Auditor accuses Nickles of hindering probe of development agencies
By: Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
August 7, 2009
D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles is being accused of obstructing a probe into hundreds of millions of public dollars' worth of development and construction projects, documents obtained by The Examiner show.
City Auditor Deborah Nichols says she wants a look at the last few years of books of the Anacostia Waterfront Commission and the National Capital Revitalization Corp. but that Nickles is invoking attorney-client privilege to prevent access to important records.
"It's quite clear that the [Attorney General's Office] is inexplicably attempting to subvert the auditor's authority,Ó Nichols wrote in a July 2 letter obtained by The Examiner. Nichols called the attorney general's conduct "unconscionable and unacceptable.Ó
The attorney general said he was invoking privilege "where the lawyers feel it's appropriateÓ and that the exemption applies to only "15 or 20Ó documents. He denied that he was trying to interfere with Nichols' probe.
"That's ridiculous,Ó Nickles said. "She's setting an absolutely absurd standard.Ó
The publicly funded agencies are responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in economic development projects.
According to a source familiar with Nichols' audit, she also is asking questions about tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees the revitalization corporation paid to Michelle Fenty in 2006 as Mayor Adrian Fenty, then a D.C. councilman, campaigned for the mayor's office. The mayor's wife focuses her practice on global technology transactions and does not appear to have a background in community development.
At the time, the city's inspector general confirmed an investigation into the commission, but no report has been filed. Agency spokesman Austin Anderson declined comment. Adrian Fenty has since reappointed Inspector General Charles Willoughby and brought the two agencies under the full control of his office.
The attorney general is under increasing pressure after it emerged that key evidence in a class-action suit against the police department was destroyed after being given to city lawyers. Nickles has been ordered to investigate the destruction and report back to federal Judge Emmet Sullivan. Two D.C. Council members, Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, and Phil Mendelson, D-at large, have called on him to resign.
