to kick him out. That doesn't mean his official behavior is any less serious.
Lack of standards
In testimony by Senate staff, Jaye comes across as a bullying, sexist tyrant who abused the power of his office.
But for the criminal charges, however, would he be on trial? The broader question is should legislative offices be held to the same workplace behavior standards adopted by private employers?
And given Jaye's documented behavior, was that standard upheld in this case?
Not hardly.
Then a member of the House, Jaye joined the Senate after a special election in 1997. And soon after he switched offices, he proved to be trouble.
Female legislative staffers told the committee last week that in 1998, they had been the target of withering and humiliating verbal abuse by Jaye that, at times, was laced with vile profanity.
On July 27, 1998, Senate secretary Carol Viventi wrote Senate Majority Leader Dick Posthumus (now lieutenant governor) that Jaye had "stopped swearing at my permanent staff. With people he perceives to be powerless (his staff and pages), he continues to use abusive language.
"He intimidates pages (college interns) by yelling and swearing at them for things like insufficient hot sauce on his nachos, calls them '(expletive) incompetent' or says 'this is a bunch of (expletive).' "
Viventi's letter was included in the evidence packet given to the Senate committee considering Jaye's fate. The staffers allegedly verbally abused by Jaye never filed written reports. If there were written reprimands by Posthumus to Jaye, they aren't in evidence.
One staffer testified last week that she had written a sexual harassment complaint against Jaye but didn't file it with the Michigan Civil Service Commission for fear it would damage her boss' legislative relationship with Jaye.
Legislative staffers are in a particularly vulnerable position. As political employees they don't have the same legal protections as other state workers. "It was degrading and humiliating," she testified. "I felt helpless."
Series of reprimands
Sen. Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, who succeeded Posthumus as senate majority leader in January 1999, began issuing written reprimands to Jaye regarding the "unacceptable use of profanity in conversations with staff." On March 9, DeGrow cut off his access to the Senate's central staff and limited his contact to top supervisors. More written reprimands followed.
But suppose Jaye was merely a miserable boss and not also a convicted drunken driver or a boyfriend arrested for domestic battery.
At what point would his behavior have been made public and officially punished? What little has been compiled about his behavior in the Senate is exempt from state Freedom of Information laws.
While legislative rules define objectionable behavior, they don't prescribe what should be done about it. That's up to the legislators themselves.
Politicians simply don't like to air their dirty laundry in public, even though the soiled linen was paid for by taxpayers who have a right to see it.
As one staffer said: "The Legislature is like a private club."
Not anymore.
Poli-Bytes: A behind-the-scenes look at state and local politics
Detroit Free Press
May 14, 2001
FARMINGTON HILLS - County leaders duck each other's jabs As if being scrutinized by nosy newspapers and inquisitive auditors weren't enough, Wayne County Executive Ed McNamara had to put up with jabs last Friday from his Oakland County counterpart, L. Brooks Patterson. "What I want to say to McNamara is, 'Did you have the same PR firm as David Jaye?' " Patterson quipped, referring to the embattled Macomb County...
Senate majority leader believes Jaye will lose job
The Blade - Toledo, Ohio
May 14, 2001
Lansing - Sen. David Jaye, charged with beating up his girlfriend and facing a Senate probe of his fitness to hold office, probably will lose his job, Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow says.
Asked if Mr. Jaye will be ousted, Mr. DeGrow said, "I think so."
"Others will have to decide on their own, but I think the last straw is that he hits women and lies about it," the Port Huron lawmaker said. "He has breached acceptable standards for a sitting senator."
The Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township spent April 12 in the Lee County Jail in Fort Myers after a dispute earlier in the day at the home of his fiancée there.
He was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery, but on Monday the area's state attorney said no formal charges would be filed.
Jaye is facing possible expulsion from the Michigan Senate, in part because of reports he hit fiancée Sonia Kloss in Florida and in Michigan. She repeatedly has denied he hit her.
Jaye scheduled a 3 p.m. news conference in front of the Macomb County Circuit courthouse to discuss the case. A no-contact order that had been in place in Florida between Kloss and Jaye because of the domestic battery charge also was dropped.
"I am thrilled that my fiancée, Sonia, and I can now speak to and visit with each other, and I am free to take her children fishing again," Jaye said in a written statement.
Jaye attorney Philip Thomas said the decision not to formally charge Jaye in Florida undermines the Senate's case against him.
Florida prosecutors said they didn't feel they had a good chance of convicting Jaye.
But Jaye's legal problems could still be far from over.
A Michigan county judge agreed Monday to hear arguments on whether Jaye's probation on drunken driving charges should be revoked, in part on accounts that Jaye dragged Kloss out of a bathroom and struck her at a gas station in November.
Mr. Jaye's attorneys said the files appear to contain information that could bolster Mr. Jaye's argument that he did not verbally abuse Senate staff members and does not deserve to lose his job.
A resolution calling for the expulsion of the Republican from Macomb County cites his series of drunken driving convictions, allegations that he hit his fiancee, and what it terms "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," including having six photos of his topless fiancee on his laptop computer.
Jaye's days numbered, DeGrow says
Grand Rapids Press
May 14, 2001
LANSING -- Sen. David Jaye, charged with beating up his girlfriend and facing a Senate probe of his fitness to hold office, probably will lose his job, Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow says.
A Senate vote to expel Jaye could come as early as this week, said DeGrow. He and Jaye are Republicans.
Asked if Jaye will be ousted, DeGrow said, "I think so."
"Others will have to decide on their own, but I think the last straw is that he hits women and lies about it," the Port Huron lawmaker said Sunday. "He has breached acceptable standards for a sitting senator."
"In the private sector, you'd be long gone," DeGrow said.
Jaye, of Macomb County's Washington Township, is accused of breaking the law, verbally abusing Senate staff members and violating Senate rules.
A six-member bipartisan committee resumes hearings Tuesday to determine what measure should be taken -- expulsion, censure or reprimand. Jaye begins his defense on Tuesday.
If expelled, Jaye would be the first Michigan state senator so punished.
Jaye, 43, has said he might sue to retain his seat. But at a Saturday news conference, he said he was unsure if he could afford to launch a legal battle.
"I'm going broke paying $500 an hour in attorney fees," Jaye said. "I don't know if I'm going to have enough money to fight this in court."
The committee looking into Jaye's behavior is considering a resolution that cites a series of complaints against Jaye:
-- Three drunken driving convictions.
-- A pending domestic battery charge in Florida in which he is accused of beating up his girlfriend, Sonia Kloss.
-- What it calls "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
Among other allegations against Jaye, a staff member testified to having discovered about 10 pictures on the senator's state-owned laptop computer of a topless or scantily clad Kloss.
Jaye accused the panel Saturday of using "KGB, Gestapo-style tactics in their investigation." He denied hitting Kloss and said the investigation is politically motivated.
Florida officials won’t charge Jaye
Muskegon Chronicle
May 14, 2001
Florida officials have decided not to charge state Sen. David Jaye with domestic battery.
The Republican from Macomb County’s Washington Township spent April 12 in the Lee County, Fla., jail after a dispute earlier in the day at the home of his fiancee in Fort Myers, Fla. He was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery.
Today, the Office of the State Attorney in Fort Myers said no formal charges would be filed against Jaye.
Jaye is facing possible expulsion from the Michigan Senate, in part because of two reports he hit fiancee Sonia Kloss. She has repeatedly denied he hit her and had tried to get the Florida charges dropped.
The case against Jaye was undermined when Kloss denied Jaye hit her, even though she had said in a 911 call that she was bleeding.
In a taped interview conducted by one of Jaye’s lawyers, Kloss said her face had been cut when the two had tussled over a garment bag and the bag had hit her in the face when he let go.
A man living at Kloss’ home also denied Jaye hit her.
Charges dropped against lawmaker
Sen. David Jaye still faces legal problems in Michigan
The Gainesville Sun
May 15, 2001
Lansing, Mich. - Florida officials have decided not to charge state Sen. David Jaye in a domestic battery case.
Florida won't charge Jaye; Marlinga: Jail him anyway
And Senate will go on with expulsion hearing
Detroit News
May 15, 2001
LANSING -- State Sen. David Jaye caught a break in Florida.
But he couldn't catch one in his home state of Michigan.
Florida officials on Monday decided not to charge Jaye with domestic battery. Nevertheless, Carl Marlinga, the Macomb County prosecutor, still wants to put him in jail for parole violation. And Senate Republican leaders are still intent on kicking him out of the Senate.
Unfazed, Jaye declared: "This is the first time in a while I have been smiling and grinning ear to ear."
In an appearance on the Macomb County Courthouse steps, the Washington Township Republican reiterated his contention that Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, is trying to railroad him out of office. "They can't get rid of me politically through the ballot box so they're trying to do it this way," he said.
And so the spectacle of the Senate's Republican leadership moving to remove a fellow GOP lawmaker over a series of misdemeanors and alleged misdemeanors continued. Rusty Hills, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, couldn't be reached Monday. Republican Gov. John Engler's spokeswoman said he is leaving it up to the Senate "to conduct its business." In the past, Engler has called Jaye "an embarrassment." DeGrow declined to comment.
In Fort Myers, Fla., Assistant State Attorney Paul Poland said his office decided not to charge Jaye over his alleged April 12 assault of his fiancee, Sonia Kloss. It was that incident that got the ouster movement under way in the Michigan Senate.
Poland said the decision reflected Kloss' withdrawal of her earlier statements about the incident and her request that the matter be dropped. Jerry West, a boarder at Kloss' home, who was the only witness to the incident, gave inconsistent statements when questioned last Thursday, Poland said.
"We felt there was insufficient evidence to go forward," Poland said. "Theoretically, if new evidence came to light, we could charge him. But for right now we consider the case closed.
"We're not saying a crime did or did not take place," he added, "but simply saying there is not enough evidence to support us filing a charge."
In Lansing, Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, the chairman of the panel weighing allegations against Jaye, declared that the Florida action "doesn't mean we can't, as a factual matter, try to determine what happened there. Does that decision mean it didn't happen?"
He said senators can draw their own conclusions about what happened in Florida based on evidence they heard in three days of hearings last week. That included Kloss' call after the incident to 911 in which she accused Jaye of beating her. In addition, Florida police officers who responded to the call testified that they believed a bloodied Kloss had in fact been assaulted.
The list of particulars against Jaye that the committee is investigating includes a trio of drunken-driving convictions the alleged assault of Kloss in Florida and another incident in Bay County last Nov. 19 that is still under review by the local prosecutor complaints about Jaye's use of vulgar language directed at female Senate staffers and the storing of semi-nude photographs of Kloss on Jaye's Senate-owned computer.
Ruling pleases fiancée
Kloss, 36, said she was relieved Jaye was not charged and repeated that the couple intends to wed next April. "I told them exactly what happened, and they decided not even to press charges," she said from her home in Fort Myers Beach, Fla. "People need to realize that you have to let everyone have their rights and have them go to court first and see if they are convicted."
Jaye said he is pleased that the Florida charges are being dropped and that a related order barring him from having contact with Kloss has been lifted. "I am thrilled that my fiancee, Sonia, and I can now speak to and visit each other, and I am free to take her (two) children fishing again," he said.
Philip Thomas, one of Jaye's attorneys, said: "I have felt all along that David Jaye's opponents have been investigating and looking into his background and then, lo and behold, this big firecracker fell into their hands on April 12. But we knew the firecracker would go out with a dud. My client did not do these things he has been accused of."
Sen. Leon Stille, R-Spring Lake, who introduced the expulsion resolution against Jaye, said the case will go on as planned. "It's not one incident," Stille said. "It's the whole litany of things that have been compiled over the years."
Sen. Donald Koivisto, an Ironwood Democrat who sits on the Senate panel, said the Florida decision "does have an impact to a degree because the two most significant charges in the expulsion resolution in a lot of people's minds were the two alleged assaults in Bay County and in Florida. I think most people will consider the action in Florida to be significant."
Koivisto, like most other senators, said he won't decide how to cast his vote until he hears Jaye's side.
"It would premature for Mr. Jaye to gloat," Koivisto warned. "If I were him I'd wait for the committee to bring this to a resolution without adding fuel to the fire, and that's what gloating does."
Florida still a factor
Further clouding the Jaye situation was word that Marlinga, the Macomb County prosecutor, will ask a judge to return Jaye to jail for 101/2 months for violating the terms of a drunken-driving conviction last year.
He said the now-dropped Florida assault case will still be used against Jaye because the evidence in a probation-violation hearing has a less-strict standard than in a criminal matter. He said he would need to prove only that the assault occurred based on the "preponderance of evidence," not "beyond a reasonable doubt" as needed in a criminal case.
Jaye last year was sentenced to one year in jail on the drunken-driving conviction, but served only 35 days before he was released.
"Since he got off light under the promise that he would (not break any more laws), we feel he now owes the state of Michigan another 101/2 months," Marlinga said.
The new warrant filed by Macomb officials carries three charges: that Jaye assaulted Kloss in Bay County, that he assaulted her in Florida, and that he violated the driving restrictions on his license when he was stopped by state police during the Bay County incident.
Jaye was driving home from a hunting trip to northern Michigan when he was stopped by troopers on I-75 in Bay County. Under terms of his drunken-driving conviction, Jaye was barred from driving except on official business.
But charges of driving on a restricted license were dropped after a judge decided police had not properly advised Jaye of his Miranda rights.
Jaye is scheduled to be arraigned on the probation warrant June 7 by 41-A District Judge Douglas Shepherd in Shelby Township. Thomas, his attorney, had asked for the delay because of Jaye's other pending legal problems.
Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran repeated Monday that his office is still reviewing statements from new witnesses who have stepped forward with information about the November incident. He said Jaye could still be charged in that incident.
Eventful day
Monday was busy for state Sen. David Jaye:
* Florida officials decided not to charge Jaye with an alleged April 12 assault of his fiancee, Sonia Kloss, in her Fort Myers, Fla., home. Prosecutors said they didn't have much of a case left after Kloss and the only eyewitness recanted earlier statements accusing Jaye.
* Macomb County Prosecutor Carl Marlinga said he would ask a judge to return Jaye to jail for 101/2 months for violating provisions of his probation from last year's conviction on drunken driving. Jaye spent 35 days in jail for that conviction.
* The chairman of a Senate panel considering a resolution to expel Jaye, said the Florida decision won't have much impact on the panel, which is weighing a long list of allegations against the senator.
Jaye bolstered by Florida news
However, "It's not one incident," said state Sen. Leon Stille, R-Spring Lake. "It's the whole litany of things that have been compiled over the years."
Grand Rapids Press
May 15, 2001
LANSING-- State Sen. David Jaye said a decision by Florida officials not to charge him with domestic battery is a sign he may be able to face down his detractors in the case for expelling him from the Senate.
"They can't get rid of me politically through the ballot box so they're trying to do it this way," said Jaye, 43, of the expulsion effort.
Lawyers for Jaye today were to begin presenting evidence to a six-member, bipartisan Senate panel.
The panel is charged with investigating whether the Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township should be punished for a series of drunken driving convictions, allegations of domestic violence and what it termed "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
The committee last week heard reports that Jaye hit fiancee Sonia Kloss in Florida and Michigan. Kloss, 36, has repeatedly denied he hit her. She expressed relief Monday that officials had decided not to charge Jaye with the misdemeanor.
"I told them exactly what happened and they decided not even to press charges," she said Monday from her home in Fort Myers, Fla., where she runs a restaurant. "People need to realize that you have to let everyone have their rights and have them to go to court first and see if they are convicted."
Kloss said that now that a no-contact order between the couple had been dropped, she planned to come to Michigan to see him. The couple plan to marry next April.
Sen. Leon Stille, who sponsored the resolution to expel Jaye, said he doesn't expect the Florida decision will slow the Senate's work.
"It's not one incident," said Stille, R-Spring Lake. "It's the whole litany of things that have been compiled over the years."
He referred to Jaye's three drunken-driving convictions and testimony that Jaye stored about a half-dozen pictures of a seminude Kloss on his Senate laptop computer and verbally abused Senate staff members.
Jaye attorney Philip Thomas said Monday's decision not to formally charge Jaye in Florida undermines the Senate's case against him. He called the abuse allegations a "big firecracker that fell into their hands."
Jaye's legal problems, however, could be far from over.
A Macomb County judge agreed Monday to hear arguments on whether Jaye's probation on drunken driving charges should be revoked. District Court Judge Douglas Shepherd signed a warrant Monday scheduling Jaye's arraignment for June 7.
Macomb County officials want to revoke Jaye's probation because of the Florida charge and accounts Jaye dragged Kloss out of a men's bathroom and struck her while the two were at a Bay County gas station last Nov. 19.
Details delay senate inquiry into Jaye case
The Blade
Toledo, Ohio
May 16, 2001
Lansing - The first day of testimony supporting Sen. David Jaye's contention that he shouldn't be expelled from the Michigan Senate ended with lawyers from both sides planning to review new documents.
The hearing is scheduled to begin again at noon today with testimony by Jaye supporters.
The secretary of the Senate on Wednesday handed over filed to Jaye that she said contained numerous complaints about Jaye's mistreatment of members of her staff.
But Jaye's attorney said the records also could be used to provide positive testimony about the senator and to undermine arguments he should be expelled.
Jaye referred to the documents as "secret files" and accused Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow of withholding the records, having his phone calls monitored and copying files from his laptop computer without his knowledge.
"I never gave permission to the Senate computer department to keep a permanent record of my laptop files," Jaye said in a statement. "It's frightening to know that...state employees' private letters, Valentine's Day cards and private photos on state-owned property can be used against them."
Jaye, 43, is under investigation by a Senate committee for a series of drunken driving convictions, allegations that he hit his fiancée and "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," including having six photos of his topless fiancée on his laptop computer.
The six-member, bipartisan committee is considering a resolution to expel Jaye, an action that would require 26 votes in the 38-member Senate. It also could recommend the Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township be censured or reprimanded.
A spokesman for DeGrow denied the Port Huron Republican had ever done anything wrong.
"I don't know where this charge of withholding evidence is coming from, because we have turned over everything that could possibly be related" to Jaye, Aaron Keesler said.
Jaye, a twice-convicted drunk driver who has been arrested for altercations in which he allegedly struck his fiancée (those charges were recently dropped), is accused of verbally abusing Senate staff, keeping pornographic pictures on his office computer and using Senate computer staff to load personal software onto his computer.
Soon after his arrest in Florida last month for striking his fiancé, several Republican senators, led by Majority Leader Dan DeGrow of Port Huron, began talking about expelling him.
A motion to do just that was introduced and DeGrow created a six-member committee to examine Jaye’s "qualifications" to serve and recommend a form of reprimand for Jaye, such as an expulsion or censure. The final decision rests with the full Senate. An expulsion requires a 2/3 majority, or 26 of the 38 senators. A censure, or a formal condemnation of Jaye, only requires a majority.
The Jaye affair comes down to two things: politics and interpretation.
First, politics. Jaye (R-Washington Twp.) is seen as an embarrassment to the Republican Party for his behavior and his outspoken views on various issues, which are perceived as conservative even for a GOP legislator.
In addition, Jaye is a liability to the Michigan GOP. The Republicans now hold a 23-15 majority in the Senate. If 2002 is a bad year politically, that majority will shrink (as Al Gore took the state last November) to an uncomfortable margin and control of the Senate may hinge on which party wins Jaye’s Macomb County district.
So the GOP wants a candidate who has the best chance of defeating a Democrat. Evidence shows that Jaye is not that person. He won his last election in 1998 with 60 percent of the vote, but all it takes is one-sixth of the people who would normally vote for him to be revolted by his behavior and all of a sudden the 2002 race becomes close. At that point, Republicans are in trouble.
What the GOP most likely wants to do is force him out, run somebody (without his type of baggage) in the special election to succeed him (see footnote at bottom) who has a better shot of winning in the general election. Although Michigan law does not prevent Jaye from running in the special election to succeed himself, the GOP would probably throw all of its efforts into recruiting somebody who can defeat him in a primary if he were to. Or they could embarrass him so badly he would decide not to run. That person would be in a good position to be reelected next November, when control of his seat matters. For the same reasons, the Democrats would like to keep Jaye in his seat through 2002.
