Friday the Freep ran a story about the Attorney Discipline Board's examination of whether Samuel McCargo violated attorney ethics in the Kilpatrick settlement. The story notes that City attorney Ellen Ha was sickened when she realized that her boss had kept her in the dark about the earlier machinations, yet wanted her to stop the Freep's publishing of the text messages Her boss was John Johnson, Detroit Corporation Counsel.

And amazingly, this weekend, the Free Press endorses the same, disgraced Johnson for a new career on the Charter Commission!

John Johnson, 55, was Detroit's corporation counsel under Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. A graduate of Howard University and Valparaiso University School of Law, Johnson is defending himself against bar disciplinary charges that stem from his role in the settlement of the whistle-blower case against Kwame Kilpatrick. But he argues convincingly that any questions about his conduct as legal counsel can be traced to the existing city charter's vague and sometimes contradictory demands of the city's top lawyer. Furthermore, his experience as corporation counsel would be invaluable in helping the revision commission better define the obligations of that critical office.

I thought the Freep editorial board was nuts when they endorsed Warren Evans for Mayor - but this is just unbelievable. Can the Freep have been co-opted somehow?