Detroit – The wife of Mayor Mike Duggan has filed for divorce.

Mary Loretto Maher's filing on Friday at the Wayne County Court of Appeal comes nearly six months after the couple defended their marriage in response to the Mayor's public protest over his relationship with a local doctor.

In a joint statement, Duggan, 60, and Maher, 62, wrote "this painful decision was not taken lightly" and asked the public to respect their privacy.

"Life is a journey with a lot of twists," reads the statement. "Today, a new chapter begins for both of us, so we decided to divorce."

Mayor and city relations with a non-profit organization are at the center of an independent investigation into a possible abuse of power over the preferential treatment afforded to Make Your Date, which focuses on the prevention of premature births.

Duggan's relationship with Dr. Sonia Hassan, who runs the program, has been questioned publicly in recent months.

When asked, the mayor repeatedly refused to discuss it, saying, "I will never talk about my personal life."

In Friday's statement, Duggan and Maher said that they "have had many serious discussions, that they have sought advice, but that ultimately they consider it to be the best decision." for both of us".

"Soon we will not be a married couple, but we stay in close contact and we are first and foremost parents," they said. "We will protect and be forever together in the lives of our children and grandchildren."

The pair concluded by saying "we will not comment" beyond the statement.

"We will continue to support each other, our family and the citizens of Detroit," the statement said.

A divorce settlement conference for Duggan and Maher is scheduled for August 2nd.

Alexis Wiley, Duggan's chief of staff, said Duggan would continue to live in Manoogian Mansion, the official residence of the city's mayor.

Last month, Detroit's Inspector General's office launched a review of the mayor's and city's relationship with the Hassan-led program led by Wayne State University.

The investigation came after the Detroit Free Press announced that the program had received $ 358,000 in municipal grants and had benefited from a fundraising campaign by a municipal official at the mayor's request.

The mayor promised to cooperate "100%" with the investigation and said the claims were "completely false".

The mayor said the city had never run a dime towards a non-profit organization. The partnership, he said, was directly with the university.

Duggan's statement was made despite an email reviewed by Wiley's The Detroit News in 2017 in Hassan, affiliated with Wayne State University.

Dr. Hassan, I would like to introduce you to Ryan Friedrichs He is our development manager and the mayor has commissioned him to launch a large-scale fundraising campaign for Make Your Date. "

University officials reiterated Duggan's position that the program was run by Wayne State from the beginning. The university said the 501 (c) (3) has never been activated and that it has never received nor released any money.

Wayne State stated that Hassan was a volunteer in his efforts to lead the program and that it was launched on the basis of research conducted at the National Institutes of Health's Perinatal Research Branch in Wayne State and at the same time. Hutzel Women's Hospital Detroit Medical Center, in which Hassan had played a leading role. .

Businessman Robert Carmack, who faces civil misdemeanor charges over a land dispute between the city and a public dispute with Duggan, has accused the mayor of corruption and infidelity with banners and video footage.

Carmack hired a private investigator last summer to follow the mayor and capture his comings and goings, including his visits to a Novi condo.

The images, posted on a billboard truck outside the City Hall, also captured a woman traveling to the same place.

In November, the incident had prompted the mayor and his wife to defend their marriage and to call a press conference to announce to the media that he had asked the Michigan state police to verify if the acts of Carmack – in retaliation for the refusal of the city. to drop the case against him for property – amounted to extortion.

On Thursday, the Wayne County Electoral Commission approved the wording of a petition reminding Duggan of the investigation into whether a favor would have been granted to him. NPO and its alleged relationship with Hassan.

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