Second, interpretation. The state Constitution is especially vague about expulsions. More vague than defining what a high crime and misdemeanor is (harken back to the Clinton impeachment trial). Basically it says either house of the Legislature determines when it is proper to expel. It reads, "Each house shall be the sole judge of the qualifications, elections and returns of its members, and may, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members elected thereto and serving therein, expel a member."
The only thing that is clear is that a felony is a good reason to expel. It was also rather clear-cut in 1998 when then- Sen. Henry Stallings (D-Detroit) resigned before he was expelled for having a state employee work in his private art gallery.
But Jaye hasn’t committed a felony.
Everyone agrees the Senate can expel one of its own for any reason, but the question remains: when is it good public policy to do that?
Jaye is accused of screaming and swearing at Senate staff and using staff to upload personal software on his computer, but those accusations are not going to do him in, and there’s a good chance he’s not the only senator who has done such things. The same goes for his having a topless photo of his fiancé on his office computer.
The other question the senators will have to answer is whether the crimes Jaye has been convicted and/or accused of driving while intoxicated and domestic assault warrant his removal.
One observer is particularly leery of expelling him for those reasons.
Wayne State University Constitutional Law Prof. Robert Sedler said the standard should, with few exceptions, be a felony.
"If a person has been convicted of a felony, the person has had a fair trial in accordance with all of the constitutional safeguards and has been found guilty by a jury of his peers by a reasonable doubt," he said.
Sedler added an exception should be made if, say, there was a preponderance of evidence showing a legislator had taken a bribe but couldn't be convicted because of reasons such as a technicality or a prosecutor not wanting to indict.
But others say Jaye has done enough damage already.
Sen. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Livonia), chairman of the committee investigating Jaye, said times have changed. Thirty years ago, he said, striking a female or getting caught driving drunk were not considered serious matters. Now they are.
"What people are saying in the papers are it should be a felony," McCotter said. "But that’s for somebody who does one thing. You could, under that interpretation have a serial sexual harasser on the floor of the Senate. That’s not a criminal penalty and you could do nothing about it."
Sen. Leon Stille (R-Spring Lake), who introduced the bill to expel Jaye, said one who serves in the Senate should be someone "that doesn’t break the law repeatedly. One that doesn’t flaunt the law and basically says "catch me if you can." One that doesn’t lie repeatedly when he is caught and then try to use every method under the sun to avoid conviction or to get off scott-free and then laugh about it. One that doesn’t make a spectacle of himself and one that doesn’t abuse other people in any way, shape, or form, whether it be verbal or physical."
Another member of the committee, Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith (D-Salem Twp.), said senators also have to take into account how Jaye’s status as a member of the Senate reflects on the body as a whole.
"I think you need to be dealing with some fairly serious offenses that not only affect the way the senator performs his job or her job but reflects negatively on the ability of the Senate or the Legislature as a whole to perform with credibility," she said.
Sedler, the law professor, dismissed this argument, saying, "the theory is that his behavior has been so outrageous, et cetera, that it has brought the Senate into disrepute. What that means is that the senators, and especially the Republicans, are embarrassed by his conduct and they’re going to be tainted by it."
The committee investigating Jaye is expected to issue a recommendation soon with the possibility that the matter will also come to a vote in the full Senate next week.
What weight the senators give to their political leanings and their interpretation of the rules is impossible to determine, as is the final outcome. It’s like betting on Michigan weather.
Footnote: Michigan law does not prevent Jaye from running in the special election to succeed himself. The GOP would probably throw all of its efforts into recruiting somebody who can defeat him in a primary. Or they could embarrass him so badly he would decide not to run.
There is an implicit trust that those elected will conduct themselves honorably and fulfill the requirements of their jobs to the best of their abilities. When elected officials fail to meet these demands, it is the responsibility of their fellow lawmakers to speak up and remove the offending individuals from office.
David Jaye was entrusted with the task of representing Macomb county in the Michigan Senate in 1997. In spite of his two drunk-driving convictions, Jaye won the election with 2,000 votes, defeating Democratic challenger Becky Higbie. Since becoming a senator, Jaye has been convicted of a third drunk-driving charge.
His other alleged acts of misconduct include verbal abuse and profanity directed at his staff and more recently, domestic violence directed against his fiancée'. Jaye spent a night in a Florida jail after police responded to a 911 call about an alleged dispute with his fiancée'.
Jaye, who was active in the anti-affirmative action lawsuits against the University of Michigan, is currently facing the possibility of disciplinary action from his colleagues. Article IV, Section 16 of the Michigan Constitution states that "Each house shall be the sole judge of the qualifications, elections and returns of its members, and may with the occurrence of two-thirds of all members elected thereto and serving therein, expel a member."
In light of his recent run-in with the law, there is currently a six-member panel assigned the task of determining what disciplinary action to take. This senate committee could recommend that Jaye merely be reprimanded or it could expel him from office.
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow has predicted that Jaye will likely be ousted. Jaye will have a chance to defend himself to the committee and has expressed his intent to sue to get his job back if forced to leave it. If the committee decides to expel him from office, Jaye will be the first senator to be expelled in Macomb County history.
Jaye is detrimental to lawmaking in Michigan and should be expelled. His presence in government despite his continued misconduct demonstrates a double standard for law-breakers: If you break the law you will be penalized, but if your job is to make those laws, your penalties will be lighter. The implication is that lawmakers don't have to obey the laws like everyone else.
Jaye's presence in the Senate undermines the integrity of the institution and he should be removed immediately. Michigan citizens deserve to be represented by lawmakers who respect the laws of the land.
If the Senate committee decides not to expel him, the residents of Macomb County should take action themselves and start a petition to have him recalled. His effectiveness as a member of the Michigan senate is irreparably damaged by his history of misconduct and it is unlikely that he can accomplish anymore worthwhile deeds in his post.
In what we find to be the pathetic case of State Senator David Jaye of Macomb County, there has been - metaphorically speaking an out-of-control blaze raging within this man for several years.
This is not merely our assessment or judgment of the man, if you will, it's well-documented.
Three drunk driving convictions [that's convictions, not arrests on suspicion and the third conviction is a felony], a charge of violating probation in last year's DUI [for which he served only an insulting 35 days in jail], charges of domestic battery, allegations of being verbally abusive with employees working for the secretary of the senate and with having several photos [inappropriate to say the least] of his topless fiancée' on his laptop computer on the senate floor: available for all who approached him to see.
All of this, mind you, while a member of the Michigan Senate.
If Jaye, 43, a Republican, were in the private sector would he not have been a mere unsavory memory long ago?
We're all human beings, with frailties and crosses to bear. We have a greater tolerance in this day and age for the shortcomings of others. In many case, including Jaye's our first step is usually to try and get a person the proper help they require, professional or otherwise.
Various senators, of both parties, have called Jaye's behavior, "a pattern that is very troubling and has brought disgrace to the institution." What do you think?
Jaye is under formal investigation by a special Senate committee for all of the above allegations, as well as "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct." The hearings resume Tuesday in efforts to determine what it will recommend to the entire Senate, that Jaye be censured, reprimanded or expelled.
We find it interesting that Jaye's fiancee' will not testify before the Senate committee. We find it interesting [and typical] that Jaye's lawyer calls the charges and accusations against the Senator, "piddly at best." And we find it interesting that Jaye, himself, has been privately lobbying other senators to let them talk with his fiancee' about "what really happened" in alleged Bay County and Florida assaults on the woman. That would be the same fiancee' who will not go before the committee.
Jaye is extremely experienced at spin-doctoring. And, obviously at talking his way out of sticky situations.
He is expected to produce "stacks of files" from Senate staff members and others [character witnesses] who say "very nice things about Senator Jaye," according to his lawyers.
We say it's irrelevant at this point. Maybe Jesse james was a nice guy when he wasn't robbing banks and shooting innocent people. OK, maybe a bad example, but you get the idea.
Jaye, in our view, is one of those people who uses his position entrusted to him by the voters - only for his greater good.
He's not the first politician, nor will he be the last, to succumb to the trappings and temptations which go along with a position elevated to by the people.
But obviously, he feels his position grants him immunity from not only disgusting and embarrassing behavior, but most significant of all, illegal behavior. His swaggering demeanor gives off an aura that he is, somehow, above the law.
The Senate right now is said to be privately debating what standards they would put in place before someone is expelled from office, especially in view of the fact that Florida authorities will not charge Jaye with domestic battery for an April altercation with his fiancee' that touched off an investigation.
Our recommendation, retroactively speaking, would be "how about two drunken driving arrests ago?" We encourage the Senate to make a decision, posthaste, and get on with more important state business at hand.
The 38-member Senate was expected to vote Thursday afternoon on a resolution that recommends Jaye be expelled. The resolution passed a special Senate investigating committee Wednesday on a 5-1 bipartisan vote.
Jaye called the move to expel him from the seat he's held since 1997 a rush to justice, saying he didn't see how senators not on the committee will be able to review three weeks of testimony before Thursday's vote.
"This is a railroad job," said Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township. "It didn't matter what we said."
The committee delayed its vote Wednesday afternoon as talks over a scenario that would spare Jaye expulsion and possibly lead to his resignation went on between Jaye's lawyers and Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron.
No agreement had been reached by early Wednesday evening, and it was unclear if one would be reached before the expulsion resolution came to a vote in the full Senate.
Until now, Jaye has refused to resign and has threatened to sue if the full Senate votes to expel him. He didn't directly answer a question Wednesday about whether he is considering resigning, but didn't sound ready to give up his fight just yet.
"I'm not a quitter," he said after the committee's vote.
Jaye, 43, has been under investigation by the committee for three drunken driving convictions, allegations he hit his fiancee Sonia Kloss and "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," including verbally abusing staff members and having six photos of his topless fiancée on his Senate-issued laptop computer.
The 38-member Senate was expected to vote Thursday afternoon on a resolution that recommends Jaye be expelled. The resolution passed a special Senate Investigating committee Wednesday on a 5-1 bipartisan vote.
Jaye called the move to expel him from the seat he's held since 1997 a rush to justice, saying he didn't see how senators not on the committee will be able to review three weeks of testimony before Thursday's vote.
"This is a railroad job," said Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township. "It didn't matter what we said."
The committee delayed its vote Wednesday afternoon as talks over a scenario that would spare Jaye expulsion and possibly lead to his resignation went on between Jaye's lawyers and Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron.
No agreement had been reached by early Wednesday evening, and it was unclear if one would be reached become the expulsion resolution came to a vote in the full Senate.
Until now, Jaye has refused to resign and has threatened to sue if the full Senate votes to expel him. He didn't directly answer a question Wednesday about whether he is considering resigning but didn't sound ready to give up his fight just yet.
"I'm not a quitter," he said after the committee's vote.
Jaye, 43, has been under investigation by the committee for three drunken driving convictions, allegations that he hit fiancée Sonia Kloss and "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," including verbally abusing staff members and having six photos of his topless fiancee on his Senate-issued laptop computer.
The committee voted on an alternative resolution to the one they had been considering for the past three weeks. The new resolution, authored by Senate Democratic Leader John Cherry, still calls for Jaye's expulsion.
But Cherry, of Clio, said it better reflects what the committee has learned about Jaye during its investigation. The committee also could have recommended that Jaye be censured or reprimanded or have no action taken against him. Twenty-six votes are needed to expel him.
Jaye criticized the new resolution, saying it still accused him of being involved April 12 in what it called "a violent physical altercation" with his fiancee outside her home in Fort Myers, Fla. Both Jaye and Kloss deny he hit her. Florida authorities last week declined to press formal domestic battery charges against Jaye.
Those voting to recommend expulsion were Republican Sens. Thaddeus McCotter of Livonia, Phillip Hoffman of Horton and Walter North of St. Ignace, as well as Democratic Sens. Alma Wheeler Smith of Salem Township and Cherry.
The lone dissenter was Sen. Don Koivisto, D-Ironwood, who said he plans to argue Thursday on the Senate floor that Jaye doesn't deserve to be expelled. He support censuring Jaye and taking away many of his perks of office, including access to his officer computers and Senate-issued laptop computer.
But committee Chairman McCotter said censure would amount to only a slap on the wrist for Jaye, "He has not upheld his oath of office," said McCotter, who said he plans to vote Thursday to expel Jaye.
Smith said she voted for the resolution because she saw evidence that Jaye had consistently mistreated staff members working for Secretary of Senate Carol Viventi and committed other acts listed in the resolution.
"If we didn't act here today, we would be sending a message that we as senators are above the law," she said. "That is certainly not a message that I want to send my constituents"
Republicans and Democrats in the Senate met separately on the matter Wednesday morning, but Jaye was not allowed to present his case to either side. His lawyers will not be able to speak Thursday on the Senate floor.
Sen. David Jaye was forced out on a 33-2 vote, seven more votes than were needed. The conservative senator, who likened himself to a "junkyard dog," said he was being rail-roaded for his political views.
"I'm going into bankruptcy over trumped-up charges," Sen. Jaye said during his fight on the Senate floor to save his job. "Why? Because I've upset the political bosses and the special interests."
Sen. Jaye, 43, has been under investigation by a Senate committee for three drunken driving convictions, allegations that he hit fiancée Sonia Kloss and "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," including verbally abusing staff members.
Michigan Senate votes Jaye out
Defiant arch -conservative blames action on 'trumped-up charges'
The Toldeo Blade
May 25, 2001
Lansing - The state Senate voted yesterday to expel Sen. David Jaye, capping a turbulent six weeks that began with accusations he had struck his fiancée and ended with his insistence he was being railroaded for his unpopular political views.
At least 26 votes in the 38-member Senate were needed to force out Mr. Jaye who became the first Michigan senator expelled. The resolution to remove him passed 33-2.
Mr. Jaye, a boastful arch-conservative gadfly who has likened himself to a "junkyard dog," turned down requests from several senators to resign before the vote. At one point, lawyers for Mr. Jaye and Senate Majority Leander Dan DeGrow discussed letting Mr. Jaye resign in the fall, but no deal was struck.
Mr. Jaye pleaded with senators before the vote to censure him and let him keep his seat, but Mr. DeGrow was able to get 11 Democrats to join 22 of the Senate's 23 Republicans in voting to expel Mr. Jaye. Democratic Sen. Don Koivisto of Ironwood and Mr. Jaye were the only ones to oppose the resolution.
Mr. Jaye, 43, had been under investigation by a special Senate committee for three drunken driving convictions, allegations he hit his financee, Sonia Kloss, and "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," including verbally abusing staff members and having six photos of his topless financee on his Senate-issued laptop computer.
The senator, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, admitted he made mistakes but said he was pushed out because he had clashed with Mr. DeGrow [R- Port Huron].
"I'm going into bankruptcy over trumped-up charges," Mr. Jaye said during his fight on the Senate floor to save his job. "Why? Because I've upset the political bosses and the special interests."
Mr. Jaye said after the vote that he may run again for the Senate. Governor Engler is expected to call a special election to fill Mr. Jaye's seat. Mr. Jaye said he's thinking of filing a suit over his expulsion but admitted his legal bills may make that impossible.
Bill McMaster, head of an Oakland County taxpayers' group and a Jaye supporter, said he hopes Mr. Jaye runs again. "The battle has begun with the birth of a martyr in Senator Jaye," Mr. McMaster said. "He may not be gone for long."
Mr. Koivisto said Mr. Jaye didn't deserve to be expelled because the allegations that Mr. Jaye had been in "a violent physical altercation" with his financee were never proved.
"We are saying you are guilty even if you never were even charged," Mr. Koivisto said. He called for censuring Mr. Jaye and taking away perks of the office.
But, other senators said Mr. Jaye's behavior had been too extreme and gone on too long to allow him to stay.
Although Mr. Jaye was never charged in Florida after being arrested on April 12 in a dispute with Ms. Kloss, some senators said they didn't believe the pair's denials that he didn't strike her.
Other said they were upset with documents from Senate staff members saying Mr. Jaye had sworn at them or been verbally abusive.
Several of the 33 senators who voted Thursday to expel the Macomb County Republican said the outcome might have been different if they hadn't thought he was lying about striking his fiancee, Sonia Kloss.
They pointed to the police testimony saying Kloss had bruises on her face after an April 12 dispute with Jaye outside her home in Fort Myers, Fla.
They brought up the eyewitness account of an 18-year-old clerk at a Bay County gas station who took a day off school to tell a Senate investigating committee he saw Jaye strike Kloss as the two were leaving the station's mini-mart last November.
They didn't buy Kloss' comments that Jaye had never struck her, or Jaye's argument that because Florida authorities decided not to bring formal charges against him and he'd never been charged in six months for the Bay County incident, he should be left off the hook.
For Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow and many others, the evidence added up to one thing: Jaye had hit his fiancee.
"Once it was clear he did, it was over," DeGrow said after the vote. "He continues to deny it. He'll probably always deny it. But it [his denial] isn't true."
DeGrow, R- Port Huron, said the outcome may have been different if Jaye had walked into his office the week after his April 12 Florida arrest, admitted he'd hit Kloss twice and asked for help straigtening out his life.
Instead, Jaye insisted to his fellow Senate Republicans during an April 17 meeting that he had not struck Kloss.
During the Senate investigation, his lawyers showed an interview they'd taped with Kloss in which she said she had been hit in the face by a garment bag the two had been tussling over in Florida, not by Jaye.
They also showed a tape from the service station's surveillance system on which Jaye can be seen propelling Kloss out of the men's bathroom in the station's mini-mart, but not striking or kicking her.
Jaye insisted those were enough to prove his innocence, and that his other transgressions - three drunk driving convictions, verbal abuse of staff members and having six photos of his topless fiancess on his Senate-issued laptop computer didn't deserve expulsion.
But his fellow senators weren't looking for proof that Jaye hadn't erred. They wanted him to admit he'd done something wrong and get professional help.
"Things that used to be acceptable in harassment are not acceptable anymore," said Sen. Joanne Emmons, R-Big Rapids. "When I became convinced he hit her and lied, that crossed the line for me."
DeGrow has walked a delicate line of his own with Jaye ever since the brash, in-you-face state representative won a Senate special election in 1997. He kept private his letters admonishing Jaye and restored the committee assignments Jaye lost when he had to serve jail time last summer for his third drunk driving conviction.
But while Jaye's political stances didn't differ that much from his predecessor; the late Doug Carl, he didn't seem to fit very well into the smaller; more dignified world of the 38-member Senate.
Where he was just one colorful character among several in the 100-member House, Jaye's often caustic behavior toward Senate staff and other senators wasn't as easily overlooked in the Capitol's south wing.
That became even more truer as Jaye, under the spotlight of a six-member, bipartisan committee investigating his behavior, accused DeGrow of trying to shove him out of office in a political witch hunt.
When Jaye began insisting the 18-year-old clerk was a liar, most senators had heard enough.
"It drove home the drastic reality of what the pattern here was," said Senate Democratic Leader John Cherry of Clio. Instead of coming clean, he said, Jaye lied. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he tried to blame others.
Still, no one looked triumphant as the first vote to expel a senator in Michigan history passed 33-2.
"This was not a happy vote," said Livonia Republican Thaddeus McCotter, who headed the investigating committee. "This was not a vote somebody won."
The extent to which Mr. Jaye became persona non grata among his Senate colleagues was reflected in the last week's 33-2 vote to kick him out. Twenty-two of his fellow Republicans voted with 11 Democrats in the majority, so it can't be said the expulsion was the result of any partisan vendetta.
Rather, Senate Republican leaders seemed to be sick and tired of dealing with a long-standing pattern of misconduct by Mr. Jaye - three convictions for drunken driving, an arrest in Florida for allegedly beating up his fiancée and lying about it, and a record of abuse toward staff members.
Such disreputable behavior, plus the revelation that he kept nude photos of his fiancée on a Senate computer, mark Mr. Jaye as the kind of guy few would want to be associated with. But the fact remains that he was duly elected to the Senate and the voters of his Macomb County district should have had a say on whether he stayed.
