Peter Lucido's office releases affidavit in its defense after ethics complaint was filed

A former Sterling Heights City Council candidate is defending Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido after an ethics complaint was filed against Lucido involving photos taken with the candidate.

Mark Brewer, the former party chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, filed a complaint against Lucido, a Republican, earlier this month, alleging he used and allowed then Sterling Heights City Council candidate Paul Manni to use county property to create photos for “political campaign purposes” in the 2021 election.

Lucido and a spokeswoman for his office hasn’t responded to requests for comment, but his office released an affidavit from Manni on Wednesday. Manni said the photos were taken when he had a meeting with Lucido in June 2021 at his office. He said he didn’t seek or obtain Lucido’s consent to use the photos in campaign literature.

“It is important to note that Peter J. Lucido was not aware of my use of these pictures in my campaign literature,” Manni said in the affidavit.  

Brewer’s complaint includes a photocopy of a campaign mailer that it appears was sent to voters ahead of the Aug. 3, 2021 Sterling Heights City Council primary election. In one image on the mailer, Lucido and Manni are talking to each other in front of a sign that says Lucido’s name and title. Brewer said Tuesday that “it’s clearly the prosecutor’s office.”  

Another image on the mailer shows Manni and Lucido talking in an office, which Brewer thought is Lucido’s office.  

Brewer’s complaint alleges that Lucido violated of Section 5.e.(2)(b) and (c) of Macomb County’s Ethics Ordinance. Dorie Vazquez-Nolan, chair of the county Ethics Board, confirmed that the board received Brewer’s complaint.

The document Lucido released on Wednesday includes a letter from Manni’s attorney, Michael Balian, in which he says that Lucido neither approved nor had knowledge of the photos used in the campaign literature.

Manni said in his affidavit that during his meeting with Lucido in June 2021, he requested to take a few photos of the two of them together. He noted that after the meeting concluded, he decided to incorporate the photos into his campaign literature.

Brewer said in a statement Wednesday that the affidavit “isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on and would be laughed out of any court.”

“This affidavit proves that the complaint was correct — the photos were taken in Lucido’s office," Brewer said.

He also said it was "pathetic" that Lucido, who’s sworn to uphold the law, has to rely on Manni to defend him.

Vazquez-Nolan, chair of the county Ethics Board, said Tuesday that the board will do a probable cause review of the complaint at its next meeting, which is at 8:30 a.m. March 19.