Macomb Co Executive: offensive recordings leaked by Mayor Fouts staffer

(WJBK) - It's the latest political scandal to rock Macomb County of someone who sounds a lot like Warren Mayor Jim Fouts making disturbing comments about the mentally challenged.

The recordings were released by a political rival in the midst of a feud over alleged illegal dumping at Freedom Hill. A feud between Warren Mayor Jim Fouts and Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel reached new heights Thursday.

The comments are vulgar and many will find the remarks offensive. 

>>Listen to the full recordings below

"I think they have to keep them in diapers, I don't know. I think, maybe, really, I don't dare say that publicly, but why bring, like um ... I see these old people pushing their retarded daughter around ... for what reason?  I don't know. She doesn't know what she's doing."

Explosive, incendiary and deplorable remarks in a set of audio recordings given to FOX 2 by Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel's office.

"Why would anybody want to have that as part of their life?  I'm for Dr. Kevorkian, ya know?"

The recordings point the finger at Warren Mayor Jim Fouts

"[unintelligible] for retarded kids. Fine, I guess. When you see these people, like uh, I don't know - what good are they? You know, they're dysfunctional human beings. they're not even human beings."

Hackel spoke Thursday night about how he received the recordings.

"(At) three o'clock in the morning I get this, I was awakened to it," he said. "And when I listened to it I couldn't help but be disturbed."

Hackel says he received the recordings from someone that works with Fouts. He claims they were recorded during a staff meeting,  but does not know when.

FOX 2: "Do you believe this is Mayor Fouts on those recordings?"

"It certainly sounds like it," Hackel said.

FOX 2: "How do you know this is Mayor Fouts on those recordings?"

"I do not. I do not," Hackel said. "I was told by somebody that's one of his staff members who was the one that wanted to pass it along, because he was deeply disturbed by the conversations he had heard on those tapes. He passed them along and made sure I had those in my hands."

On another recording the voice says:

"You know, can you imagine - you stand at the urinal and you drop your drawers to pee - I don't know what they do when they take an (expletive). They probably sit down and hunch. I don't want any part of this.

"This is one of the worst things about being mayor. This is the bottom - this is bottom of the barrel to relate to retarded people and I don't want to be around them. I wish them well in a cage."

FOX 2 reached out to Mayor Fouts but got no response. He blasted the recordings on Facebook calling them a vicious attempt to discredit him.

The Warren mayor questioned the validity of the recordings, denied it was his voice on them and accused Hackel of doctoring the clips.

Hackel denied the allegation.

"Mr. Fouts is going to say anything to try to be elusive but the reality is what was on that tape is absolutely disturbing," Hackel said. "So there's going to be somebody that's getting this information shortly to deal with directly, to what Mr. Fouts is trying to allege as to it being doctored up."

There was another recording included in the batch where the person speaks about prostitutes.

"This fantasy of meeting - even if they're hookers - and bringing them back to my place... now maybe it won't happen, but that's what I fantasize."

Fouts denied it was him in a fiery Facebook post:

"Mark Hackel will do anything and everything to disparage me. This recording was not me! (he has the expertise available to him to electronically engineer it) This is a PHONY tape with more to come. As I said when Mark Hackel can't argue with facts he attacks.

"This was a garbled tape. A vicious attempt to discredit me. Mark Hackel will do anything to cover up his crime even the use of anonymous phony tapes.

"Mark Hackel has reached a new low in politics. All because I have requested an attorney general investigation of the cover-up of the illegal dumping at Freedom Hill."

Fouts and Hackel have been going at it over the construction of berms over at Freedom Hill for weeks now.

Listen to the recordings below.  Be aware there is offensive language.