Senate leaders had a couple of alternatives in dealing with Mr. Jaye. They could have censured him, taking away all his Senate privileges save his right to vote. Or they could have found and financed a candidate to defeat him in the next primary election. Instead, goaded by Mr. Jaye's in-you-face defiance and absolute refusal to get professional help or even admit he had done anything wrong, they chose the easier path of expulsion.
Now Mr. Jaye is eligible to be a candidate in a special election that must be called to replace him. Judging by comments from supporters in the suburban district, his populist brand of religion and anti-tax, pro-gun, and anti-abortion fervor is popular. He could be back in office soon, once again sticking his thumb in the eye of the Senate establishment.
The risk for a political body in expelling a troublesome colleague - Mr. Jaye is the first in Michigan Senate history - is that it could encourage similar action in the future by a vindictive political majority.
And in Mr. Jaye's case, the tactic may accomplish just the opposite of the desired goal.
A June 7 hearing is set in Macomb County on whether Mr. Jaye's probation for a 2000 drunken driving conviction should be revoked. Prosecutors are expected to try to show Mr. Jaye violated his driving restrictions.
The Washington Township Republican could be ordered to spend another 10 1/2 months in jail.
Mr. Jaye said Saturday he might run during a special election to fill the rest of his term. A date for the vote has not been set.
End the Jaye Spectacle
Detroit News
May 16, 2001
What looked at first like a terrific opportunity to rid the state Senate of chronic embarrassment David Jaye threatens to become instead an embarrassment for the Senate and its Republican leadership.
The ongoing expulsion hearing for Sen. Jaye, a Washington Township Republican, has been botched, primarily because Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow moved too hastily and overstepped the appropriate role of a legislative body.
Don't read that as support for Sen. Jaye. The senator is a disreputable individual who increasingly exhibits signs of mental instability. His stream-of-consciousness excuse making is almost frightening to hear, and his multiple conspiracy theories on why he's always in hot water suggest he has lost touch with reality.
His ongoing erratic behavior and ultra-right-wing viewpoints have made him an outcast even among his own party. His repeated brushes with the law have left him with little credibility among his peers and rendered him ineffective in representing his Macomb County constituents.
Sen. Jaye is unfit to serve in the Legislature, and we again urge him to resign and concentrate on fixing his myriad personal problems. We would support a move by his constituents to recall him.
But the Senate hearing is taking on the qualities of a star chamber.
Rather than wait for Florida officials to act on charges that Sen. Jaye assaulted his fiancee at her Fort Myers home, Sen. DeGrow decided to try the case in the Senate chambers.
He took the extraordinary step of flying in police officers and other witnesses from Florida to testify at the surrogate trial. Meanwhile, though the hearing is being conducted as a classic criminal prosecution, Sen. Jaye was denied his due process rights, a fact that prompted the American Civil Liberties Union, which does not often align itself with Sen. Jaye, to weigh in on his behalf.
Sen. DeGrow should have waited until Florida prosecutors finished their work, which they did this week, deciding not to press charges. Sen. Jaye also has not been charged in a previous incident in which he and his fiancee allegedly scuffled at a Bay County rest stop.
There's a sense of piling on. Macomb County Prosecutor Carl Marlinga is pressing to have Sen. Jaye's probation on a drunk driving conviction revoked because of the Bay County arrest. And the Senate has introduced as evidence of Sen. Jaye's unfitness risque pictures of his fiance found on his state-owned laptop computer.
Sen. Jaye and his supporters are gaining sympathy for their claims that the senator is being railroaded. Even many who despise Sen. Jaye object to the proceedings.
Senate rules allow the body to expel whom it pleases. The standard has traditionally been that a senator is expelled for a felony conviction. Given that neither Florida nor Bay County has charged Sen. Jaye, Sen. DeGrow and company are on shaky ground in moving against him at this point.
Sen. Jaye is a nut and a lout. He is also self-destructive and is likely to provide other opportunities for his colleagues to give him the boot, if voters don't do so first. His political career is destined to end in disgrace. Sen. DeGrow would better serve the Senate and his party by bringing this hearing to a swift end, working for a censure vote against Sen. Jaye and waiting for a better opportunity to dispatch the senator.
The Issue
Has the state Senate properly conducted its expulsion hearings against David Jaye?
Jaye unlikely to testify at hearing
Some feel that will weaken his case against expulsion
Detroit News
May 16, 2001
LANSING -- As attorneys for state Sen. David Jaye opened his defense before a committee weighing whether to expel him from the Senate, it was becoming increasingly clear that Jaye probably won't testify on his own behalf.
Jaye's attorneys didn't include his name on the witness list they submitted to the six-member panel. Nor was he among those who testified during the first day of Jaye's defense Tuesday, when a number of constituents and supporters spoke highly of Jaye's work ethic and loyalty.
Jaye is a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township. The Senate Republican leadership has been pressing for his ouster because of various run-ins with law enforcement officers and allegations of misbehavior toward female Senate staffers.
Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, the committee chairman, suggested Jaye would forgo testifying in his own defense to avoid possible charges if he gave false testimony under oath. Legal proceedings are still pending against Jaye for an alleged Nov. 19 assault in Bay County and for a probation violation on a drunken driving conviction in Macomb County.
"The difference between saying things at a press conference in front of TV cameras and saying them under oath is that perjury would attach if you lie under oath," McCotter said.
Senate Democratic Leader John Cherry of Clio, who is also on the committee, said Jaye could weaken his case by not testifying before the panel.
"If he doesn't, it means he's not prepared to testify factually," Cherry said. "He's apparently going to carry on his defense later on the floor of the Senate, and I think that handicaps him."
Philip Thomas, Jaye's lead attorney, said he has not decided whether to call Jaye as a witness. "It's not always a matter of telling the truth it's whether they're up to it," Thomas said.
In other developments:
* Committee lawyers produced more documents related to the Jaye case. They were not introduced into evidence because Jaye's attorneys objected and were given time to review them.
* Cherry said he advised Jaye several weeks ago to get help with his "severe personal problems," including alcohol abuse. McCotter said if Jaye had followed that advice the Senate could be considering censure rather than expulsion.
Corporations would send Jaye packing
The state senator's behavior would not be tolerated in the business world
Grand Rapids Press
May 16, 2001
David Jaye should thank his lucky stars that he's employed by state government.
He might still keep his state senator's job, despite three drunken-driving convictions, several allegations that he assaulted his girlfriend, complaints that he verbally abused female Senate staffers and the discovery of photos of his topless girlfriend on his taxpayer-owned laptop computer.
Had he embarked on a career in the private sector and committed even a fraction of those offenses, he'd be out on the street faster than you could say "due process."
Fired, sacked, canned.
"I know of no client I represent in the private sector who would still be talking about what to do with this fellow," said Linn Hynds, a Detroit lawyer who represents businesses in employment disputes.
Hynds, who heads the employment-law practice at Honigman, Miller, Schwartz & Cohn, is one of five legal experts and officials of employer organizations who told me that Jaye's behavior wouldn't be tolerated in the business world.
"If all those things occurred and they occurred in a relatively short time frame, he'd be lucky to have a job," said David Khorey, an employment-law specialist at the law firm Varnum, Riddering, Schmidt & Howlett in Grand Rapids.
No hearing in private sector
Equating Jaye the public servant with Jaye the hypothetical private sector employee isn't a perfect comparison.
He wasn't hired by his Senate colleagues, who are trying to oust him; Jaye was elected to his job by Macomb County voters.
And despite his repeated protests that he's been denied due process, Jaye is at least getting a lengthy Senate hearing in which he has the chance to defend himself.
In the private sector, employees who don't have a contract -- that's most of us -- are entitled to no such hearing. The majority of workers are "at will" employees, meaning they serve at the will of their employers.
They can be fired for cause, or for no cause, as long as the employer doesn't violate employment laws.
An example of breaking the law would be terminating an employee because of age, sex or race.
Let's say that Jaye was in a high-profile, private-sector job roughly equivalent to his state senator's position -- maybe a vice president at a corporation with sales of a few billion dollars a year.
Strip away his drunken-driving convictions, the allegations he assaulted his girlfriend and even the claims that he cursed at female staffers.
The legal experts I spoke to say the one offense that would likely get Jaye fired by a corporation is keeping photos of his topless girlfriend on a company-owned computer.
Zero tolerance
Many companies have zero-tolerance policies that prohibit storing sexually explicit material on their computers. Violating such a policy would likely get a high-visibility executive fired, according to my informal panel of experts.
"That is one of the most clear-cut violations," said Nancy McKeague, senior vice president for human resources and administration at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce
And if the photos were inadvertently discovered by female co-workers, as happened with Jaye's Senate computer, the offense would be even more serious.
A business facing such a situation could be held legally liable for allowing a hostile work environment to exist.
"Employers can't tolerate a hostile workplace -- it's just a big no-no," said Mike Burns, executive vice president of the Southfield-based American Society of Employers, a trade association representing 1,000 companies in Michigan.
Donna Donati, an employment-law attorney at Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone in Detroit, says Jaye also would likely lose his job for serving 35 days in jail after a drunken-driving conviction last year.
Most employers wouldn't tolerate an employee missing 35 days of work while sitting in jail, she says.
It's easy to understand why Jaye is fighting so hard to keep his Senate seat. Compared to private-sector workplace standards, he's been coddled by his government employer.
Officials query new Jaye case witnesses
Bay County incident draws further probe
Detroit Free Press
May 17, 2001
The case to expel state Sen. David Jaye from office took another turn in Bay County on Wednesday with a renewed investigation into whether the Macomb County Republican assaulted his fiancée at a gas station last November.
Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran said State Police are interviewing five new and previous witnesses to determine whether Jaye will be charged with misdemeanor assault. The Nov. 19 incident has become a focal point in hearings on whether to expel Jaye for repeated...
Jaye hearing takes break to give lawyers more time
Ludington Daily News
May 17, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - An investigation over whether Sen. David Jaye should be expelled from the Senate is taking a breather until Tuesday to give defense attorneys time to go over documents that surfaced this week.
New documents force Jaye hearing to take a breather
The secretary of the state Senate says the documents include additional complaints against the embattled state senator
Grand Rapids Press
May 17, 2001
LANSING -- An investigation over whether Sen. David Jaye should be expelled from the Senate is being postponed until Tuesday to give defense attorneys time to go over documents that surfaced this week.
The secretary of the Senate on Wednesday handed over files to Jaye that she said contained numerous complaints about Jaye's mistreatment of members of her staff.
But Jaye's attorneys said the records also could be used to provide positive testimony about the senator and to undermine arguments he should be expelled.
Jaye referred to the documents as "secret files" and accused Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow of withholding the records, having his phone calls monitored and copying files from his laptop computer without his knowledge.
"I never gave permission to the Senate computer department to keep a permanent record of my laptop files," Jaye said in a statement. "It's frightening to know that ... state employees' private letters, Valentine's Day cards and private photos on state-owned property can be used against them."
Jaye, 43, is under investigation by a Senate committee for a series of drunken-driving convictions, allegations that he hit his fiancee and "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," including having six photos of his topless fiancee on his laptop computer.
The six-member, bipartisan committee is considering a resolution to expel Jaye, an action that would require 26 votes in the 38-member Senate. It also could recommend the Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township be censured or reprimanded.
A spokesman for DeGrow denied the Port Huron Republican had ever done anything wrong.
"I don't know where this charge of withholding evidence is coming from, because we have turned over everything that could possibly be related" to Jaye, Aaron Keesler said.
During Wednesday's committee hearing, Secretary of the Senate Carol Viventi gave the committee a 2-inch-thick file she said contained records of complaints from her staff about Jaye's treatment of them.
She also handed over files she said contained information on calls from Jaye, routine reports from her computer manager and other complaints about Jaye.
Viventi said after the hearing she didn't turn over the files to the committee earlier because it had asked her only to count how many pictures of Jaye's topless fiancee were on his Senate-issued laptop computer.
News Analysis: Jaye case shrouded in haze
Michigan Daily News Editor
May 21, 2001
For the last few weeks, a special committee of the Michigan Senate has been attempting to determine whether one of its members, David Jaye, is fit to serve.
A poor example
Senators should vote Jaye out
The Michigan Daily
May 21, 2001
Our government and, in fact our society derives heavily from the premise that an individual needs to surrender some of his rights / powers and bestow them onto an appointed/elected few. For instance, someone living in a city implicitly agrees to grant only law enforcement officials of that city the power to arrest and charge a person with a crime. In the case of government, citizens forego their individual voice in law making and entrust it to an elected representative.
In Our Opinion
Jaye should be honorable, for once, and resign his seat
The Argus-Press
May 21, 2001
It's our belief- and not just as journalists - that where there's smoke there is at least the possibility of fire which should be investigated quickly, in order to avoid devastation.
Jaye's expulsion hearings resume
But state senator isn't first lawmaker to get into trouble
Detroit News
May 22, 2001
LANSING -- Sen. Dave Jaye, facing possible expulsion by his Senate colleagues for a string of legal and behavioral problems, isn't the first Michigan lawmaker to run afoul of the law.
Jaye, R-Washington Township, could become the first senator to be expelled. A state representative was booted from the Legislature in 1978.
The expulsion hearings resume today for Jaye, who has thrice been convicted of drunk driving and is being investigated for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend near Bay City last November. Florida officials decided not to press charges for another alleged assault on her last month. Jaye is also charged in a Senate resolution with keeping semi-nude photographs of his fiancee on his state-owned computer and for verbal abuse of Senate staffers.
Here's a look at other lawmakers who got into legal troubles over the past 30 years.
* Sen. Henry Stallings, D-Detroit, resigned in 1998 after pleading guilty to a felony charge related to his use of a state-paid Senate aide to help run his art gallery in downtown Detroit. The resignation, part of a deal that allowed him to avoid jail time, came as the Senate was prepared to vote to expel him.
* Rep. Steve Shepich, an Iron River Democrat, resigned in 1994 after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of filing bogus travel vouchers while he was employed at the House Fiscal Agency. The crime occurred before his 1992 election to the Legislature.
* Rep. Dennis Dutko, D-Warren, bowed to pressure from his colleagues and quit the Legislature from a jail cell in 1989 where he was incarcerated as a repeat drunken driver. Nine days after his release from jail, Dutko was arrested in Tennessee for cocaine and marijuana possession. He committed suicide in Florida shortly after that arrest.
* In 1990, Sen. Joseph Mack, D-Ironwood, was convicted of bilking the state by filing a phony travel reimbursement claim. In a deal with authorities, Mack pleaded no-contest to a misdemeanor and resigned from the Senate.
* Sen. Basil Brown, D-Highland Park, resigned in 1988 after he was convicted on drug and marijuana possession charges. The conviction was later overturned on appeal.
* Former Rep. Daisy Elliott, D-Detroit, went to jail in 1985 for possession of a stolen car. She claimed she purchased her 1977 Cadillac from a reputable dealer and did not know it had been stolen. After her legal woes surfaced, the veteran lawmaker was defeated in her 1984 reelection bid.
* Rep. Casmer Ogonowski, D-Detroit, was indicted in 1981 on federal charges of taking bribes to help two Detroit store owners get a liquor license and a lottery terminal. He pleaded guilty to extortion and quit the House just before colleagues were to vote on his expulsion.
* Rep. Monte Geralds, D-Madison Heights, was convicted in 1978 for embezzling money from a law client before he was in the Legislature. He became the first -- and, so far, only -- lawmaker ever expelled from the Legislature.
* Sen. Earl Nelson, D-Lansing, was indicted in 1978 by a federal grand jury for violating racketeering laws by taking a $5,000 loan from a dog racing advocate in exchange for sponsoring a bill to legalize dog racing. Nelson was defeated for re-election that year, and charges were later dropped for lack of evidence.
* Sen. Arthur Cartwright, D-Detroit, resigned in 1978 as part of a deal when he pleaded guilty to cheating on his state expense account.
* Sen. Charles Youngblood Jr., D-Detroit, quit in 1974 just before he faced a certain expulsion vote by his colleagues. He was convicted of conspiracy to bribe a Liquor Control Commission official. The conviction was later overturned.
* Rep. Dale Warner, R-Eaton Rapids, was charged with heroin possession after a 1973 police raid on his Lansing motel room. He did not seek reelection the following year. The charges were dismissed in 1977 by a judge who said the case had dragged on too long.
Jaye hearing
Sen. David Jaye resumes his defense today before a Senate panel weighing whether to expel him for a series of drunken driving convictions, allegations he assaulted his girlfriend and that he addresses female staffers with profane language. Here's what's next:
* The defense will call witnesses to testify in Jaye's behalf.
* Jaye's attorneys and the committee lawyers will make their final arguments.
* The six-member committee could vote as early as this week whether to recommend Jaye be expelled -- or face lesser penalties of censure or reprimand.
* The full Senate will decide Jaye's fate. It would take a two-thirds vote to expel him.
Tape surfaces, casting doubt on Jaye case
He calls shop's video exoneration
Detroit Free Press
May 23, 2001
A surveillance videotape that shows Sen. David Jaye pushing but not hitting his fiancée at a Bay County gas station last November jolted a Senate special hearing Tuesday and cast doubt on the case to expel Jaye. But one leading senator said the tape doesn't disprove charges that Jaye struck Sonia Kloss after she left a men's restroom at the store off I-75. The unexpected tape was a bombshell in the expulsion hearings, which continued into Tuesday evening. With...
Tape shows no Jaye assault
Secret videotape played for senators raises questions about the testimony of witness
Detroit News
May 23, 2001
https://infoweb.newsbank.com/
LANSING -- As a special Senate committee neared a vote on whether to recommend Sen. David Jaye be expelled, a videotape was dramatically placed into evidence Tuesday that raised questions about the testimony of a star witness to one of the assault charges against him.
The videotape came from surveillance cameras inside a party store at a Bay County gas station where Jaye is alleged to have assaulted his fiancee, Sonia Kloss, on Nov. 19.
The tape, its existence unknown for six months until it was discovered Monday, was played for the committee members. In it, Jaye is not seen striking Kloss. It appeared as if he was using force to push her out of a men's bathroom, where she had spent a little over seven minutes, a portion of the time with two unidentified men.
"It shows I didn't hit her. It shows I didn't slap her. It shows I didn't kick her," said Jaye, 43. He said he believes Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow was aware the tape existed but kept it secret because it helped Jaye's defense.
A spokesman for DeGrow, R-Port Huron, said he didn't know of the tape until Monday.
The six-member committee was to vote on the expulsion resolution today, after hearing closing arguments from both sides Tuesday night.
"Senators, there is a cancer on the Senate," said Senate Counsel Fred Hall, who called Jaye a woman beater, a liar and a bully. "It will continue to poison the institution."
Jaye's lead attorney Philip Thomas said that while Jaye has made frequent mistakes, including three drunken driving convictions, "they don't rise to a level warranting action by the Senate. You don't have the right to do that."
Committee members were divided on whether the bombshell videotape further weakened the case against Jaye, R-Washington Township. Last week, officials in Florida decided not to press charges in an April 12 incident in which Kloss, 36, told police that she suffered cuts and scratches to her face when Jaye assaulted her. Kloss later recanted her story and Florida officials said her refusal to testify led them to drop the case.
"A picture is worth a thousand words," said panel member Sen. Don Koivisto, D-Ironwood, adding that it did not appear to be an assault to him.
"It looked like he had his hand on her arm and (was) hustling her out of the store," Koivisto said. "The two assault charges are the main ingredients in the resolution, and both have totally fallen apart."
Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith, D-Salem Township, also said she wouldn't term what she saw assaultive behavior. "It looked like an angry spouse moving his wife out of the store," she said.
Committee chair Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, said the tape didn't vindicate Jaye of using force on Kloss. "It looked a little like the bum's rush out the door," he said.
McCotter also noted two other witnesses saw the incident from a parking lot, where there were no cameras. One called 911 to report a possible abduction and said a man had repeatedly hit and kicked a woman before forcing her into his car.
Neither could identify Jaye. But they described the car and got a license number. Police stopped Jaye in that vehicle a short time later. Both Jaye and Kloss denied there was an assault, and there were no visible signs of one, so the police let them go. Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran says he has heard from other witnesses and is still considering filing an assault charge against Jaye.
