DETROIT – Lawyers for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick filed a lawsuit Thursday aimed at scuttling a hearing that could lead to his ouster, saying the proceedings would be unfair and presided over by a governor who is biased against him.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Ziolkowski is expected to hear a request Friday to halt removal proceedings scheduled to start Wednesday.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm scheduled next week's hearing under a rarely used provision of the Michigan Constitution that allows the governor to evict officials for misconduct. Kilpatrick's political life is threatened not only by the hearing, but by felony charges that he lied under oath about an affair and assaulted investigators; he denies any wrongdoing.

Kilpatrick attorney James Thomas wrote that Granholm can't be considered an “unbiased finder of fact” because she pushed for Kilpatrick to resign as she tried to broker a deal to settle criminal charges against him in May.

The Detroit City Council wants Kilpatrick removed, saying he misled council members into approving an $8.4 million settlement with fired police officers. The council says it didn't know the deal included provisions to keep confidential some romantic text messages between Kilpatrick and a top aide.

Kilpatrick's attorneys want the judge to throw out the law giving the governor the power to remove elected officials, claiming the standard of official misconduct is “vague, subjective and capable of multiple interpretations.”

Kilpatrick also claims that the hearing would violate his right to fair and just treatment under the state constitution.

The lawsuit says Granholm tried to broker a deal in May to settle criminal charges against Kilpatrick, who along with his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, is accused of perjury and obstruction of justice for testimony in a civil trial involving the fired police officers. They denied having an extramarital affair, testimony that was put in doubt when the text messages emerged.

“It was apparent at this meeting that the governor did not presume Kilpatrick's innocence,” the lawsuit states. “To the contrary, at this meeting, the governor and her staff had prepared a blackboard scenario in which his presumption of innocence was ignored and significantly undercut.

“The governor explained that no matter the evidence, Kilpatrick had to resign because it was making Michigan look bad,” according to the lawsuit.

Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said the governor is aware of the lawsuit.

“We will review it and respond as appropriate,” Boyd said.

Earlier Thursday in Denver, where the governor is attending the Democratic National Convention, Granholm declined to say if she feels she's in a tough position judging a fellow Democrat.

“I'm acting based on what my obligations are under that law and based upon what City Council has asked me to do,” she said.

Kilpatrick attorney Sharon McPhail, meanwhile, has complained to Granholm that three lawyers are refusing to testify at the removal hearing, possibly harming his ability to defend himself.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Granholm's legal adviser, Kelly Keenan, McPhail asked that Granholm seek subpoena power, delay the hearing or press the witnesses to appear.

“The inability to compel the attendance of the witnesses is a serious if not fatal blow to the defense in the removal proceedings,” McPhail wrote.

The issue came up Thursday during a conference call intended to iron out the procedure for the removal hearing.

According to William Goodman, an attorney for the Detroit City Council who was on the call, Keenan said in effect: “You'll have to do the best you can. We don't have subpoena power. There's no argument about that.”

A message seeking comment was left with McPhail. Boyd, Granholm's spokeswoman, would say only that the call was “cordial and productive.”

Goodman predicted he would take two days to present the case to remove the Democratic mayor.

Aside from the perjury case, Kilpatrick is charged with assault in Wayne County Circuit Court. Those charges stem from allegations that the mayor shoved a prosecutor's investigator into another in July as they were attempting to serve a subpoena in the perjury case to a Kilpatrick friend.

Associated Press writer Kathy Barks Hoffman in Denver contributed to this report.