Club owners testify in Kilpatrick probe

DETROIT, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- The owners of a Detroit nightclub say city building officials extorted contributions to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's campaign fund, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Mark Hausner told the newspaper that he spent more than two hours last week before a federal grand jury. He said that one of his partners in the Rhino, a recently closed club, testified for 20 minutes while the other partner was summoned to testify but not called before the grand jury.

Kilpatrick resigned as mayor earlier this year, pleading guilty to state charges that he lied about his affair with his chief of staff and their role in the firing of police officers. He has not yet been charged with federal crimes but is reported to be a target of an investigation that also involves many in his family.

Hausner and Jeff Baer said they were asked about donations to Kilpatrick political funds and about the Detroit Economic Growth Corp.

"Representatives of the Kwame Kilpatrick administration shook my clients down for thousands of dollars," David Steingold, a lawyer representing the partners, said.