Senate investigators said they didn't know of the tape until Monday when Wendy Matthews, an assistant manager at the gas station near Bay City, called the Senate office to complain that one of Jaye's attorney's, Roland Jersevic, had been overly aggressive in interviewing her son, James, last Sunday about whether a videotape existed.
A Senate staffer drove to the gas station thinking she was getting a video of the exchange between the lawyer and teen-ager. Instead she got a tape from Nov. 19. Matthews said the tape machine had apparently malfunctioned and quit taping last November. The seven days on file were all from that week in November. She said there were no unusual incidents so the tapes had not been reviewed in six months.
James Matthews, 18, was a key witness earlier this month when he testified that he saw Jaye drag Kloss from the rest room on Nov. 19. "About 10 steps from the door, she broke free," he testified. "I saw him slap her across the face."
But from the video, it appeared that Matthews was still in the bathroom, where he had gone to ask Kloss to leave, when the couple left the store.
Thomas said "it's very troublesome to me" why the tape never became public until Jaye's team began asking questions about the recording system. He stopped short of accusing anyone of keeping the tape secret. "I truly fear we will never know," how the tape "mysteriously surfaced," he said.
McCotter said he believed it could be a simple case of malfunctioning equipment.
Kloss, who earlier ignored a subpoena, was in Michigan and willing to testify under oath Tuesday -- if she could do so in private with just attorneys, and perhaps a couple of the Senate committee members present. Jaye's attorney Thomas said she didn't want to deal with the media attention and live cable TV coverage of the hearings.
The panel rejected the offer. "I firmly believe that public business ought to be conducted in public," said Sen. John Cherry, D-Clio.
Jaye vote may come today
A videotape shows the embattled state senator pushed and shoved, but did not slap, his fiancée
May 23, 2001
Grand Rapids Press
LANSING -- Lawyers for Sen. David Jaye said in closing arguments that Jaye doesn't deserve expulsion, while Senate attorneys argued expulsion was the only way to restore public trust in the Senate.
The six-member bipartisan committee investigating the Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township was expected to vote this afternoon on whether to recommend to the full Senate that Jaye be expelled, censured, reprimanded, or have no action taken against him.
Attorneys for the Senate and for Jaye presented their arguments Tuesday evening. Earlier in the day, the panel viewed a videotape of Jaye at a Bay County gas station last November that showed the senator propelling his fiancee out of the store -- but not hitting her, as a witness claimed.
"It shows I didn't hit her. It shows I didn't slap her. It shows I didn't kick her," Jaye said.
Jaye, 43, is under investigation by the committee for three drunken driving convictions, allegations that he hit fiancee Sonia Kloss and "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," including verbally abusing staff members and having six photos of his topless fiancee on his Senate-issued laptop computer.
Jaye said after Tuesday's hearing ended near 10 p.m. that he hoped the full Senate would be given the three-day Memorial Day weekend to study the evidence against him before voting on his fate.
"I've been humbled and reminded about my shortcomings. ... There's been some actions in the past that I regret," Jaye said. (But) "the items that are here today do not rise to the level of expulsion."
Senate attorney Fred Hall accused Jaye of lying about whether he hit Kloss and called him a bully who picked on Senate staff members.
"Senators, there's a cancer on the Senate," Hall told the committee investigating Jaye. "If we ignore this cancer, we allow it to poison the Senate."
But Jaye attorney Philip Thomas said that Jaye has not been charged with domestic assault either in Bay County or after an April 12 dispute between Jaye and Kloss outside her home in Fort Myers, Fla.
He acknowledged that Jaye has been convicted three times of drunken driving, but argued that Jaye hadn't had a drink since March 2000 and was trying to change his behavior.
"What we have to ask ourselves is, does this represent a cancer that needs to be excised? I don't think so," Thomas said.
He urged the panel to hold off on a decision until after a June 7 hearing is held in Macomb County on whether Jaye's probation for last year's drunken driving conviction should be revoked. If it is, Jaye could face another 101/2 months in jail.
Some senators on the panel said earlier Tuesday that Jaye may have assaulted Kloss out of range of the gas station's cameras. Two witnesses reported seeing what they thought was an abduction, but the Mobil station does not have video cameras outside the store. Neither witness could identify Jaye.
The videotape appears to call into question testimony given to the committee two weeks ago by gas station clerk James Matthews, 18, who said Jaye had "smacked her (Kloss) across the face" after going into the men's restroom to get his fiancee.
Jaye to face his fate today
Full senate is to vote
Detroit Free Press
May 24, 2001
A committee's 5-1 vote Wednesday to expel state Sen. David Jaye for misconduct sets up a climactic and historic vote today on whether to boot the controversial Macomb County Republican. With almost no debate, the special Senate committee approved a revised resolution that accuses Jaye of tarnishing the Senate by drinking and driving, abusing staff, misusing his Senate computer and twice assaulting his fiancée. The vote ended three weeks of hearings and public consternation...
Senate expected to take up Jaye expulsion resolution
Ludington Daily News
May 24, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - After weeks of accusations that he had acted in ways unbecoming to a lawmaker, state Sen David Jaye will soon learn if he will keep or lose his seat.
Full Michigan Senate expected to take up Jaye expulsion resolution
The Argus-Press
May 24, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - After weeks of accusations that he has acted in ways unbecoming to a lawmaker, state Sen. David Jaye will soon learn if he will keep or lose his seat.
Full Senate to take up Jaye expulsion
Muskegon Chronicle
May 24, 2001
After weeks of accusations that he has acted in ways unbecoming to a lawmaker, state Sen. David Jaye will soon learn if he will keep or lose his seat.
The 38-member Senate was expected to vote this afternoon on a resolution that recommends Jaye be expelled. The resolution passed a special Senate investigating committee Wednesday on a 5-1 bipartisan vote.
Jaye called the move to expel him from the seat he’s held since 1997 a rush to justice, saying he didn’t see how senators not on the committee will be able to review three weeks of testimony before today’s vote.
“This is a railroad job,” said Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County’s Washington Township. “It didn’t matter what we said.”
The committee delayed its vote Wednesday afternoon as talks over a scenario that would spare Jaye expulsion and possibly lead to his resignation went on between Jaye’s lawyers and Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron.
No agreement had been reached by early Wednesday evening, and it was unclear if one would be reached before the expulsion resolution came to a vote in the full Senate.
Until now, Jaye has refused to resign and has threatened to sue if the full Senate votes to expel him. He didn’t directly answer a question Wednesday about whether he is considering resigning, but didn’t sound ready to give up.
“I’m not a quitter,” he said.
Jaye, 43, has been under investigation by the committee for three drunken driving convictions, allegations that he hit fiancee Sonia Kloss and “a recurring pattern of personal misconduct,” including verbally abusing staff members and having six photos ofhis topless fiancee on his Senate-issued laptop computer.
The committee voted on an alternative resolution to the one they have been considering for the past three weeks. The new resolution, authored by Senate Democratic Leader John Cherry, still calls for Jaye’s expulsion.
Jaye's days may be numbered as Senate expulsion vote looms
"This is a railroad job," the embattled senator says of today's vote after a bipartisan panel voted 5-1 against him
May 24, 2001
Grand Rapids Press
LANSING -- After weeks of accusations that he has acted in ways unbecoming to a lawmaker, state Sen. David Jaye soon will learn whether he will keep or lose his seat.
The 38-member Senate was expected to vote today afternoon on a resolution that recommends Jaye be expelled. The resolution passed a special Senate investigating committee Wednesday on a 5-1 bipartisan vote.
Jaye called the move to expel him from the seat he's held since 1997 a rush to justice, saying he didn't see how senators not on the committee will be able to review three weeks of testimony before today's vote.
"This is a railroad job," said Jaye, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township. "It didn't matter what we said."
The committee delayed its vote Wednesday afternoon as talks over a scenario that would spare Jaye expulsion and possibly lead to his resignation went on between Jaye's lawyers and Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron.
Until now, Jaye has refused to resign and has threatened to sue if the full Senate votes to expel him. He didn't directly answer a question Wednesday about whether he is considering resigning, but didn't sound ready to give up his fight just yet.
"I'm not a quitter," he said after the committee's vote.
Jaye, 43, has been under investigation by the committee for three drunken-driving convictions, allegations he hit fiancee Sonia Kloss and "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," including verbally abusing staff members and having six photos of his topless fiancee on his Senate-issued laptop computer.
The committee voted on an alternative resolution to the one they have considered for the past three weeks.
The new resolution, authored by Senate Democratic Leader John Cherry, still calls for Jaye's expulsion.
Twenty-six votes are needed to expel him.
Jaye criticized the new resolution, saying it still accused him of being involved April 12 in what it called "a violent physical altercation" with his fiancee outside her home in Fort Myers, Fla. Both Jaye and Kloss deny he hit her. Florida authorities last week declined to press formal domestic battery charges against Jaye.
Sen. Leon Stille, R-Spring Lake, who offered the resolution to expel Jaye, said Jaye's aggressive defense against the charges may have ruined any chance of surviving an expulsion vote.
Both he and Sen. Glenn Steil -- who opposes an expulsion -- anticipate the full Senate will vote to expel Jaye today.
"He tried to intimidate everyone with shenanigans, with investigations and innuendo," Stille said in anticipation of the expulsion vote.
"If he had been very contrite and sorrowful of his actions, I do think the Senate might have said, 'You screwed up, but we do have some forgiveness.' But the way he attacked people, he was on a roll and he made a bad situation worse."
But Steil, R-Grand Rapids, doesn't buy that.
"This was a foregone conclusion," he said of the committee vote.
Steil said his colleagues were eager to expel Jaye despite a lack of hard evidence.
"The young man at the gas station said Jaye dragged his girlfriend out of the restroom, but the tape never showed that," he said. "Besides, if my girlfriend was in a men's john, in a stall with other men, I'd be upset myself."
Stille said Jaye may have put himself in further legal jeopardy by inviting the special Senate committee to look into details of the case.
"There's a lot of information that came out in the questioning done under oath," Stille said.
"Beating his girlfriend could constitute a violation of his probation -- if that's the case, he has 10 months of jail time. There were three witnesses testifying that they saw him strike this woman."
Steil said Jaye's constituents should be the ones to decide Jaye's fate.
"Being despicable" is not reason enough for the Senate to intervene, he said.
Those voting to recommend expulsion were Republican Sens. Thaddeus McCotter of Livonia, Philip Hoffman of Horton and Walter North of St. Ignace, as well as Democratic Sens. Alma Wheeler Smith of Salem Township and Cherry.
The lone dissenter was Sen. Donald Koivisto, D-Ironwood, who said he plans to argue today on the Senate floor that Jaye doesn't deserve to be expelled.
He supports censuring Jaye and taking away many of his perks of office, including access to his office computers and Senate-issued laptop computer.
Jaye faces ouster vote
Senate will decide today after panel's 5-1 verdict to expel
Detroit News
May 24, 2001
LANSING -- A special Senate committee voted 5-1 Wednesday to recommend that Sen. David Jaye be the first senator ever expelled from office -- even as his lawyers continued trying to negotiate a deal that would call for the lawmaker to resign.
After five hours of delays for closed-door bargaining, the committee met in early evening and voted quickly to recommend expelling Jaye without allowing his attorneys to protest.
If no agreement is reached on resignation, the Senate was poised to vote today on expulsion. That would require a two-thirds majority, or 26 of the 38 senators.
Political insiders say it could be a close vote.
"He uses his position of public trust to exercise a perceived senatorial privilege which is used as a sword and shield against people less powerful than he is," said committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, who voted in favor of the expulsion resolution.
Jaye, who never testified under oath during the three-week proceedings and maintains that he is near bankruptcy because of mounting legal bills, said he didn't get a fair hearing.
"I'm innocent of these charges," Jaye said. "This has been a witch hunt, a railroad job. My due process rights have been trampled on."
When asked whether he would consider resigning, Jaye said: "Look, I'm not a quitter."
Jaye's attorneys were considering an informal offer that would allow Jaye to resign at the end of this year or early next year but take no part in Senate business in the meantime.
The proposal under discussion would let the 43-year-old Washington Township Republican continue to receive his $77,400 Senate salary, and, if he resigned in January, his pension would be sweetened by another year.
Jaye lawyer Phil Thomas said he and co-counsel met privately with Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow twice during the day.
"Resignation is one of the options being discussed right now," Thomas said. "But it's not the only option, and there's nothing in writing. For three weeks there have been generalized offers including resignation."
DeGrow, R-Port Huron, who has been Jaye's leading critic during the expulsion hearings, said: "There is no deal." Earlier in the day he took the unusual step of addressing the Democratic caucus for 20 minutes to outline why he thought Jaye was unfit for service.
The resignation plan ironically was devised by Senate Democrats and presented to DeGrow by Jaye attorney Mike Marselese, who met with DeGrow around noon.
Closed-door meetings continued throughout the day, postponing the committee meeting five times. One proposed deal would have the state pay Jaye's attorney fees, which DeGrow flatly rejected. Jaye said his bill for legal fees has mounted to more than $30,000, and is growing at the rate of $500 an hour.
Sen. Joe Young Jr., D-Detroit, said Democrats were anxious to find a solution to the Jaye problem short of expulsion. "Everybody wants him out but we don't want to change the felony standard," Young said.
While a senator has never been expelled, some who faced felony charges have been coaxed into resigning rather than endure a floor vote on expulsion. The most recent was Sen. Henry Stallings, D-Detroit, who resigned in 1998 after pleading guilty to a felony charge related to his use of a state-paid Senate aide to run his art gallery. None of Jaye's charges or convictions involves a felony.
"If he resigns, he himself is saying I'm unfit for service,' and that's important," Young argued.
Senate Democratic Leader John Cherry of Clio, who is a member of the special Senate committee, said he thought taxpayers would understand if an agreement is forged that lets Jaye collect his pay and pension credits without serving for the next several months.
"People will think that resignation is a pretty severe punishment," Cherry said. "They'll be more concerned that we exercised deliberateness and thoughtfulness in this process."
Sen. Don Koivisto, D-Ironwood, the lone "no" vote on the committee, said Jaye's woes did not reach the level required for expulsion. "There are some questionable things in the resolution, particularly the assaults," Koivisto said. "He needs to be taught a lesson here. I'd support a strong censure."
Besides McCotter, those voting to recommend expulsion were Republican Sens. Philip Hoffman of Horton and Walter North of St. Ignace as well as Democratic Sens. Cherry and Alma Wheeler Smith of Washtenaw County's Salem Township.
Jaye has twice been convicted of drunken driving while in office and served a combined 45 days in jail. He was also investigated but not charged in two alleged assaults of his fiancee, Sonia Kloss, 36, of Florida.
Jaye has also been accused of using profanity in conversation with female Senate staffers, and for keeping lewd pictures of Kloss on his state-owned computer.
Senator North votes to expel Jaye
The Sault Ste. Marie Evening News
May 24, 2001
SAULT STE. MARIE -- Three weeks of testimony, transcripts and eye-witness accounts came to an end on Thursday as the Select Committee -- composed of six Michigan senators including Sen. Walter North (R-St. Ignace) -- recommended expulsion for one of its own.
The final decision for Sen. David Jaye, a Macomb County Republican, should come later today when the full 38-member senate officially considers the expulsion resolution. No other representative has ever been expelled from the Michigan Legislature.
"We are in uncharted waters," said North from his Lansing Office early today, "for a colleague who has engaged in uncharted conduct."
The committee listened to three weeks of testimony, transcripts and eyewitness accounts before coming to Wednesday's 5-1 vote approving the expulsion recommendation for the full senate's consideration. Only Sen. Donald Koivisto (D-Ironwood) voted against the resolution citing his preference for censure and removing senate privileges from the controversial member.
Jaye's latest scrape with the law, an April 12 domestic violence arrest in Florida, prompted the expulsion hearing. Even after Florida officials opted against filing formal charges last week, the Select Committee continued to take testimony. Three drunk driving convictions, the abuse of staff members and policy people, improper photographs stored on Senate-owned equipment in addition to multiple domestic assault allegations convinced the bipartisan panel to recommend expulsion.
"It all added up to conduct that should not be exhibited by a Michigan senator," said North. "Personally, I'm comfortable with the vote I cast."
When the full senate tackles the matter today it will take a two-thirds vote, 26 senators, to expel Jaye. North said he has not been involved in counting heads on this matter and did not make any prediction as to the eventual outcome. According to other published reports, it appears as though the senate is very close to amassing the 26 votes needed for expulsion.
North did say the senate would meet at 10 a.m. for a Memorial Day service and then the parties would enter into a closed caucus. There are currently 23 Republicans and 15 Democrats on the Michigan Senate.
Jaye has refused to resign despite pressure from both his fellow senators and some constituents.
"I'm not a quitter," he was quoted as saying after the committee's 5-1 vote.
Michigan: State Senator Expelled
The New York Times
Published: May 25, 2001
David Jaye, a conservative Republican, became the first Michigan senator to be expelled from office. A 33-to-2 vote to expel him by the Republican-controlled Senate came after hearings into accusations that Mr. Jaye struck his fiancée and verbally abused staff members. Mr. Jaye called the expulsion a ''railroad job.''
Senate boots Jaye in a historic vote
Member with a checkered past is kicked out, 33-2
Detroit Free Press
May 25, 2001
A united Senate expelled David Jaye on Thursday, branding the Macomb County veteran lawmaker a bully whose many personal and legal troubles made him unfit for a job he fought doggedly to keep. The 33-2 vote ended weeks of crackling controversy and hearings over whether the Republican iconoclast was an incorrigible misfit or a political target who championed unpopular causes but made mistakes in his personal life. A day earlier, a special committee investigating charges against Jaye...
Michigan Senate votes to expel member
The Bryan Times
May 25, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - The state Senate voted Thursday to expel Sen. David Jaye, capping a turbulent six weeks that began with accusations Jaye had struck his fiancée and ended with his insistence he was being railroaded for his unpopular political views.
At least 26 votes in the 38-member Senate were needed to force out Jaye, who became the first Michigan senator ever expelled. The resolution to remove him passed 33-2. Jaye, a noisy, boastful, arch-conservative gadfly who has likened himself to a "junkyard dog," turned down requests from several senators to resign before the vote.
Michigan Senator forced out
Wilmington Morning Star
May 25, 2001
Lansing, Mich. - The Michigan Senate on Thursday expelled one of its memebers for the first time, ousting a Republican who had been accused of verbally abusing staff members and hitting his fiancée.
Michigan Senate votes Jaye out
Defiant arch -conservative blames action on 'trumped-up charges'
The Toldeo Blade
May 25, 2001
Lansing - The state Senate voted yesterday to expel Sen. David Jaye, capping a turbulent six weeks that began with accusations he had struck his fiancée and ended with his insistence he was being railroaded for his unpopular political views.
At least 26 votes in the 38-member Senate were needed to force out Mr. Jaye who became the first Michigan senator expelled. The resolution to remove him passed 33-2.
Mr. Jaye, a boastful arch-conservative gadfly who has likened himself to a "junkyard dog," turned down requests from several senators to resign before the vote. At one point, lawyers for Mr. Jaye and Senate Majority Leander Dan DeGrow discussed letting Mr. Jaye resign in the fall, but no deal was struck.
Mr. Jaye pleaded with senators before the vote to censure him and let him keep his seat, but Mr. DeGrow was able to get 11 Democrats to join 22 of the Senate's 23 Republicans in voting to expel Mr. Jaye. Democratic Sen. Don Koivisto of Ironwood and Mr. Jaye were the only ones to oppose the resolution.
Mr. Jaye, 43, had been under investigation by a special Senate committee for three drunken driving convictions, allegations he hit his financee, Sonia Kloss, and "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," including verbally abusing staff members and having six photos of his topless financee on his Senate-issued laptop computer.
The senator, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, admitted he made mistakes but said he was pushed out because he had clashed with Mr. DeGrow [R- Port Huron].
"I'm going into bankruptcy over trumped-up charges," Mr. Jaye said during his fight on the Senate floor to save his job. "Why? Because I've upset the political bosses and the special interests."
