Local millionaire Peter Karmanos Jr. is using his power and influence to take up a personal cause — to try to get President Donald Trump to free former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from a 28-year prison sentence.
The Compuware founder revealed on Charlie LeDuff's No BS News Hour podcast on Sunday that he has taken the matter into his own hands, personally forwarding a letter from Kilpatrick to Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. He believes Trump is seriously considering the case.
#FreeKwame may seem to be an odd political position for Karmanos, who also told LeDuff he is a Trump supporter and has given most of his political contributions to Republicans, according to the Detroit Free Press. However, Karmanos also donated to Kilpatrick and his mother, both Democrats, and even gave Kilpatrick a job as a salesman in Dallas, Texas, after he resigned as mayor following the notorious text message scandal reported by the Free Press.
But Karmanos also suggested a more cynical motive here: He told LeDuff he believes freeing Kilpatrick would help Trump win Michigan again in the 2020 election.
"I do know that if Trump gave him clemency before the election, where do you think he'd help Trump's campaign at?"…