Mendelson joins call for A.G.'s head
By: Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
August 4, 2009
D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson Monday joined calls for D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles to resign amid allegations that city lawyers destroyed evidence in the controversial mass arrests of hundreds of people caught up in anti-globalization protests.
"He shouldn't have been appointed in the first place," said Mendelson, D-at large, who chairs the council's Judiciary Committee. "It was my view then, and it continues to be my view."
Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, has publicly called for Nickles, Mayor Adrian Fenty's most trusted and powerful adviser, to go.
Nickles is under pressure after U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered an inquiry into how evidence related to hundreds of mass arrests in Pershing Park was destroyed.
He has threatened expensive and wide-ranging sanctions on the city, asking aloud how citizens could trust their government.
Hundreds of passersby were caught in a police sweep after then-Chief Charles Ramsey ordered his officers to crack down on anti-World Bank and anti-IMF protesters.
Four hundred onlookers have filed a class action lawsuit against the city.
Last week, it emerged that 12 copies of the "running resume" — the log of police orders — were destroyed after being turned over to police department lawyers.
On Monday, Nickles called Mendelson's and Cheh's comments "outrageous" and vowed to stay on.
"It's politics at its worst," Nickles said. "They have no idea what's going on."
Cheh, who also opposed Nickles' confirmation last year, stood by her Friday comments to the City Paper.
She said Nickles has shown a long-running contempt for civil rights and open government laws.
"It's one thing, I guess, t
stiff the council and to stiff the public and to stiff the press, but you stiff a federal judge and you're in a whole lot of trouble," she said. The investigation has put longtime police department lawyers Terry Ryan and Ron Harris in the spotlight.
Nickles said Monday he had already "taken action" but declined to address their future. Ryan and Harris declined comment.