Mr. Jaye said after the vote that he may run again for the Senate. Governor Engler is expected to call a special election to fill Mr. Jaye's seat. Mr. Jaye said he's thinking of filing a suit over his expulsion but admitted his legal bills may make that impossible.
Jaye Failed to convince fellow senators he had come clean
The Argus Press
May 25, 2001
Lansing, Mich. [AP] - Sen. David Jaye might still be sitting in the Senate next week if he's convinced his fellow senators he's come clean.
Kloss: Our lives are turned upside down
Fiancée defends Jaye before the historic Senate vote that resulted in his expulsion
Detroit News
May 25, 2001
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP -- Sonia Kloss paced nervously through the first floor of the brick two-story home, answering the intermittent telephone calls, waiting.
The 36-year-old former restaurant owner from Fort Myers, Fla., smoked what seemed like a never-ending supply of cigarettes, hoping that the news would be good, that her fiance David Jaye would again foil his political enemies and remain a state senator.
A stranger's voice on a boom box brought the news about the crushing vote in the Senate to expel Jaye. The message echoed through her fiance's home, that the Washington Township Republican's fight to retain his office had come to a sad, embarrassing end.
"It has to be hard for him," Kloss said in an exclusive interview Thursday with The Detroit News. "My life has been turned upside down. David's life has been turned upside down."
Less than an hour before the final vote, Kloss spoke with Jaye, who said Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow was calling topless photos of her found on his office computer "extreme porn."
Jaye told Kloss that Majority Leader Sen. Dan DeGrow was making accusations that pictures of her found on his office computer were "extreme porn."
"That was not porn. That was personal pictures taken in Florida," Kloss said after hanging up. "I have no idea how they ended up on his computer. I think he was looking for some other pictures and those got accidentally downloaded."
Kloss continued the chain of cigarettes -- breaking Jaye's rule of no smoking in his house -- while answering a growing stream of calls from supporters.
During the last few months, Kloss had come to learn and live in the shadow of Jaye's notoriety. In years past, he was vilified in the press for his drunken driving arrests and for his positions on gun owner's rights and against affirmative action.
Kloss, a native of Trinidad, is the mother of two children from a previous marriage. She found herself dragged into the headlines as Jaye stood accused, arrested and released for allegedly assaulting her. Their personal lives were exposed when the topless photos of Kloss were seen on Jaye's Senate-issued laptop computer.
"He is a good politician who works hard for his constituents," she said. "This is like a death in his family. Politics is his first love."
Photos of the couple, from before the assault charges, hung from walls and sat on tables in Jaye's Washington Township home. The house was decorated more like a bachelor's pad than the abode of a state senator. Considering Jaye's 18 years in elective office, few political mementos were visible.
Paintings by amateur artists of a space-shuttle liftoff, of deep space and of wildlife hung on the plain white walls. The furniture had a tired look.
"He lives like a bachelor because his ex-wife took all of his furniture," Kloss explained.
Boxes of papers appeared to have taken root in the living room.
One photo in a ceramic frame covered with sea shells showed Jaye with Kloss and her two sons.
"He would take the boys fishing and show them the outdoors," she said. "The boys wouldn't call him David. They called him "senator ... smiling senator."
While awaiting the vote in Lansing, where Jaye was vehemently defending himself before his peers, Kloss chopped vegetables preparing a shepherd's pie -- one of her mother's specialties. Regardless of the outcome, her fiance would have something to eat when he returned home.
"As a kid, I would love it when my mom would cook shepherd's pie," Kloss said. The thought brought a rare smile on this cold, wet, emotionally overcast day. "It was one of my favorite dishes."
Kloss sat on a white leather sofa covered with a colorful blanket Jaye bought while visiting Mexico. She reminisced about the bumpy road of the couple's two-and-half-year relationship.
Jaye and a staffer were vacationing in Fort Myers when he met Kloss through a waitress at her Backwater Seafood Restaurant, she said. The restaurant was owned by Kloss and her ex-husband.
As her relationship with the tall, dark-haired politician grew, Jaye and Kloss began to spend more time together. Rarely, if ever, did six weeks go by before they found a way to see each other.
Then came the last six months.
Kloss admitted to making mistakes that led police to confront Jaye last November in Bay County and then a few weeks ago in Florida. She openly wished she had not made them.
Kloss flatly denied any abuse by Jaye as they left a service-station restroom along I-75 in Bay County in November. Kloss said she was running late to catch a flight back to Florida and had used the men's room because the women's restroom was full.
That upset Jaye, she said.
"I was trying to tell him my side of the story, and he was trying to get me in the car because we were running late," Kloss said. "If I were a victim, I would have been the first to call for help."
The incident in Florida last month came after an argument about Jaye's ex-wife, who was supposedly calling him on the phone. As Jaye was leaving her home, she said, he was trying to pull his bag from Kloss, and it smacked her in the face.
"I got a minor scratch that (a police) picture couldn't even pick up," she recalled.
For much of Thursday, Kloss didn't cry. She forcefully held back the flow of tears.
When she received a call Jaye's former sister-in-law who said the family was behind him, Kloss walked to a sliding door overlooking a small pond. There she cried.
"Michigan has a political Mafia ganging up on David ... they're all jealous of his career and his constituents loving him," she said. "That committee .. it had all the pawns and the rules and you're just there and you're not allowed to make a move because it was checkmate from the start. These people all have their motives and prejudged him."
With careful steps, Kloss walked to the sofa and sat down, unsure of what the future holds for the couple.
She admitted that Jaye's family did not approve of their engagement. She is unsure about what the Republican Party thought of their relationship, considering she is not an American citizen.
"I talked about breaking up because I didn't want to put him in the postion of breaking off the relationship," she said. "I wouldn't blame him if he would have broken up with me.
"I don't know what's going to happen. I feel guilty. I think that DeGrow used me as excuse."
What it means
* Senate expels Jaye immediately and removes him and his staff from Capitol.
* Jaye no longer gets his $77,400 salary but will start collecting $40,248 pension at 55.
What's next
* Governor will call a special election with the primary no sooner than 45 days later.
* Jaye may run in the election and, if he wins, would be allowed back in the Senate.
Jaye Case: Unbecoming Behavior
Detroit News
May 25, 2001
The Michigan Senate rid itself of a chronic embarrassment Thursday when it voted overwhelmingly to expel Sen. David Jaye, R-Washington Township, from its ranks.
Certainly, the Senate is better off without Mr. Jaye, as are his Macomb County constituents. Still, the precedent set by the expulsion, as well as the manner in which the Senate hearings were conducted, are causes for concern.
Mr. Jaye has repeatedly disgraced his office. He was investigated by a special Senate committee for drunken driving convictions, allegations that he hit fiancee Sonia Kloss and "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," including verbally abusing staff members and having topless photos of Ms. Kloss on his Senate-issued laptop computer.
There is no disputing that Mr. Jaye's behavior has been appalling. However, he has never been charged with assaulting Ms. Kloss, the allegation that triggered the Senate hearings. Both she and Mr. Jaye have repeatedly denied he struck her.
In booting Mr. Jaye for less than a criminal conviction, the Senate establishes an arbitrary standard for expelling a senator that can be used in the future to purge itself of political mavericks.
The Senate also entered questionable territory by conducting a parallel criminal investigation into allegations that Mr. Jaye assaulted Ms. Kloss in Florida. Under the direction of Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, the Senate brought in Florida police officers and other witnesses to determine if a crime had been committed.
That determination should have been left with Florida prosecutors, who eventually decided not to charge Mr. Jaye.
And while the Senate hearings clearly took on the tone of a criminal prosecution, Mr. Jaye was not afforded full due process rights.
The size of the vote margin -- 33-2 -- is an indication of how badly his fellow senators wanted Mr. Jaye out of their presence. That speaks loudly to his character.
There is little to commend Mr. Jaye's legislative career. He has been a race-baiter and an abrasive, loud and boastful lawmaker. Instead of apologizing to the Senate, he went on the attack and threatened to sue the body if he was expelled. He also hurled wild allegations at his fellow senators and generally made himself a hard person to like.
The risk now is that Mr. Jaye will become a martyr in the eyes of his supporters. He can certainly raise a valid argument that he was treated unfairly by his fellow senators. It is possible that he will run again for his seat.
But it would be a mistake for voters to feel any sympathy for Mr. Jaye. Though the process of removing him was extremely flawed, he got what he deserved.
David Jaye caused his own problems and is paying the price for behavior unbecoming a senator.
The Issue
Did David Jaye merit expulsion by the Michigan Senate?
Jaye 'may not be gone for long'
Ousted senator expected to lead race if he tries to recover his state position in special election
Detroit News
May 25, 2001
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP -- If he wants his state Senate seat back, there's a good chance David Jaye can get it.
That's the assessment of political analysts handicapping Jaye's chances of winning a special election to fill the Senate seat from which he was booted Thursday.
"The battle has begun with the birth of a martyr in Sen. Jaye," said Bill McMaster, head of Taxpayers United and an outspoken Jaye defender. "He may not be gone for long."
Gov. John Engler can call a special election to fill Jaye's seat, but he's not legally bound to do so. Nothing in the law prohibits Jaye from running again.
The Macomb County district is firmly Republican, and whoever wins the GOP special primary will be favored to win election over the Democratic nominee.
The vacant seat would attract a large field of candidates, which would work in Jaye's favor, political experts say. Jaye said after his Senate ouster that he was undecided about his future, but he left the door open to a comeback bid.
"I think he will show them he can be re-elected and start over again," said Sonia Kloss, his fiancee, who played an unwilling but pivotal role in his expulsion. "Knowing David, I am sure he will run again. If he thinks he can try again, I want him to."
Richard Sabaugh, a political analyst who served with Jaye on the Macomb County Board of Commissioners in the 1980s, said Jaye has "a lot of die-hard supporters in the district, and the district is very conservative."
"He's the poster boy for the gun-rights issue, and is anti-taxes and anti-abortion," Sabaugh said. "Those are all issues that resonate well with his conservative constituents."
Said East Lansing-based pollster and political consultant Steve Mitchell: "If I were David Jaye, I'd take a shot. He may have done all of these things people said he did, but he was never charged. He can take that message back: that he was railroaded and there was no justifiable reason for being thrown out of office."
Political analyst Ed Sarpolous said Jaye's chances are best if a lot of other Republicans run in the special primary. "If there is a cast of thousands running, the largest plurality will be the Jaye militia," Sarpolous said.
Macomb County Republican Party Chairwoman Janice Nearon expects a crowded field in the GOP primary, led by former Fraser Councilman Steve Thomas and state Rep. Alan Sanborn of Richmond.
Former state Rep. Alvin Kukuk, Maria Carl --- widow of Jaye's Senate predecessor, Doug Carl -- and newcomer G.J. LaRouche also may join the race.
Nearon is unsure Jaye will run again.
"He has been saying he has all these lawyer costs, and will he want to do it again after all of this?" Nearon asked.
Senator's expulsion sets new standards
Detroit News
May 25, 2001
LANSING -- In the end, not even the lone senator who stood with David Jaye in opposing his expulsion could defend his behavior.
"Doggone Dave, you did it again today," a frustrated Sen. Don Koivisto, D-Ironwood, burst out at one point during Thursday's debate on the Senate floor. Koivisto was upset that Jaye attacked fellow senators during his attempts to save his career.
Koivisto was the only one of Jaye's colleagues to vote against the resolution to expel Jaye over a series of misdeeds. Jaye also voted against the measure, resulting in the 33-2 outcome that made him the first senator ever expelled in the 164-year history of the Michigan Senate.
Jaye's expulsion dramatically changes the standard for getting booted out of the Senate. Although the State Constitution gives the Senate much leeway, the unwritten rule had always been that a lawmaker must be guilty of a felony.
But Jaye was tossed out for a trio of drunken-driving misdemeanors, rude treatment of staff, storing lewd photos on his Senate laptop and two allegations of assault on his fiancee, Sonia Kloss.
"The standard is a pattern of misconduct," said Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, who chaired the special committee that recommended Jaye's expulsion. "But future Senates are not bound by this," he insisted.
Craig Ruff, president of a nonpartisan think tank in Lansing, called the move "historic," partly because Jaye's removal was linked to his inability to get along with his colleagues.
"A precedent has been set that will put the senators and their successors in troubled water," Ruff said. "Likability and collegiality are now undeniably factors in expulsion. If you use this subjective criteria, there will be a lot of senators who will go through the same trial."
Sen. Burton Leland, D-Detroit, a personal friend of Jaye's, did not show up for Thursday's vote. Sen. George Hart, D-Dearborn, was there but didn't cast a vote and did not return phone calls afterward. Sen. Jackie Vaughn, D-Detroit, was absent due to illness.
The issue may never have come to a vote had Jaye accepted a deal to resign. Senate leaders said negotiations over a plan that would have let Jaye stay on the payroll until fall continued right up until the Senate vote.
Senate leaders said Jaye's attorneys pushed for a January quit date and even tried to get him a job on the state payroll as a condition of resignation. But no agreement was reached.
"It was principle over politics," said Jaye, who got up and spoke about a half-dozen times Thursday, including one rambling, 35-minute speech. "I'm not a quitter. The olive branch was very enticing, but I'm not going to sell out my constituents."
Jaye, a 13-year veteran of the Legislature from Macomb County's Washington Township, may get a chance to serve his constituents again. He is eligible to run in a special election to fill his vacated seat. And the Senate would have no choice but to seat him if he won.
Jaye said he hasn't decided whether he'll try to win his seat back. "I'm keeping all my options open," Jaye said. He added he is considering suing the state for depriving him of his livelihood.
The ousted senator said he is nearly bankrupt after piling up legal bills in excess of $30,000 over the past several weeks. That bill cannot be paid with campaign funds, according to state law.
Jaye said he needs to find work and has a number of options. "I might even work at a community college and help balance out all the communists and liberals by having a token conservative there," Jaye said.
Senate officials couldn't immediately say how much it cost to expel Jaye, but among the expenses were: round-trip tickets to Lansing and overnight lodging for four Sheriff's Department employees from Lee County, Fla. staff overtime and documentation and videotaping.
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, who was Jaye's chief critic, said he was saddened by Thursday's events.
"Dave Jaye is a man who is bright and had a lot potential. He just self-destructed," DeGrow said.
Jaye's colleagues ran out of excuses for the bad boy of the state Legislature
Detroit News
May 25, 2001
The expulsion of Sen. David Jaye, the first senator to be kicked out, signals that a new day has dawned at the Capitol -- as it did long ago in other workplaces.
For more than a century, many a contemptible scoundrel, cad, lout, drunk, and all-round bad apple has misbehaved in and around the Michigan Legislature and gotten away with it.
Wink, wink. No felony, no big deal, a pattern of bad conduct be damned. No more, thanks to a resounding, precedent-setting 33-2 vote to expel the Bad Boy of Michigan politics.
The scales of the Senate's arbitrary, frontier-like justice were tipped against Jaye in large part because of mistreatment of women--verbal abuse against Senate staffers and alleged physical abuse against his fiancee.
That, more than Jaye's drunken-driving convictions, was the final straw for Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, the driving force behind the expulsion.
That, along with lewd photographs on Jaye's state-owned computer, is what assured the vote of Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith, D-Salem Township, a member of the special committee that recommended expulsion.
I was opposed to expulsion of Jaye, joining those calling for resignation and letting voters decide whether to return him.
But the DeGrow-led Senate has said it's a new era. A pattern of bad conduct is a breach of public trust and will not be tolerated in the workplace of the people.
Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus stepped up to the plate April 19, calling for Jaye to resign. He was willing to declare Jaye's conduct "not befitting a public servant."
Former GOP State Chairwoman Betsy DeVos was among the first prominent Michigan Republicans to call for Jaye's resignation. Current Chairman Rusty Hills called for resignation and said Jaye's conduct was contrary to the "noble calling" of public service.
But where, oh, where during the deliberations was the real leader of the party, the most powerful voice under the dome? Gov. John Engler repeatedly declined to opine on what the Senate should do.
On Wednesday, Charlie Cain, Lansing bureau chief for The Detroit News, encountered Engler outside the Capitol as Engler was walking to a farewell party for Director Tracy Mehan III of the Office of the Great Lakes.
Cain three times asked for Engler's views on what the Senate should do about Jaye. Each time, Engler rhapsodized about Mehan, who is joining the Bush administration.
Why did Engler shuffle off to Buffalo? Engler press secretary Susan Shafer said: "The governor respects the independence of the Senate. They're dealing with it." It did.
Jaye Out - Senator is first ever to be expelled
Detroit News
May 25, 2001
LANSING -- Defiant and combative to the end, Sen. David Jaye on Thursday became the first senator ever kicked out by his colleagues, who called him everything from "obnoxious" to "repugnant."
"The masquerade is over. The lies are exposed. The dignity of this office is retained," declared Sen. Leon Stille, R-Spring Lake, who introduced the resolution of expulsion for behavior unsuitable to his office.
After three hours of intense debate, it was approved by a resounding 33-2 vote. All of Jaye's 22 fellow Republicans voted for his ouster, as did 11 Democrats.
Those 33 votes -- seven more than were needed -- cancelled out the 54,116 votes Jaye received in winning re-election in his Macomb County district in 1998.
Jaye, a 43-year-old Republican from Washington Township, was himself the only senator who spoke in his defense and voted against the resolution.
"I never sold out to the political bosses and the special interest groups," said Jaye, who insisted he was expelled for his maverick political views.
"Do not throw me out," he implored his fellow senators just before they voted. "Do not take away the rights of the citizens who elected me."
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, who led the expulsion effort against Jaye, said the senator's pattern of misconduct clearly went over the line.
"He's a man who hits women, drives drunk, puts extreme pornography on his computer, repeatedly swears at staff, and by the way, at the end, lies," DeGrow said.
"He's not fit to serve in the Senate."
DeGrow said he "absolutely expects" Jaye to run in the special election to fill the vacancy. Should Jaye win, he would be seated and start out with a "clean slate" the leader added.
Senators say it was time for Jaye to face consequences
His expulsion showed the Senate's disgust with his personal misconduct, which included drunken-driving convictions and accusations of abuse
Grand Rapids Press
May 25, 2001
LANSING -- For many state senators who voted to expel Sen. David Jaye, Jaye's behavior had been too extreme and had gone on too long to allow him to keep his seat.
Thursday, the Senate voted 33-2 to remove Jaye, capping a turbulent six weeks that began with accusations Jaye had struck his fiancee and ended with his insistence he was being railroaded for his unpopular political views. At least 26 votes in the 38-member Senate were needed to force out Jaye, who became the first Michigan senator ever expelled.
"A male who not only hits but denies hitting a woman despite eyewitnesses is wrong. ... Being a senator doesn't make you immune to the consequences of your behavior," said Sen. Joanne Emmons, R-Big Rapids, who voted for expulsion.
Some, like state Sen. Glenn Steil, R-Grand Rapids, believe the Senate should have let the voters of Macomb County decide Jaye's fate in a similar fashion. Despite his feelings, Steil voted to expel, as did Sens. Ken Sikkema, R-Grandville, William Van Regenmorter, R-Georgetown Township, and Leon Stille, R-Ferrysburg.
Among the questioned behavior by the 43-year-old Jaye: three drunken-driving convictions, allegations he hit fiancee Sonia Kloss and "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," including keeping photos of his topless fiancee on his Senate-issued laptop computer and accusations he verbally abused staff members.
The senator, a Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township, admitted he had made mistakes but said he was being pushed out because of clashes with Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron.
"I'm going into bankruptcy over trumped-up charges," Jaye said during his fight on the Senate floor to save his job. "Why? Because I've upset the political bosses and the special interests."
Jaye, a noisy, boastful, arch-conservative gadfly who has likened himself to a "junkyard dog," turned down requests from several senators to resign before the vote. At one point Thursday lawyers for Jaye and DeGrow discussed letting Jaye resign this fall, but no deal was ever struck.
Although Jaye pleaded with senators before the vote to censure him and let him keep his seat, DeGrow was able to get 11 Democrats to join 22 of the Senate's 23 Republicans in voting to expel Jaye. Democratic Sen. Donald Koivisto of Ironwood and Jaye were the only ones to oppose the resolution.
