Brown hires former McCargo aide

Sam McCargo’s loss is Gary Brown’s gain … again.

The council president pro tem just hired a new staffer who used to work for Kwame Kilpatrick’s text message attorney Sam McCargo.

McCargo and Brown were on opposite sides in the scandal, which started when the former deputy police chief and others filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the city. McCargo personally cross examined Brown during the trial and later helped settle the case for $8.4 million along with crafting a deal to keep the text messages secret.

Attorney Katey Maher just started for McCargo last year as a litigation associate and missed all the text-message excitement. She worked him for about eight months before McCargo’s law licenses was suspended in September. The Michigan Attorney Discipline Board suspended him for 179 days on ethics charges from the scandal and Maher was out of a job.

Maher now works for Brown for $40.87 per hour as a policy analyst, succeeding Debra Pospiech.

“I don’t hold any grudges,” Brown said, saying he and McCargo live near each other and share an occasional round of golf. “I called Sam and got a recommendation.”