receives a call that makes his >> i got a phone call from a source who indicated the ben graham and keith allard would like to meet me. >> reporter: graham and allard have been fired by their bosses, controversial state representatives todd courser and cindy gamrat. now it's time for some payback with the playback. >> i thought their families needed to know, it needed to come out, so they could deal with it. >> sat down with these two men and they started to play this >> todd courser caught on tape. >> yep. that recording. >> it was shocking, it was unbelievable. i could instantly see how this was going to be a powerful story. >> reporter: on august 7th, livengood's story detonates on the front page, setting off a media frenzy. >> the bizarre situation. >> sex and coverup scandal. >> reporter: for reporter jim kiertzner of abc detroit affiliate wxyz the story is prime red meat as courser's supporters go into bunker mode. >> you're a reporter out for his blood! >> no one in michigan has seen anything like this in the last three decades. >> cover up the adultery with lies. >> juicy element after j

. >> reporter: enter two key players, keith allard, who signs on as gamrat's number two and ld friend, who becomes courser's top aide. >> he's a very dynamic person. he knows that. >> i'm against this, thank you. >> reporter: last january, the g like a cannonball determined to push their ultra-conservative agenda, even if it means fighting their own party. >> come hell or high water, we weren't going to cut a deal withther ourselves politically. >> reporter: but the disruptive duo's sharp elbows approach alienate just about any potential ally they'd need to . >> todd actually kind of declared public warfare on his colleagues. >> they were just very y was looking to stab them in the back. >> reporter: in fact the only relationship courser and gamrat seem to be cultivating is their own.close. they go on tv together and even combine their two staffs, running operations out of the same office. >> very unusual. they got here, people were talking about it. >> reporter: there are also frequent late night sessions that have the two overnighting they're having a relationship. but we also just

someone like ben graham or keith allard, possibly spilling secrets to his political enemies. >> i would say that somehow the texters are connected to the staff in some way to be able to get the information they had. >> for him to say that we were involved in blackmailing him is laughable because if the texter asked him to resign, i don't have a job anymore. >> reporter: the texter had warned courser that his "phone was a burner," a disposable