DeGrow said he had no doubt Jaye was guilty of the allegations in the resolution, including those that he struck Kloss.
"I am not going home to say that a man who hits women, drives drunk, has obscene pictures on his computer and swears at staff constantly" deserves to be in the Senate, DeGrow said.
If Jaye had been employed in the private sector, he would have been fired, said Sen. Ken Sikkema, R-Grandville. "The standards that we impose on ourselves must be higher than what we expect of our constituents," he said.
Koivisto said Jaye didn't deserve to be expelled because the allegations that Jaye had been in "a violent physical altercation" with his fiancee were never proved.
Jaye was never charged in Florida after being arrested April 12 in a dispute with Kloss.
"We are saying you are guilty even if you never were even charged," said Koivisto, the only member of the six-member, bipartisan investigating committee to vote against recommending Jaye be expelled.
Koivisto called for censuring Jaye and taking away many of his perks of office, including access to his office computers.
Jaye said after the vote that he may run again for the Senate. GOP Gov. John Engler is expected to call a special election to fill Jaye's seat. Jaye also said he's thinking of filing suit over his expulsion, but admitted his current legal bills may make that impossible.
Kloss, Jaye's fiancee, said she and Jaye's life has been "turned upside down."
"He is a good politician who works hard for his constituents," Kloss told The Detroit News. "This is like a death in his family. Politics is his first love."
DeGrow said other senators don't have to fear a brush with the law or a personal problem will get them cast out of the Senate. He said he repeatedly tried to help Jaye work on his problems, but they finally became overwhelming.
Jaye still faces a June 7 hearing in Macomb County on whether his probation for last year's drunken driving conviction should be revoked. If it is, Jaye could face another 101/2 months in jail.
Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran has said he hasn't ruled out bringing an assault charge against Jaye for a Nov. 19 dispute with Kloss at a Bay County gas station.
Jaye said a tape from the gas station's video camera shows he didn't strike her as the pair walked through the station's mini-mart.
The Senate also passed a resolution that would destroy copies of Jaye's computer files now on backup tape. The photos of Kloss will be kept on a CD-ROM in case they are needed for legal reasons.
Sen. George Hart, D-Dearborn, listened to the debate but did not vote. Democratic Sens. Burton Leland and Jackie Vaughn, both of Detroit, were absent.
Voters in his district had mixed reactions to Thursday's vote.
"He seems pretty charismatic, but I think he's in too deep now. He's put himself out into the twilight zone, all the things he's been doing," said Nick Syros, 33, owner of Jimmy Dimitri's Family Dining in Washington Township.
Retired union official Dick Krolewski, 66, doesn't think Jaye's done a very good job, but isn't sure it should have been the Senate that ousted him. "I'm torn between the people voting him out and the Senate kicking him out," he said.
Gast says he never liked Jaye much
St. Joseph Herald-Palladium
May 25, 2001
ST. JOSEPH -- State Sen. Harry Gast has never been accused of being a member of David Jaye's fan club.
So Gast had no regrets over Jaye's ouster Thursday from the state Senate.
"He was his own worst enemy," Gast said this morning from his Lincoln Township home. "It (Jaye's indiscretions) just didn't bode well for the perception of what the Legislature is about."
Gast said he never cared for Jaye from the moment the Macomb County Republican arrived in Lansing as a state House member in 1988. Caustic, cocky and given to bombast, Jaye could be annoying to representatives and senators who are more methodical, gentlemanly and thoughtful, Gast said.
He said Jaye represented the "ultra ultras" in a part of Macomb County that has sympathies with the Michigan Militia.
Jaye's drunk driving arrests, public spats with his girlfriend, nude photos of her on his computer screen, a lack of remorse and his rudeness weighed heavy on senators' minds, Gast said.
Gast said Jaye can run again for the seat in a special election. If he wins, Gast said, "We'll give him a chance to be a normal person. If not, we'll kick his a-- out again."
Jaye, 43, is the first Michigan state senator ever ousted by his colleagues. Gast joined 32 senators in voting to eject Jaye. Jaye and state Sen. Don Koivisto of Ironwood voted against the ejection.
Area’s senator explains decision - Jaye expelled
Ludington Daily News
May 25, 2001
A new, higher standard of conduct has been set for Michigan state senators with the expulsion of David Jaye Thursday afternoon, Sen. Bill Schuette, R-Midland, said shortly after the Senate voted to expel the Macomb County Republican.
Jaye, 43, has been under investigation by a special Senate committee for three drunken driving convictions, allegations that he hit fiancee Sonia Kloss and ‘‘a recurring pattern of personal misconduct,’’ including verbally abusing staff members and having six photos of his topless fiancee on his Senate-issued laptop computer.
"The new standard of conduct means no longer are you only to be expelled if you commit a felony," said Schuette, who had remained very quiet on the matter during the past six weeks since the abuse allegations arose on the heals of Jaye beating a drunken driving charge.
Schuette said the new standard is a good one if it is applied uniformly and dispassionately to everybody in the Senate, not just those who might not be well-liked.
Furthermore, Jaye had escaped serious reprimand in the Senate until his problems piled up and his rap sheet grew. Schuette cautioned the new standard is more stringent than that.
"It is not a cumulative scorecard. If it was cumulative it would mean we would allow a senator to strike a woman once and be allowed to stay in the Senate," he said.
The new standards say such actions even once are grounds for possible expulsion.
Schuette, who is eying a run at the Michigan attorney general’s office in 2002, said he kept quiet until now because it would have been inappropriate to talk about it before the Senate committee presented its report.
Schuette was among the 33 who voted for expulsion.
The matter, he said, sucked out what political oxygen remained in Lansing during the past six weeks, causing little else to be accomplished.
"Next week, hopefully, we’ll start fresh," he said.
Hammerstrom hoped Jaye would resign, avoid vote
Daily Telegram, The (Adrian, MI)
May 26, 2001
TEMPERANCE -- The state senate's historic vote to expel Sen. David Jaye on Thursday was one Beverly Hammerstrom R-Temperance, did not want to make, but she said she knew she had to.
"Nobody wanted to cast that vote, she said. "I'm sorry it came to that."
Hammerstrom said she had hoped Jaye would resign, rather than force the Senate to proceed with its first ever expulsion vote.
"I wished he would have chosen to go that route," she said.
She does not feel guilty about her vote though, and said it was the right thing to do.
"This kind of behavior is totally unacceptable," she said. "I felt it was a justified vote."
In dealing with Jaye on the Senate floor, Hammerstrom said she has heard Jaye yell at staff members and has had constituents call her, asking about Jaye's bad behavior.
"I think we have sent a clear message that as Senators, we should not abuse the power that is given to us."
After watching the testimony closely, Hammerstrom was convinced Jaye did not belong in the Senate and that he had indeed assaulted his fiancee, Sonia Kloss.
"I think it was something we had to do," she said. "As a woman, to do otherwise would have sent the wrong message."
There is a possibility Jaye could end up back in his Senate seat, after the 33-2 vote on Thursday to expel him. Jaye is eligible to run again in the special election to fill his vacant seat. He could also run in 2002.
"If the voters send him back, hopefully he would learn that there is a standard of behavior he has to adhere to," she said. "We will move on."
David Jaye: His own doing
Ex-senator's conduct draws the expulsion he deserves
Grand Rapids Press
May 26, 2001
State senators decided to clean their own house with an overwhelming vote to expel Sen. David Jaye. After years of behavior by the Macomb County Republican that fell well below what should be expected of a state legislator, the Senate's action was fully appropriate.
The vote against Mr. Jaye was 33-2, with one of the two "no" votes being his own. The virtual unanimity reflects the level of embarrassment Mr. Jaye's conduct -- both public and private -- brought upon the whole legislative body, coupled with the level of animus he built up with colleagues over the years.
Three misdemeanor drunk driving convictions, serving jail time as a member of the Senate, public altercations requiring police intervention, storing pictures of a semi-nude woman on his state-owned computer and having obscenity-laced conversations with female Senate employees are not felonies, but certainly not conduct becoming any elected official, much less a senator.
Because none of his transgressions led to a felony conviction, Mr. Jaye contends his expulsion lowers the bar on what it takes to kick a legislator out of office. He is wrong. While a felony conviction would warrant an expulsion vote -- indeed, the state constitution may make removal automatic -- misdemeanor convictions cannot be ignored as if they don't matter.
It would not make sense to allow a legislator to be convicted of a series of serious misdemeanor offenses -- and drunk driving surely would fall into that category -- yet remain in office because no felony offense is on his rap sheet.
It would have been better for Mr. Jaye to resign or for his Washington Township constituents to have had a say on his fitness to continue representing their interests. But senators have an obligation to deal with the conduct of Senate members, particularly those whose actions tarnish the integrity and credibility of the institution.
Senate rules say that when the chamber is confronted with violations concerning ethics and conduct by one of its members, the Committee on Government Operations shall determine if the allegations merit a fact-finding hearing and punishment. It is up to Senate members to determine that punishment. In Mr. Jaye's case, it was expulsion after three weeks of hearings by a special Senate committee.
The Senate must now apply the same standards used to oust Mr. Jaye to all others legislators. There can be no sense that Mr. Jaye was singled out for punishment because his politics or his personality rubbed many of his colleagues the wrong way.
Though the Senate has expelled Mr. Jaye, the people who voted him into office can still have a say in his fate. If his constituents are not happy with the Senate verdict, they can re-elect him. There is no law barring Mr. Jaye from running in an election to fill the seat from which he has been ousted.
In any such return by Mr. Jaye, however, he would have a long way to go in regaining the trust and respect that routinely are accorded to Senate members. Nothing in Mr. Jaye's record suggests he is up to that challenge, or that he ever will be.
Jaye's ouster spurs ally to go after DeGrow
Detroit News
May 27, 2001
Ultraconservative political consultant Joe Munem is furious at State Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, for working to "railroad" his pal, Sen. David Jaye, R-Washington Township, out of office last week. Munem vows to "get" DeGrow -- politically, of course -- when the senator runs for attorney general next year.
"DeGrow just gave me a license to stalk him," said Munem, 36, a part-time political hatchet man who specializes in digging up dirt and publishing inflammatory literature against rivals of candidates who hire him to help get them elected -- as Jaye did. "I'm going to be on him and watching every move he makes."
Reminded that stalking is illegal in Michigan, Munem backed off his statement. "Just say I'll be keeping a close eye on DeGrow when he comes to Macomb County, and I'll be asking questions," he said. "Nobody's hired me yet. But if somebody runs against him, I'll gladly throw in (with that person). I'm going to work to prevent him from getting votes, whatever way I can."
DeGrow is leaving the Senate next year and will seek the GOP nomination for state attorney general in 2002. Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor are chosen in a primary election. Each party then fills out its statewide general election ticket at conventions.
DeGrow wasn't exactly alone Thursday in giving Jaye the boot on a rather decisive 33-2 vote. DeGrow says he's neither alarmed nor surprised by Munem's threat of a personal vendetta. He points out that Macomb is just one of 83 counties where he'll campaign if he's nominated, and the positive feedback he's had from his role in Jaye's expulsion far outweighs the negative.
"I've already been threatened and harassed by some people around that idiot we just kicked out," DeGrow said. "Someone even floated a rumor that I was responsible for a murder that occurred 30 years ago in Port Huron. Other committee members received threatening calls, too. But there comes a time when you have to stand up to the bullies and the liars."
DeGrow makes no secret of his disdain for his former colleague. "What's ironic is that Jaye counts on other people playing fair with him and then his backers play dirty," he said. "Like the photos of his (Jaye's) fiancee that were on his computer. Jaye knows I won't release them to the public, so he tells people they're just harmless, tasteless pictures. He knows -- and I know -- they're more than that. He's very manipulative."
Munem's full-time job is communications director for Warren, but he moonlights in his other role. He sees Jaye as a martyr, the hero of "white, middle-class males who feel disfranchised." During Jaye's 1997 Senate campaign, Munem wrote a handout that said of Jaye's rival: "Jesse Jackson has a friend in Macomb County."
"No one defends Jaye's actions," Munem said in reference to the ex-senator's drunk driving, mistreatment of aides and alleged attacks on his fiancee. "He's been to my house, and my own mom won't vote for him if he runs again. He was wrong, but this wasn't the way to punish him."
Expelled senator looking for work -- and an apology
David Jaye may seek the Macomb County seat he lost when fellow senators expelled him
Grand Rapids Press
May 27, 2001
STERLING HEIGHTS -- Out of the Michigan Legislature for the first time in 13 years, David Jaye said Saturday that he is looking for a job and an apology from the Senate members who voted to expel him.
But the archconservative Republican from Macomb County's Washington Township said he hadn't decided whether he would try to get his job back via a lawsuit, or by running to fill the vacancy created by his expulsion Thursday.
The Senate voted 33-2, with one abstention and two members absent, to strip Jaye of the 12th Senate District seat he had held since 1997. The vote capped a turbulent six weeks that began with accusations Jaye had struck his fiancee and ended with his insistence he was being railroaded for his unpopular political views.
"That wasn't a fair fight. It wasn't the American way," Jaye told reporters Saturday. "I would like an apology to my fiancee from (Senate Majority Leader) Dan DeGrow and Sen. (Thaddeus) McCotter."
DeGrow, R-Port Huron, emerged as Jaye's harshest critic leading up to the first-ever expulsion of a Michigan state senator. McCotter, R-Livonia, headed the bipartisan committee that voted 5-1 Thursday to recommend Jaye's ouster.
Messages left Saturday at the homes of DeGrow and his spokesman, Aaron Keesler, were not immediately returned.
Jaye, 43, came under scrutiny for three drunken driving convictions, allegations he hit fiancee Sonia Kloss and "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," including accusations he verbally abused staff members and having photos of a topless Kloss on his Senate-issued laptop computer.
Jaye said he was denied due process throughout the investigation and was "sure looking at" pursuing legal action or trying to regain his Senate seat in a special election to be scheduled by Gov. John Engler.
"I don't know if I have the money for a special election. Yes, I have the stomach, the heart and the volunteer base to run," Jaye said.
But he also said he owes his three attorneys $80,000 and is trying to arrange a payment plan -- as well as find work.
"I'm looking for a job right now. I've got a couple calls from small businesses," Jaye said. "I've got a number of options I'm going to pursue," including possibly becoming a community college teacher to "balance out all the communists and liberals that are usually at community colleges."
Jaye turned down requests from several senators to resign before the expulsion vote. At one point, Jaye's lawyers proposed a deal that would have let him draw his $77,400 salary through the end of this year -- but not allow him to carry out any Senate duties -- then resign effective Jan. 2, 2002. In return, the Senate would pay some of his legal bills.
But, Jaye said Saturday: "I didn't take the money. Some people would have seen that as an admission of guilt."
DeGrow has said he had no doubt Jaye was guilty of the allegations in the resolution, including those that he struck Kloss.
"I am not going home to say that a man who hits women, drives drunk, has obscene pictures on his computer and swears at staff constantly" deserves to be in the Senate, DeGrow said Thursday.
Jaye was investigated but not charged after being arrested April 12 in a dispute with Kloss in Fort Myers, Fla. Authorities there said they could not build an effective case because Kloss did not want to press charges.
Jaye still faces a June 7 hearing in Macomb County on whether his probation for a 2000 drunken driving conviction should be revoked. If it is, Jaye could face another 101/2 months in jail.
Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran has said he hasn't ruled out bringing an assault charge against Jaye for a Nov. 19 dispute with Kloss at a Bay County gas station.
'Exclusive' interview again & again
Grand Rapids Press
May 28, 2001
Sonia Kloss refused to testify during the expulsion hearing of her fiancee, deposed state Sen. David Jaye.
But she made herself available for several "exclusive" interviews with Detroit broadcast and print media outlets Thursday.
Radio station WWJ said one of its reporters had spoken "exclusively" with Kloss in Macomb County Thursday morning. And during its 10 p.m. newscast that night, television station WJBK said it also had spoken "exclusively" with Kloss Thursday.
She appeared on camera and denied that Jaye had struck her in Florida or in Bay County.
Those were two of the charges that got Jaye booted from the Senate.
WWJ said Kloss told one of its reporters that Jaye was depressed over the expulsion hearing and would never be the same again.
We can only hope.
Martyr in the making?
The Blade
Toledo, Ohio
May 29, 2001
David Jaye is by most accounts, a mean drunk and an otherwise thoroughly obnoxious individual, but that doesn't justify expelling him from the Michigan Senate for misconduct. The people who elected him should have been allowed to decide his fate, and the risk now is that he will become a martyr who will be right back in the legislature via a special election.
Expelled state senator's probation in question
The Blade - Toledo, Ohio
May 29, 2001
Mount Clemens, Mich. - David Jaye, expelled from the State Senate on Thursday, faces a probation hearing that could carry political ramifications, Macomb County Prosecutor Carl Marlinga said.
Senate's new rules rile Rude
Cheboygan Daily Tribune
May 29, 2001
Thursday was sort of a breeze. It was so quiet and smooth that I even had a chance to get outside and finish planting the cubbyhole garden here at the Tribune.
But then it hit me: The state Senate was hearing debate on the expulsion of Sen. David Jaye, a Republican who has been in legal troubles during the past few years. I rushed indoors and called up the live Senate debate on my computer to watch the proceedings.
Indeed, after long discussions by Jaye and his colleagues, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to expel Jaye from amongst their numbers. Almost as soon as the vote was taken my phone rang. I picked it up and was immediately assaulted by a string of obscenities.
Mr. Rude had apparently been watching as well.
I listened for a few moments and hung up the phone. It rang again almost immediately.
"Why'd you hang up on me?" a calmer Rude asked.
"It was the only way to get you to shut up for a few moments so you would ask a question instead of ranting and raving," I replied. "That way I could get a word in edgewise."
"Did you see what they just did to David Jaye?" Rude asked. "Thanks for the link to the Senate, by the way. I watched it on my computer."
"So did I," I replied. "What did you think?"
"I think the Senate just sank to a new low," Rude stated. "I didn't care much for the gummint before this. Now I just added the Senate to my list of bad gummint entities."
"I think we agree on something, finally," I commented dryly. "What's your beef with the Senate?"
"Well, they just kicked out a convicted drunk driver, a man who was accused of mistreating his staff, allegedly beat up his fiance` and had topless photos of her on his state-owned laptop computer," Rude recited. "I can see why the Senate was mad at him, but those aren't reasons to kick him out."
"You're right, Rude," I said. "Granted, he spent some 45 days behind bars for one of the drunk driving charges, but he was able to retain his seat on the Senate. And the physical abuse charges were dropped by prosecutors in Florida for lack of evidence, although Jaye has admitted to pushing her outside a Florida convenience store."
"My question is why the Senate kicked him out at all," Rude reasoned. "He didn't break any rules."
Rude's rationalization was on the mark. He had done his homework. He knew, as I do, that the Senate does not have any rules of conduct for retaining your seat in that chamber of the Legislature.
"You're correct, Rude," I said. "In fact, the only rules that the Senate has concerning conduct is that in order to seek a seat as a candidate you cannot be a convicted felon."
"Exactly," Rude quickly replied. "In fact, all of the crimes Jaye was convicted of were misdemeanors. He never once was actually convicted of a felony. So the question is, again, why did he get kicked out of the Senate?"
"Guess his colleagues got tired of his conduct and made a threat to expel him," I reasoned. "The last time they threatened a senator with expulsion, the guy up and quit. He had been stripped of all of his committee assignments, his staff had all been taken away from him and his office funds had been all but cut. All he was left with is a laptop and a desk.
"I think the Senate was hoping that Jaye would resign his seat, as had happened in the earlier case," I continued. "But Jaye, a self-described junkyard dog, wasn't about to roll over and play the game that the Senate wanted him to."
"So he fought back, called their bluff, and now the whole game of state politics is changed, right?" Rude queried.
"Correct again," I said. "Now if any of the other senators commits a misdemeanor or yells at a staff member or downloads a questionable photo on their hard drive they are subject to expulsion as well."
"Jaye thought the leadership was out to get him," Rude said. "The gummint has a way of doing that, you know. I have told you that for years."
