The husband of former Rep. Cindy Gamrat, Joe Gamrut, is the so-called “blackmailer” who threatened to expose Rep. Gamrat’s affair with fellow lawmaker Todd Courser. The text messages came from a pre-paid cell phone and pressured the State Representatives to resign from office. Courser orchestrated a fictional email campaign in May suggesting he had sex with a male prostitute in order to distract attention from his relationship with Cindy Gamrat. Courser resigned from office in September before the State House was to vote on his expulsion. About an hour later the House voted to expel Gamrat. Lapeer County Prosecutor Tim Turkelson will not charge Joe Gamrat for sending his wife and Courser text messages threatening to expose their affair because Gamrat’s intention was to end his wife’s affair and not engage in criminal extortion.