Gray's solicitation letter to Comcast sparks questions
By: Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
November 18, 2009
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| — Examiner File Photo |
D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray's potential mayoral bid was hit with a body blow as it was revealed he sought, using council letterhead, a $20,000 contribution from a major corporation for Democratic committee activities in Denver.
Gray's letter to Comcast, dated Aug. 18, 2008, is one of the more damaging revelations to emerge from the Office of Campaign Finance's look into the D.C. Democratic State Committee, specifically that it did not report nearly $200,000 in contributions collected ahead of the last year's national convention, nor the $163,000-plus it spent there.
"I am pleased to write on behalf of Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr., and myself to request Comcast support for the District's delegation at the Democratic National Convention," Gray wrote in the letter. "The District's participation will have a specific focus on our efforts to promote voting rights for the citizens of the District of Columbia."
The week of activities was expected to cost more than $200,000, Gray said, and "In that regard, I request support from Comcast in the amount of $20,000." Comcast and its political action committee later delivered one donation for $10,000 and another for $5,000.
The maximum contribution to a candidate or a campaign allowed by law is $5,000.
Mayor Adrian Fenty, Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans, Triden Development and the law firm of Squire Sanders each contributed $10,000, according to OCF documents. But Gray is the only person, known so far, who used city letter head to arrange the donation.
The D.C. Code bars the use of any "resources of the District of Columbia," including supplies and equipment, "to support or oppose any candidate for elected office."
Gray, during Wednesday's NewsTalk program on News Channel 8, said he was one of several city leaders asked by the Democratic State Commitee to solicit funds.
"They asked us to do this," he said. "We agreed to do it."
He defended how the money was used but acknowledged he "probably should not have" used council stationary, nor should he have requested more than the maximum contribution allowed by law.
"We asked based on what was asked of us, but we probably should have asked for [$5,000]," Gray said.
Anita Bonds, chairwoman of the DCDSC, continues to argue that a separate Democratic committee established to solicit funds for the Denver trip was not subject to campaign finance rules because it was not organized to support a politician or political campaign.
What Gray did, she said, should have no impact on his political plans.
"There is nothing exceptional about this," Bonds told The Examiner. "Everything was above board, in the open and there has been no question about how the money was spent. The only question is, was this part of the state committee or not. We continue to say it was not."
The D.C. Republican Committee, meanwhile, has asked D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles to investigate Gray's office and the Democratic State Committee.
"Our Council Chairman is turning a blind eye to the appearance of corruption which is a clear signal for his Councilmembers that unethical behavior is tolerated from our city's elected leaders," Paul Craney, executive director of the local GOP arm, said in an e-mail.