"In this case I believe you, Rude," I said humbly. "In the case of black helicopters and the rest, I don't believe a word of the conspiracy theories.
"But what this particular Senate has done is to have raised the bar on the conduct of its members," I continued before Rude could go off on a tangent. "The senators have set a new level of conduct that is not limited by any official rules or regulations, and now, if the leadership dislikes someone enough, can vote them out of the Senate with scant reason. And that is simply wrong. It takes the decision on representation in the state government from the hands of the people and places it into the hands of the Senate."
"I couldn't have said it any better," Rude said. "Oh -- one other thing. Do you know what district Jaye represented?"
"Somewhere in Macomb County, I think," I said.
"I might move down there," Rude replied. "I could run for his Senate seat and give the Senate a real run for its money. They wouldn't know what to do with me there, and I sure would put the new unwritten rules of conduct to the test."
Race for Jaye's Senate seat gets crowded
Ousted senator considers running for seat he just lost
Detroit News
May 29, 2001
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP -- The race for David Jaye's state Senate seat is already starting to get crowded -- even though no date has been set for the special election to fill the seat he vacated when kicked out of office by the full Senate last week.
Two Republican state representatives, Alan Sanborn and Sal Rocca, and former GOP sheriff's candidate Steve Thomas will more than likely square off in the Republican primary in their quest to replace Jaye as the senator from northern Macomb County.
Thomas and Sanborn indicated this weekend they are considering a run for the seat Jaye vacated when he was expelled for a series of drunken driving arrests, alleged abuse of Senate employees, soft porn on his state-issued laptop computer and a question of domestic abuse. Rocca, of Sterling Heights, was unavailable for comment this weekend, but Macomb Republican Party Chairwoman Janice Nearon said he'll run.
Jaye could also run again for his own vacant seat -- and some political analysts say he could win a crowded race. When Jaye won the Republican primary for state Senate in 1997, he received only 35 percent of the vote, but it was enough to defeat 10 other GOP candidates.
Jaye could pull off another victory like that, assuming he is not in jail, said political analyst Richard Sabaugh, a former colleague of Jaye's on the Macomb County Board of Commissioners.
Jaye has a pretrial hearing June 6 before 41st-A District Court Judge Douglas Shepherd of Shelby Township on charges that he violated probation on a drunken driving conviction.
If Shepherd eventually ships Jaye back to jail, that ends his political career, Sabaugh predicted. "If he ends up in jail, he can't possibly win," Sabaugh said. "That's just too much. He can't survive that."
For now, Jaye said over the weekend that he's unsure if he'll try to regain his old seat. "I don't know if I have the money for a special election," he told a Sterling Heights news conference, adding that he owes $80,000 to his three lawyers and needs a job.
That would leave the three high-profile Republicans to battle over the vacancy.
State and local Republican leaders say they won't meddle in the Republican primary -- pushing a consensus candidate, for example -- even if Jaye runs. The winner of the GOP primary is almost assured a victory against his Democratic opponent in the conservative, 12th state Senate district.
Thomas and Sanborn said they would soon make their intentions official.
"My election committee and I have discussed it and we're looking at it very seriously," Thomas said. "I'll check with the party leaders to see what their favor is. I'd hate to get into something if no one is going to support me. But I would be a good senator, with my experience in the public and private sector."
Thomas, 55, beat Sanborn's brother, Mark, last August in the Republican primary for county sheriff. But Thomas got steamrollered by Democrat Mark Hackel in the general election. Thomas is a former sheriff's detective who now heads up investigations for the Michigan Basic Property Insurance Association.
Sanborn said he is "seriously" considering a run for Jaye's seat.
"I've been encouraged by a lot of people in the business community, by my family, the NRA (National Rifle Association) and Right to Life and I will make a decision next week," Sanborn said.
Sanborn, 43, of Richmond was elected to the House in 1998 to fill the seat Jaye left when he was elected to the Senate.
Rocca finished third in the 1997 Senate Republican primary to succeed Doug Carl, who died in office. Jaye won that contest and Carl's widow, Maria Carl, finished second. Sabaugh and Nearon doubt Maria Carl would be a factor if she runs this time because she's done poorly in two elections since then.
Sabaugh said another possible candidate is Rocca's wife, Sue, a Macomb County commissioner. Sue Rocca has also served in the state House and will run for Jaye's seat if her husband doesn't, Sabaugh said.
Jaye faces probation hearing
Grand Rapids Press
May 29, 2001
MOUNT CLEMENS -- Expelled state Senator David Jaye still faces a probation hearing that could send him to jail.
A June 7 hearing is set in Macomb County on whether Jaye's probation for a 2000 drunken driving conviction should be revoked. If it is, the Washington Township Republican could face another 101/2 months in jail.
Jaye, 43, came under scrutiny for three drunken-driving convictions, allegations he hit fiancee Sonia Kloss and "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct," including accusations he verbally abused staff members and having photos of a topless Kloss on his Senate-issued laptop computer.
The probation hearing will include some information disclosed during the Senate hearings in Lansing. Many of the same witnesses will be called by prosecutors trying to show Jaye violated his driving restrictions.
Probation was set last July, when Jaye was sentenced to 45 days in jail for drunken driving.
Will Jaye rise again?
Maverick's chances of re-election are good despite sordid Senate expulsion, experts say
Detroit News
May 30, 2001
LANSING -- State Sen. Leon Stille winced as he read the front page of his newspaper April 13.
Sen. David Jaye had been arrested in Florida for allegedly assaulting his fiancée Sonia Kloss -- again.
"I thought, 'Oh my God. Here we go again,' " recalled Stille, R-Spring Lake. "He's not just harming the institution, but also what people expect of legislators. They certainly don't expect a woman-beater to basically get away with it."
Stille quickly phoned his Lansing office and directed his staff to prepare a resolution calling for the expulsion of Jaye, R-Washington Township.
And that was how the Senate's struggle with what to do about David Jaye began.
Before it ended last week with a 33-2 vote to expel the maverick lawmaker, a Senate committee acted as judge and jury in cases prosecutors in two states wouldn't touch. Jaye's critics were subjected to dirt-digging expeditions and accusations of political career-building. The Senate changed its own unwritten definition of unacceptable behavior. And Republican lawmakers ran the risk of raising the ire of their party's right wing.
For all the political energy that went into ousting Jaye, however, he may be back. The man who once compared the Senate committee's hearings to "being awake at my own autopsy" is by no means a political corpse just yet.
Jaye told The Detroit News Tuesday his decision to run again for the Senate comes down to one condition: "I need to be able to tell my supporters we have at least a 40-60 chance to win before we go."
"I am not being coy and I cannot run again just to spite enemies who have brutalized me. I am calling my people to see if they're still going to be there for me."
Political experts say he would stand a good chance of winning in his conservative Macomb County district. Under the state constitution, the Senate would have no choice but to seat him, with a clean slate, according to legislators who have looked into the matter.
Political experts say he would stand a good chance of winning in his conservative Macomb County district. Under the state constitution, the Senate would have no choice but to seat him, with a clean slate, according to legislators who have looked into the matter.
Although such an outcome is uncertain, the very possibility puts an ironic twist on the six-week political drama that led to Thursday's expulsion vote. The focus on Jaye sucked the political oxygen out of the Capitol, leaving even a half-billion-dollar hole in the state budget to take a back seat.
GOP led the way
From the beginning, it was Jaye's fellow Republicans who led the charge for his ouster.
"This is strange," Philip Thomas, Jaye's lead attorney, said at one point in the committee hearings. "In the Nixon thing, it was the Democrats leading the charge. In the Clinton thing, it was the Republicans. But here it's Jaye's own party turning on him."
GOP Gov. John Engler stayed strictly out of the issue, but prominent Republicans who called for Jaye to resign included former state Republican Party Chairwoman Betsy DeVos, who once campaigned door-to-door for Jaye, and Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus, a former leader in the Senate. DeVos put it bluntly: "Men who beat up women are not role models."
To Senate Minority Leader John Cherry, a Clio Democrat, there was no mystery to this. The Senate has a tradition of letting the party with a troublesome lawmaker take the lead in disciplinary actions, he said.
Cherry pointed out that he directed the 1998 expulsion proceedings against Sen. Henry Stallings, D-Detroit. Stallings, who had used a Senate staffer to help run his Detroit gallery of African-American art, resigned before a vote could take place.
"We don't want this type of situation to become a partisan issue," Cherry said.
In Jaye's case it wasn't. When the vote was taken, all of Jaye's fellow Republicans voted to expel him, as did all but one Democrat.
Alleged assaults key
Jaye's expulsion resolution included a long list of misdeeds, including three drunken-driving convictions, abuse of female Senate staff, repeated use of profanity and storing semi-nude photographs of Kloss on his state-owned computer.
But it was the two alleged assaults that were his undoing. Ironically, officials in Michigan and Florida declined to bring charges in either instance. The Florida case that got the expulsion move under way was dropped in the middle of the hearings after Kloss recanted her statement that Jaye had assaulted her.
Even so, the Michigan Senate committee heard the testimony of Florida sheriff's deputies, listened to the tape of Kloss's 911 call, and saw a videotape of Kloss explaining away the incident.
Most committee members didn't find her testimony credible.
The other case was Jaye's alleged assault of Kloss on Nov. 19 near Bay City. Although the county prosecutor hadn't pursued the matter, the committee heard the testimony of witnesses at a gas station where the incident occurred and of state troopers who stopped Jaye's car afterward. The committee also viewed a security videotape that that they found inconclusive.
Bay County Prosecutor Joseph Sheeran told the committee he didn't initially have a case against Jaye. But he said he was still considering bringing charges against Jaye based on the testimony of additional witnesses.
Here is where the charges of political career-making began to fly. Jaye accused Sheeran of keeping the case alive to further his own political ambitions. Sheeran has been mentioned as a possible Democratic candidate for attorney general. He denied doing anything other than his job.
Jaye also charged that Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, was trying to build name identification for his bid for the GOP nomination for attorney general. And he said Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, who chaired the special panel, was motivated by his desire to win a congressional seat.
For his part, McCotter said: "Nothing good came from this for anybody. I've lost political capital, and DeGrow has too, by irritating the right wing of the party."
Jaye's outspoken anti-tax, anti-affirmative action, anti-welfare, pro-gun stances are embraced by many conservative voters. Jaye has long maintained his colleagues were trying to run him out of the Senate because of those views.
DeGrow said his political aspirations played no role in his decision-making.
Bill Ballenger, a former GOP state senator who edits a newsletter called "Inside Michigan Politics," suggested that term limits played a role in Jaye's expulsion. Until now, expulsion has not been considered unless someone was convicted of a felony. Jaye was never charged with a felony. What is different now, Ballenger said, is that next year, 27 of the 38 senators are barred from running again.
"The two-thirds that won't be back were more willing to give him the boot," Ballenger said.
Craig Ruff, president of a nonpartisan Lansing think tank, said it's a stretch to think term limits played a role. He pointed out that the vote to expel Jaye was 33-2.
In fighting the charges against him, Jaye charged that he was being railroaded by his political enemies.
DeGrow said Jaye was behind efforts to dig up dirt on himself and other senators. John Mangopoulos, a conservative Lansing cable-TV talk-show host, offered a $2,000 bounty for tips on illegal activities of senators. A Macomb County group, Citizens for Legal Reform, hired a private investigating firm to have gumshoes dig into the backgrounds of senators.
DeGrow said Jaye's associates called his neighbors, friends and the media to say DeGrow was a suspect in a 1971 murder.
"They literally called the family of the victim from that unsolved murder and told them I might be a suspect," DeGrow said. "He accused me of murder, for Gods' sake. He has no shame, no decency."
Sen. Stille said "Jaye and his circle of goons" looked into a five-year-old fatal accident involving his daughter, who was 27 at the time. Stille's daughter, who had been out celebrating her brother's birthday, was ticketed for impaired driving but absolved of responsibility in the crash.
"The day of the vote, they faxed me five or six pages of original stories from my daughter's accident as a means of intimidation, to influence my vote," Stille said. "It really annoyed me."
Sen. Donald Koivisto, D-Ironwood, was the only committee member to vote against Jaye's expulsion resolution. But before the full Senate vote even he faulted Jaye for the smear campaign.
"Even the Mafia leaves people's families alone," he said. "With the way he's handling this, his advisers must have been giving him dumb pills everyday."
Jaye seeks unemployment pay
Officials said he couldn't collect, ex-senator says
Detroit New
May 30, 2001
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP -- David Jaye applied for unemployment pay Tuesday, but in the meantime he is looking for a job because he doesn't expect to get the benefits.
It's $300 a week the Macomb County Republican says he's entitled to because "I got fired" from a $77,400-a-year job as a state senator.
Jaye, 43 and out of work for the first time since he was 15, applied for benefits at an unemployment office on Van Dyke in Sterling Heights.
"They fired me, shut off my phones, changed the locks and told eight people on my staff to get out. It's not like this was an election loss. I was paying unemployment taxes before I was a legislator, but I'm not going to get anything."
Jaye, neatly groomed and wearing a business suit, said he was told by unemployment officials he could not collect. The official rejection could come today.
"They told me legislators are exempt from collecting unemployment, even though I've been paying taxes almost 30 years, whether it be as a paperboy or dishwasher for the Ram's Horn or as a guy trying to make a living selling homes."
Jaye said his bills include $80,000 in legal fees incurred during Senate hearings. The hearings led to his ouster Thursday because of three drunken-driving convictions and accusations that he assaulted his fiancee.
He said he has been contacted by a community college about teaching and is considering offers to be a "government relations officer" for some companies. He declined to be more specific.
Jaye also is working with headhunters and executive search groups, and on Tuesday posted his resume on monster.com and other employment Web sites.
"It's hard to put on your best face to find a job when you've been brutalized so badly," Jaye said. "How often can you keep saying a clean shirt is clean? And if it's clean, how many times do you have to keep washing it?"
Until he finds employment, Jaye will work out in gyms, do laundry, fish for trout and spend time with fiancee Sonia Kloss, who is urging him to run again for the Senate.
On Tuesday, the expelled senator met a handful of people in the unemployment line who volunteered to work on a Jaye re-election campaign.
Carl Unger, an unemployed airplane mechanic from Sterling Heights who also was applying for benefits Tuesday, said: "I'll do whatever he would want for me to do to get him re-elected because I feel like he got a raw deal. He could have easily walked away without all the questions. ... But he hung in there and took the abuse for us."
Joseph Potemski, an out-of-work die maker from Sterling Heights, said: "He was kicked out for stuff he didn't do. I'll do anything to get him re-elected -- pass out fliers, go door-to-door, whatever."
Vote to expel Senator Jaye cast to maintain integrity of the office
Grand Rapids Press
June 2, 2001
State Sen. Ken Sikkema:
The people of Michigan have instructed the Senate to be in charge of the qualifications of its members. This is not a responsibility we have selectively chosen to impose upon ourselves -- the state constitution requires it.
Senate rules, which I voted to adopt when I became a senator, expand upon our constitutional obligation by stating that each senator must act to maintain the integrity of the office of senator and the entire institution.
The rules further state that all senators have an obligation to maintain the integrity of the institution by enforcing this rule on our colleagues and discharging our constitutional obligation to judge the qualifications of senators.
Senator David Jaye engaged in a pattern of behavior that was so disreputable as to warrant his expulsion from the Michigan Senate ("Senators say it was time for Jaye to face consequences," Press, May 25).
He has had multiple criminal convictions; served time in jail while a member of the Senate; been involved in public altercations requiring police interventions; and has compiled a sordid record of abusive and intimidating behavior to individuals less powerful than himself.
He has, moreover, misused his position as a state senator in a variety of ways in many of these situations.
Some say that he should not have been expelled because he had not been convicted of a felony, and that a felony conviction is, has been, and should be the standard for expulsion.
This is a myth. Nowhere in the constitution or in the Senate rules do we find such a standard.
The standard is a level of behavior that fails to "maintain the integrity and responsibility of his or her office." It is simply unacceptable to tolerate a pattern of behavior that clearly brings dishonor on the Senate because it doesn't include a felony conviction.
This does not mean that every senator who has had a run-in with the law or experienced a personal failing should be expelled from office. We are all human, and we would all fail a standard of perfection. But we are not addressing a pattern of behavior that is either typical or excusable.
Any senator who has three drunk driving convictions, has served over a month in jail while a member of the Senate, has exhibited a pattern of abusive and violent behavior, and abuses staff and others should be expelled from the Senate -- any senator.
Others said we should let the voters of Senator Jaye's district decide.
The voters do have the ultimate power to decide, because they can overturn a decision to expel a senator by returning that person to office. But that doesn't alleviate us of our constitutional responsibility to pass judgment on what standard of behavior we believe is acceptable.
Are we breaking new ground in this case?
In some sense, yes, but only because we clearly said that a senator cannot use the absence of a felony conviction to engage in a pattern of behavior that compromises the integrity of this public institution. But that is a myth that needs to be shattered.
The fact of the matter is that the pattern of behavior exhibited by Senator Jaye would have resulted in serious repercussions and/or dismissal from the vast majority of private and public positions in today's society. The standards we impose upon ourselves must be higher than what we expect of our constituents.
I took no pleasure in casting this vote. But the responsibility imposed upon me by the people of Michigan and my desire to uphold the integrity of this public institution, which will long outlast my service here, compelled me to vote to expel Senator Jaye.
Judging Jaye
Grand Rapids Press
June 3, 2001
So, what happens to the next maverick politician who steps out of line, has a run-in with the law, maybe has some trouble at home?
Most likely, there will never be another David Jaye, who two weeks ago was Michigan's first state senator to be expelled in its 166-year history.
But the Senate's judgment on the self-described "junkyard dog" drew criticism from political observers and advocates for the justice system who said senators ran roughshod over fairness and singled out a lawmaker who was as much disliked as he was in trouble with the law.
"Due process in this case was in the wrong hands," said Grand Rapids defense attorney Paul Mitchell.
"It was a mob mentality. I'm not making any apologies for David Jaye, but everyone is entitled to due process and it didn't look like he got it."
Mitchell knows about defending the notorious. He is currently building a defense for Marvin Gabrion, a death-penalty candidate charged in the death of a young woman and suspected in the disappearances of four other people, including the woman's small child.
Jaye was expelled, on a 33-2 vote, even though the most recent of the allegations he faced -- including physically abusing his fiance Sonia Kloss -- were dropped by Florida and Michigan police. Previously, Jaye had been convicted three times for drunken driving, spending time in jail as recently as last summer.
Most other governing boards on the local level don't have the power to expel, a power some local politicians -- who criticized the Senate's action -- would rather do without.
But Jaye's fellow senators, after six weeks of investigations and hearings, believed that the accumulation of his misdeeds were enough to bring the curtain down on his tumultuous career.
But even before the recent spate of incidents, Jaye had gained a reputation as a fire-breathing arch-conservative, dropped a gun on the floor of the Republicans' caucus room, and got into shouting matches with colleagues, including former House Minority Leader Kenneth Sikkema, R-Grandville, now in the Senate, and former speaker Paul Hillegonds of Holland on the House floor.
Jaye accused senators of punishing him for his abrasive personality and extreme political views.
Sikkema said he resents the inference that lawmakers' clashes with Jaye over the years influenced his vote to expel. And he said the Senate bent over backwards to ensure Jaye got a fair shake.
"If anything, the Senate process allows us to get at the truth of the matter in a way that the court system doesn't," he said. "In the courts, you can manipulate the system, with high-priced lawyers, by delaying hearings, plea bargaining.
"We looked at a pattern of behavior that required police intervention that in any private or most public jobs would be totally unacceptable," Sikkema said. "It wasn't any one single incident."
A clash of personalities
Critics, however, worried the vote was based on vague standards that allowed personal animus against Jaye to be a consideration.
"When does a series of allegations -- short of felony -- become a critical mass that permits persons to say you've done one wrongful deed too many?" said Craig Ruff, vice president for Lansing think tank Public Sector Consultants. "I think this is a slippery slope."
In the House, some lawmakers are calling for the creation of an ethics committee that would set standards for future expulsion proceedings.
