LANSING—Joshua Cline, a former
staffer for state Reps. Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat opened up about the
legislators’ affair this week at a press conference. The scandal has rocked
Lansing and the state legislature.

Courser and Gamrat are both married
with children. The two Tea Party conservatives preached family values. 

Cline recalled one incident when
Courser and Gamrat were supposed to meet with a lobbyist and showed up late.  After arriving they both disappeared into
Gamrat’s office for an hour.  When they
returned the lobbyist was gone. Both Courser and Gamrat canceled or rescheduled
more than half the meetings they set up.

“Reps. Courser and Gamrat would
routinely disappear for hours at a time — especially on Thursdays after
session — and then they would come back and ask us to get them dinner,”
Cline said. “I began to suspect that Rep.
Courser and Gamrat were having an inappropriate physical relationship. In
January, I mentioned my concerns to Courser and Gamrat at a late-night staff
meeting. I suggested they should adopt and enforce professional and personal
boundaries. They quickly dismissed my concerns.”

Cline who resigned in the spring said
the lawmakers’ intimate relationship became too obvious and created a hostile
work environment.

On her website Gamrat describes
herself as a passionate Christian who believes in the power of prayer.

Courser often napped in Gamrat’s office,
and she would get him a pillow and blanket and tuck him in, according to
Cline. 

“I don’t know at what point I can get
passed the guilt and shame that I feel. First and foremost I need to ask for
forgiveness from God. And I have been doing that,” Courser said.  He apologized to the church his constituents
and the general public. 

 Cline said it was not an easy task to
chose integrity over a paycheck.

“I chose to preserve my integrity and
resign effective immediately,” Cline said. “Having chosen integrity
over continued employment in a hostile, untenable work environment in which I
was required to turn a blind eye to unethical behavior in the offices of
Courser and Gamrat, I am confident I did the right thing.”

The affair made headlines after
Courser sent an email claiming he had been caught having sex with a male
prostitute to cover up the affair and launch a smear campaign against him.