Councilman Cad?

Robinson recalls giving friendly advice to Yarbrough: "I would hate for something like that to get around. Take care of it and do whatever you have to do, you know, it wouldn't-be-good-for-you type thing."

Robinson says he doesn't remember details of Smith's complaints. "I guess [he was] just cheating on her and taking her money, or something like that. Just kind of so bizarre for Michael to have to do something like that."

A woman who worked in Yarbrough's early campaign retorts, "How can you not believe her when Michael had no means of support at the time and didn't file tax returns?"

"She was very credible to me," says the source. "When I talked with her [at the time she complained], I was 75-80 percent convinced she was telling the truth. When I talked to another former coworker about Michael's behavior, I became 90 percent convinced. The course of events since has given me 99 percent certainty."

A former council aide who was loyal to Yarbrough says she was "blown to smithereens" by Smith's account. "Listening to that poor lady, she had a lot to say. If everything she says is true, she went through quite an ordeal, and the individual took advantage of her at her time of weakness." After working for Yarbrough and leaving because of what she felt were unethical activities, the source says she now believes Smith "100 percent."

Smith says she doesn't expect that Yarbrough will ever repay the money she lavished on him. An attorney reviewed the situation and concluded that she doesn't have the evidence for a legal case.

She last saw the Councilman two years ago, as she drove home from work in the Galleria. She says he pulled his car alongside her vehicle and motioned for Smith to follow him off the freeway.

"He got ahead of me and took the exit, and I just kept going,"she declares. "I wanted no part of him."

When it comes time for character witnesses to take the stand in Yarbrough's upcoming trial, you can bet the Councilman will want no part of Brenda Delaney Smith either.

Invest your news tips with the Insider. Call him at (713)280-2483, fax him at (713)280-2496 or e-mail him at insider@houstonpress.com.