Disgraced former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was released shortly after midnight this morning, having served a 99-day jail term. Reporting the story, the Associated Press noted the pol's Democratic Party affiliation in the fourth paragraph of its story, after noting that he "looked thinner and his beard was fuller" than when he was admitted to jail.

Yet in a 43-second AP video narrated by Brian Thomas, the Democratic affiliation went unmentioned but his weight loss figure was more precisely pinned down.

Transcript follows:

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been released from a city prison after serving a 99-day sentence. Kilpatrick left jail 25 lbs. lighter than he was when he entered it in October.

The jail term was the end result of a scandal involving sexually explicit text messages between the former mayor and his former chief-of-staff Christine Beatty.

The messages revealed the pair lied under oath about a romantic relationship and their roles in the firing of a police official.

Kilpatrick has now joined the ranks of Americans looking for work. He's heading to a job interview tomorrow with an unnamed company in Texas. His wife and three young sons have already left Michigan.

Kilpatrick will spend the next five years on probation and pay back the bulk of a million dollars in restitution to the city.

Brian (sp?) Thomas, The Associated Press.