"One of the problems is that there isn't an established process -- in this case, the Senate was charting new territory," said state Rep. Jerry Kooiman, R-Grand Rapids, who said he supports creating the new ethics committee.
Jaye's expulsion may make it easier to move against other errant lawmakers, Ruff said. In fact, the House may be moving toward its own proceedings, with Rep. Keith Stallworth, D-Detroit, facing felony charges for obtaining a false driver's license with his brother's identification. He has pleaded innocent, but pressure is mounting on House Minority Leader Kwame Kilpatrick, D-Detroit, to take action against Stallworth to prove his mettle as a potential Detroit mayoral candidate.
"If somebody makes the papers for alleged wrongdoings, there will be the clamor for equal justice," Ruff said. "It's dangerous."
Sen. Leon Stille, R-Spring Lake, who introduced the resolution to expel Jaye, said other lawmakers are not in jeopardy because of Jaye.
"You have to be a real maverick to have anything like this happen to you," he said. "There's enough language in our own Senate rules that says if you've got a bad track record, you can be removed."
Jaye's expulsion was a chilling message for local governing boards, even though most don't permit expulsions.
Marvin Hiddema, who has his own independent ways as a member of the Kent County Board of Commissioners, said he shudders at the thought that local governing boards could deal with wayward members the same way the Senate did.
"As bad as the crime is, unless you tell ahead of time what the rules are, it's unfair," he said. "I don't like what Jaye did, but I feel sorry for what he went through, seeing there's no standard he could judge himself by."
A Kent County bad boy
Indeed, the Kent County Commission faced a similar situation in the mid-1970s, when Democratic commissioner Stephen Kishkorn found himself in the middle of a controversy that included a four-month stint in a Colombian jail and charges that he broke into an ex-girlfriend's apartment.
Questions also dogged Kishkorn over marijuana use and using an allegedly stolen car. He later admitted to marijuana use, but the latter charge turned out to be false.
So, Kishkorn, now in the real estate business in Grand Rapids, said Jaye's travails were something he could identify with.
"I can have a lot of empathy for the man, you know?" said Kishkorn.
Fritz Wahlfield, who has served on the Kent County Commission since 1974, said some commissioners wanted to get rid of Kishkorn, but nothing in the bylaws allowed them to do so.
"But the voters took care of it," he said.
Kishkorn lost his re-election campaign in 1976, and he said he still remembers the charged atmosphere that led to his loss.
"You always have to remember that you're dealing in a political arena," Kishkorn said. "That always seems to prevail and cloud the facts."
The Kent County Commission's silence on rules dealing with wayward members is just fine with Commissioner Michael Sak.
"I don't know if that's truly our responsibility, to sit in judgment of a peer that has made mistakes, so I'm comfortable not having anything in our bylaws," Sak said. "Voters have every two years to elect someone, so they can make that judgment."
Most other governing bodies in the state have similar hands-off policies.
School boards, according to state law, can only censure members and strip them of committee assignments and titles.
Townships are similarly constrained, under a 1954 state law, though the governor can directly remove township board trustees for such crimes as "habitual drunkenness." That's never happened, according to Larry Merrill, executive director of the Michigan Association of Townships.
Under the Grand Rapids City Commission's charter, written in 1916, public officials can be removed by the commission for "official misconduct" or "unfaithful or improper performance of duties of his office."
It takes a simple majority to vote a peer off the commission.
Grand Rapids Mayor John Logie said it would take a lot for members to vote a peer out.
"If four or more peers got together and looked at an accumulation of acts and decided that taken as a whole there was enough deviation from acceptable conduct, that's what the charter permits," Logie said. "I'd hope that's reasonable."
Peer pressure
What's reasonable is in the eye of the peers, said Erika King, political science professor at Grand Valley State University.
"It's like the Supreme Court justice who said 'I can't define pornography but I know it when I see it,'" King said, referring to former justice Potter Stewart. "Public officials may not be able to completely define the threshold, but they know it when they see it when a peer has stepped over it."
Sen. Glenn Steil, R-Grand Rapids, initially opposed Jaye's expulsion, saying he would rather see a censure and "let his constituents deal with him."
But in the end, he voted in favor of expelling Jaye, partly in response to the hour-long defense Jaye gave on his final day on the Senate floor.
"He harangued and beat up on the other senators and was not very remorseful," Steil said. "It was a bad performance. I knew at that moment he no longer belonged in the Senate."
But as lawmakers may have used one final performance to determine their vote, they also viewed Jaye as a unique case against whom no other could be compared.
"I'm not aware of anybody who has compiled the kind of track record that David Jaye has," Stille said.
Jim Rinck, a Grand Rapids school board member who was censured by the board last year after criticizing Superintendent Patricia Newby, was sure that no other lawmaker would have faced a similar fate under the circumstances.
"It's clear if he'd had any kind of camaraderie in the Senate, this wouldn't have happened," said Rinck, an attorney. "They were so fed up with him. He'd blown all his empathy in the Senate, he'd lost it completely, even when the evidence wasn't all that overwhelming."
The Jaye story
By John Gizzi
June 4, 2001
Making news far beyond the borders of the Water Wonderland, Michigan state senators last week for the first time in history expelled one of their colleagues.
The 43-year-old Macomb County lawmaker was driven out of his seat by a vote of 33 to 2, seven more than needed for expulsion.
"We have been trying to get David to straighten himself out for a long time," one Republican legislator who voted for expulsion wrote me after the vote, noting that Jaye has also had three drunken driving convictions. "If he were in a private corporation, he would have been fired long ago."
But the curtain has by no means fallen on the controversy-riddled Jaye saga. Under state law, a special election will soon be held, and the ousted Jaye is permitted to run for his former seat. If returned to office, according to the law, he must be seated and cannot be expelled on the same charges as before.
In 12 years as a county commissioner, state representative and senator, the Republican who styles himself a "junkyard dog" has never lost an election. His formula for success in his blue-collar county, Michigan pundits note, is a crowded primary in which the opposition is split and Jaye brings out enough of his hard-core following to win, rallying his troops with spirited opposition to quotas and affirmative action.
Already, State Rep. Alan Sanborn, Who succeeded Jaye in the state House, has signaled he will seek the Republican senate nod. In addition, it is widely thought that Sal and Sue Rocca, a husband-and-wife team who have alternated the offices of state representative and county commissioner, will also get into the GOP race.
"Right now, I'm leaning toward running again," Jaye told HUMAN EVENTS, adding that the one stumbling block to his comeback bid is "the $80,000 in legal fees I've been saddled with." He noted that "I have not been tried or convicted" of the charges of striking his fiancée and that "convicted felons have served in the legislature without any talk of expulsion."
As for support, the embattled Republican pointed out that "the Executive Committee of the County Republican Party here has passed a resolution in support of me, and so have the Macomb County Taxpayers Association and the local gun-owners group. We had over 1,200 yard signs in the last campaign and people have been calling me regularly saying they'll put up my signs again. And when I went to try to collect unemployment [which was eventually denied], the two people in front of me in the line stopped, hugged me, and said they would support me in a special election."
Kloss, 36, said she no longer plans to marry Jaye in the spring and will not support him in the upcoming Sept. 11 special election. She accuses Jaye of sexual relations with 10 women since they've been engaged, and she said he's been unfaithful to her numerous times.
"I told him I don't want to have anything to do with him. I'm done with him," Kloss said in a telephone interview from her Fort Myers, Fla., home."
As far as I'm concerned, the engagement is off. I think he's using me. I can't keep putting up with his infidelities. Once he gets his Senate seat back, he'll dump me like a hot potato."
Jaye did not personally return repeated telephone calls for comment.
However, a spokesperson for Jaye, whose running in the Sept. 11 special election was prompted by his Senate expulsion, said the Washington Township Republican was the one who ended the relationship.
Jaye spokeswoman Susan Tabar said that Kloss has falsely accused Jaye of infidelities several times in the past. Jaye, 43, believes Kloss is falsely claiming to be pregnant as a sympathy ploy, Tabar added.
Historic ouster warranted
Jackson Citizen Patriot
June 6, 2001
On May 24 the Michigan Senate made history. For the first time ever, that 38-member legislative body expelled one of its members, Sen. David Jaye, R-Washington Township.
It was not an easy task sitting in judgment. There was enough conflicting evidence about Mr. Jaye's involvement in incidents of drunkenness, assault and sexual harassment to kill the case if it were before a criminal court. But 33 senators, including Jackson County's Philip E. Hoffman, R-Horton, supported the resolution of expulsion. Even now this issue is not entirely resolved, for under the law, Sen. Jaye may run in the special election that will be held to fill the seat he just vacated.
Be that as it may, those 33 senators who voted for expulsion took a stand for the integrity of their legislative chamber. And curiously, a common theme from those supporting expulsion was that they would have retained Sen. Jaye had he admitted his failures and asked for help. Instead, he continues his long-standing residency in Denial City.
He deserved expulsion, and we salute the Senate majority for its collective act of accountability.
Hoffman's rationale for expelling Jaye from Senate
Jackson Citizen Patriot
June 10, 2001
On May 24, the Michigan Senate voted to expel Sen. David Jaye, R-Macomb County. Here is the Senate Journal transcript of Sen. Philip E. Hoffman's statement, delivered on the floor of the Senate prior to the 33-2 vote. Two other senators were excused from the vote and one abstained.
What a sad day for the Michigan Senate. It's really a sad day I'm sure for all the people who have been involved in the committee process who have had to endure the weeks of deliberations. But I kind of viewed it a little bit differently. I didn't view it as a court hearing because it wasn't. I didn't view it as anything more than a personnel matter.
I think back to my days when I was a police officer. I viewed it sort of as an internal-affairs investigation, with the exception that we were precedent-setting. So we were learning in the process, and I want to say to Sen. Jaye's legal team that I learned a lot from watching them. I think Mr. Marsalese and Mr. Thomas learned a lot - probably more than they wanted to - about the legislative process and the committee process. But I dare say, if you ever need two experts on the committee process, I think both of those gentlemen could probably tell you anything you want to know about it. I'm sure that Mr. Jersevic with his legislative experience kind of filled in the blanks. But it was a learning process for all of us, and yes, it was imperfect.
But you know, ladies and gentlemen, we did one thing that the courts and the State Police have not been able to do with any success. And that is, we have been able to get down to the brass tacks - get down to the bottom line and ask the tough questions without having to worry about whether the testimony would be - I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know if it would be impeached or held back or what. But we were able to ask the tough questions and not get the run-around. I learned a lot about that.
You know what I also learned? I also learned that committee members can disagree on seeing a tape. I see a tape one way; another committee member sees it another way. But that's what the committee process is about. It was the result of asking those questions that we were able to learn - able to get down to the bottom line here. We listened to each of the 10-plus charges. We had some compelling testimony before our committee, and one item I think absolutely has to be talked about was the young, 18-year-old store clerk who came before our committee. He had never testified in a court of law or a legislative committee in his life. He came in and gave some compelling testimony.
You know, when I watched the video tape, his testimony confirmed what he observed. He said he went in and out of the men's restroom three times to get a lady that he had been informed by a citizen was in the men's restroom. He said a physical assault occurred after the senator from the 12th District had left the restroom. He said the victim was kicked and was hit about the face area. We have another witness from the parking lot area who observed a man. He did not identify the man as the senator from the 12th District. He observed a man strike a woman in the face area and kick her. He gave a license number and said that the man who did the assault got in the driver's seat and drove away. The license number came back as the senator from the 12th District. The State Police under direct questioning said the driver of the vehicle was the senator from the 12th District.
If you put all the pieces of the puzzle together, what we have here is an assault. The fact that the video camera does not show an assault actually occurring because it was not within the view of the camera, does not mean, ladies and gentlemen, for a second that an assault did not occur. We do see physical touching from the senator of the 12th District on a female. I believe, as I recall, his left hand was in her left hand. And it appeared to me that his right hand was going towards the middle of her back. Now I could not tell you beyond that, so I had to rely on the testimony from an 18-year-old store clerk and from another citizen who was in the parking lot at the time to tell me what happened after that. And to have the senator from the 12th District tell me on the Senate floor today that that 18-year-old lied, is wrong. I know what I heard, and I have no reason to believe for a second that that young person or the other person in the parking lot were lying.
There has to be some motivation or some reason why they would want to lie. To sink Sen. Jaye's political career? I don't think so. When I asked both of them whether they knew Sen. Jaye, they did not know him at that time. The gentleman who was in the parking lot was reporting what he believed to be an abduction in progress. He had never seen anything like that. I asked the 18-year-old boy a question, and he responded by saying he had never seen a man hit a woman before.
Ladies and gentlemen, yes, that is pretty damaging testimony. But to think for a second that that event was fabricated by those strangers at that gas station is wrong. I have heard deliberate misrepresentation of the facts by the senator from the 12th District, and frankly, if he was my son, I'd have a bar of soap and I'd wash his mouth out. It is a sin to lie. It is a sin to try to tear down innocent citizens for your advantage. That is wrong.
You bet I'm going to ask the members of this Senate to support the committee substitute for Senate Resolution No. 47.
Ousted Jaye to seek old seat
Fiancée Kloss says she's committed to helping him win
Detroit News
July 3, 2001
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP -- David Jaye is trying to make a comeback.
The ex-state senator from Washington Township told The Detroit News Monday he will run again for the 12th District seat he was expelled from in May.
"I'm getting support because people know I have been an advocate for seniors, for the little guy, for the working people -- men and women," said Jaye, who insists he is not sexist. "The good Lord made men and women, but Smith & Wesson made us equal."
Jaye was expelled by the Senate May 24. The punishment was for three drunken-driving convictions, unproven allegations that he hit his fiancee Sonia Kloss and "recurring misconduct."
Still, he expects to pick up support from women, said Gail Hicks, a former Jaye aide who chairs Women Support Jaye.
"We're not believing the lies about David," she said.
Added Kloss: "David has gotten an unbelievable response, especially from women who feel what was done to him and me was the real abuse."
But Stephanie McLean, a feminist and Lansing political consultant, says Jaye is unfit to serve. "His behavior and his lack of respect for other people (are) an embarrassment."
State Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, who was instrumental in booting Jaye from office, said if Jaye is re-elected there will be no hard feelings because "it's up to the voters."
No date has been set for a special election to fill Jaye's term, which would have expired in 2002.
Ousted state senator says he will run for seat he lost
Grand Rapids Press
July 3, 2001
MOUNT CLEMENS -- Kicked out of the state Senate for repeated misconduct, David Jaye said Monday that he will run for the vacancy created by his expulsion.
"I'm getting support because people know I have been an advocate for seniors, for the little guy, for the working people -- men and women," the Republican said.
No date has been set for a special election to fill Jaye's term, which would have expired in 2002.
Jaye lost his seat May 24 after the Senate voted 33-2 to expel him. Lawmakers cited his three drunken driving convictions, allegations he hit fiancee Sonia Kloss and "a recurring pattern of personal misconduct."
Jaye, of Macomb County's Washington Township, said he is not sexist. "The good Lord made men and women, but Smith & Wesson made us equal," he said.
Jaye expects to pick up support from women, said Gail Hicks, a former Jaye aide who heads a group called Women Support Jaye.
"We're not believing the lies about David," she said.
State Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, who was instrumental in booting Jaye from office, said if Jaye is re-elected, there will be no hard feelings because "it's up to the voters."
Jaye still could face up to 101/2 months in jail for violating his probation from a 2000 drunken driving conviction. Prosecutors say Jaye violated probation when he allegedly assaulted his fiancee near Bay City and again in Florida and also went on a hunting trip in northern Michigan last November. Jaye was supposed to drive only on state legislative matters.
Kloss has denied that Jaye assaulted her. Jaye was never charged in the Bay City incident and the Florida case was dropped. Jaye has been free on $10,000 personal bond.
David Jaye's fiancée pregnant, won't marry ousted senator
FreeRepulic.com
August 28, 2001
Sonia Kloss, apparently pregnant and feeling abandoned by her fiancee, said Monday she has broken off her engagement with ex- senator David Jaye because she claims Jaye has had affairs with several other women.
"He has made several attempts to mitigate the situation and it hasn't worked. Dave has ended the relationship. The damage is done," Tabar said.
The Washington Township Republican said as recently as Aug. 3 that he loved Kloss and would marry her this spring.
But Tabar said Kloss' heavy drinking and her extreme jealousy has taken its toll on the relationship."
She's been rambling on for two years. Whenever something goes wrong, she retaliates with another façade," said Tabar, a member of the political group known as Women Supporting Jaye.
On Monday, Kloss said she is about 2 1/2 months pregnant with Jaye's child and suffering daily from morning sickness. But she said the ex-senator's only interest is winning the September primary and Nov. 6 general election.
"I'm 2 1/2 months pregnant, I'm puking my guts out, and his words to me this morning were, 'Are you sure I'm the father?'" Kloss said. "He doesn't like kids. He doesn't want kids. But he's pro-life. Figure that out."
Kloss' accusations come at a time when a new poll shows Jaye trailing in third place in the Republican primary field, with just 15 percent of the vote. The EPIC/MRA poll indicated that only 10 percent of Republican women in the 12th Senate District will vote for him.
When allegations arose that Jaye had assaulted Kloss in Bay County in November and at her Florida home in April, Kloss said she was standing by her man. She denied Jaye had ever hit her and urged the Senate not to expel him because of the alleged assaults.
After the expulsion, Kloss testified on Jaye's behalf at his August probation hearing. The former lawmaker had never been charged with either assault but he was found guilty of violating his probation in the Florida incident.
When the probation hearing concluded on Aug. 3, Kloss campaigned for Jaye later that day. But she returned to Florida about a day later to be with her two sons and hasn't returned to Michigan since.
Jaye and Kloss announced their engagement in February but Kloss has been telling people that they're engaged since at least September 1999.
Their relationship apparently unraveled last week when Jaye put out a press release announcing that his ex-wife, Sharon Jaye, was endorsing his candidacy. The ex-senator and Kloss had quarreled in the past about Jaye's continued friendship with his former wife.
Kloss admitted Monday that she is upset with Jaye's relationship with his former wife.
Sharon Jaye, however, said she remains friends with her ex-husband.
"I really don't want to lower myself to her (Kloss') level. I am not romantic with David," she said.
A Shelby Township resident, Sharon Jaye filed for divorce in 1998 and the divorce became final in 1999. She said Kloss has placed harassing phone calls to her -- sometimes in the middle of the night -- for nearly two years.
Kloss, who is not a registered voter in Michigan, said she will not support Jaye's bid to win back his Senate seat but will instead back one of Jaye's opponents in the 22-person field. She would not say who will gain her endorsement.
"David was not serious about marrying me," she said. "He was only interested in politics."
In history, 3 Michigan lawmakers expelled
Manistee News Advocate
September 12, 2015
LANSING — Only three Michigan lawmakers have been expelled from the Legislature, though several have resigned when facing the prospect of an expulsion vote.
That number could increase as Rep. Todd Courser, R-Lapeer, and Rep. Cindy Gamrat, R-Plainwell, face the possibility of expulsion. A House select committee voted Thursday to expel both of them, with all the Republicans on the committee voting in favor of expulsion, and the two Democrats abstaining. The recommendation stalled in the full House late Thursday, where a two-thirds majority vote would be required to expel Courser or Gamrat.
Both admitted misusing House resources to help try to cover up an extramarital affair they were having.
The most recent expulsion case — and the only case involving a state senator — involved Sen. David Jaye in 2001. Jaye, a Washington Township Republican, was expelled for misconduct, including three drunken driving convictions and claims that the lawmaker assaulted his fiancée.
Before that, in 1978, state Rep. Monte Geralds was expelled from the House. The Madison Heights Democrat refused to resign after he was convicted of embezzling $24,000 from a client of his private law practice.
The first Michigan lawmaker expelled, according to Gongwer News Service, was Rep. Milo Dakin of Saginaw, back in 1887. He was accused of attempting to bribe his House colleagues in connection with a vote related to changes to the Saginaw city charter. Dakin was elected to the House as a fusion candidate, when the Greenback Party and Democrats ran together, the newsletter reported.
No comments:
Post a Comment