Fiore then launched into a story about the atrocious table manners of Leland's father, Burton, a longtime politico and Wayne County commissioner. The father and son, it seems, were holding a political fundraiser at a downtown restaurant.Yes, LeDuff called Burton Leland to fact check that one. In the process, he may have received more than he bargained for:
Fiore arrived late, contribution check in pocket, but the party was over. Commissioner Leland and his wife, however, were still there. And they were hungry.
Fiore invited the couple to a restaurant next door, where a business associate named Phil was dining.
"So they come up there," Fiore recounted to his daughter. "Phil's eating. They start eating lamb chops off his plate."
Reached by phone in Florida, Burt Leland said he did not recall if he scavenged from another man's plate. "But if that's what it says I did, then I did."
"Look, Gabe has a very active libido," Leland informed me. "She just happened to be Gasper's daughter, okay? He wasn't sleeping with Gasper. It's guilt by association, I'm telling you."
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