Cox denies new allegations about Manoogian mansion party

Perhaps at the worst possible time — just days before the Aug. 3 gubernatorial primary — Attorney General Mike Cox finds himself once again having to deny allegations surrounding an alleged party in 2002 at the Manoogian mansion, the traditional home for the mayor of Detroit.

As AG, Cox concluded that the party, which allegedly resulted in the death of stripper Tamara Greene, was an urban legend that never actually took place. But attorneys for the Greene family have long maintained that Cox’s conclusions were a convenient whitewash to cover up the fact that he was at the mansion during the party.

Greene family attorney Norman Yatooma announced Monday that he had a signed affidavit from Wilson Kay Jr., a member of an unnamed motorcycle gang allegedly hired to handle security at the party. That affidavit reportedly says that Kay saw Carlita Kilpatrick, wife of imprisoned former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, assault Greene with a table leg after the dancer performed a lap dance on her husband.

The document also alleges that Cox was at the party and received a lap dance from another stripper. Cox vehemently denies those allegations:

“A five-time felon who makes outrageous claims and lies one week before an election eight years after a supposed incident… the whole thing is absolutely crazy and insulting to Michigan voters,” said Cox campaign manager Stu Sandler. “There are people working to stop Mike from becoming governor and it’s not going to happen.”

The fact that Kay has apparently now disappeared and did not show up for a deposition, during which he would have been cross-examined under oath, doesn’t exactly help the credibility of the accusations. But Yatooma argues that since Kay is not a defendant in the case and does not face any accusations of wrongdoing himself in connection with it, “he has nothing to gain by lying.”