Private communication between key players in Michigan's 2011 redistricting process imply Republicans engaged in political gerrymandering when drawing the state's political districts, filings in an ongoing federal lawsuit claim.

Evidence introduced earlier this month in a federal lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters against Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson in U.S. District Court Eastern District in Detroit included reference to emails between Republican staffers and consultants suggesting political districts were being drawn to benefit the party.

In one email included in the filings sent in May 2011, former Michigan Chamber of Commerce executive Robert LaBrant appears to reference drawing the 4th Congressional District to suit then-Congressman Dave Camp's wishes.

"We will accommodate whatever Dave wants in his district even if I am no longer a constituent," the email read. "We've spent a lot of time providing options to ensure we have a solid 9-5 delegation in 2012 and beyond."

In another May 2011 email referenced in the lawsuit filings, LaBrant wrote to Republican consultant Jeff Timmer that a congressional map with 10 Republican seats and four Democratic seats was initially drawn by the Republican National Committee, but said "we needed for legal and PR purposes a good looking map that did not look like an obvious gerrymander."

Other emails included in court documents reference comments from Jack Daly, a former staffer for then-U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, who, in an email to Timmer, said: "In a glorious way that makes it easier to cram ALL of the Dem garbage in Wayne, Washtenaw, Oakland and Macomb counties into only four districts. Is there anyone on our side who doesn't recognize that dynamic?"

Another email from Daly to LaBrant and Timmer suggest people in adjacent districts should be swapped because of "the obvious objective - putting dems in a dem district and reps in a gop district."

An unnamed staffer referenced in court documents as "another participant in the process" emailed Timmer about a section of a southeast Michigan congressional district that looked like a finger, writing: "perfect. it's giving the finger to (U.S. Rep.) sandy levin. I love it."

Timmer and LaBrant declined comment when reached by MLive, citing the ongoing litigation.

The federal court filings come as the Michigan Supreme Court deliberates a separate challenge to Michigan's existing redistricting process.

The court heard arguments July 18 in a case challenging a proposal from the group Voters Not Politicians to implement an independent commission for drawing political districts.

Opponents of the proposal, including the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Attorney General's office, have argued the Voters Not Politicians plan is a "sweeping, radical change" of the constitution, while proponents of the plan have argued there's no legal precedent to keep it from the ballot.