Bernard Kilpatrick
Bernard Kilpatrick was not the politically connected insider who capitalized on his son being mayor of Detroit, his lawyer suggested Tuesday.
Attorney John Shea played conversations Tuesday secretly recorded by the FBI between Kilpatrick and contractor Karl Kado in March 2008.
The recordings showed Kilpatrick failed to convince city officials to pay Kado $1.6 million for work performed by the Cobo Center contractor.
“Obviously, he didn’t have the juice you thought he might have?” Shea asked Kado, a key government witness.
“Yes,” Kado said.
Shea suggested the recordings contrasted with the government’s portrayal of Kilpatrick as a political maestro who extorted city contractors.
Kado wore a hidden recording device for the FBI during meetings with Bernard Kilpatrick.
Shea suggested Kado was pushed by the FBI to call Kilpatrick and was not extorted by the mayor’s father.
“They’re the ones telling you to make the calls to Bernard Kilpatrick,” Shea said.
“Yes,” Kado said.
“This whole…project, I’m going to call it, is about you enlisting the assistance of Bernard Kilpatrick to help you collect these monies at the request of the government,” Shea said.
“Yes,” Kado said.