The D.C. Council’s hearing on the hiring decisions of the Vince Gray administration are likely over after a judge ruled the potential last witness has the right not to respond to questions under the Fifth Amendment, Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh said.
Cheh heads the committee that had been running the hearings looking into how the children of top-ranking members of Mayor Vince Gray’s administration landed city jobs. It called witnesses from inside and outside the government as it also looked into the claim made by former candidate Sulaimon Brown that he landed a city job with a $110,000 annual salary after Gray promised him a position in return for verbally attacking then-Mayor Adrian Fenty on the campaign trail.
Brown also claims members of Gray’s campaign gave him cash payments to stay on the campaign trail. Among those accused of giving cash was Howard Brooks, a member of the Gray for Mayor finance committee. Brooks’ son, Peyton Brooks was the last potential witness for Cheh’s hearings. Peyton Brooks also landed a city job, but like Brown, has lost it.
Through an attorney, Peyton Brooks had informed the council that he would plead the fifth to all their questions, just like his father. But Cheh questioned whether Peyton Brooks could do that and asked a D.C. Superior Court judge to decide.
“Judge [Curtis] Von Kann interviewed [Peyton] Brooks and determined he indeed has Fifth Amendment privilege claim regarding his involvement with the mayoral election,” Cheh told the members of her committee in a memo sent Monday. “The court has also held that Mr. Brooks’ Fifth Amendment privilege claim is so broad that it would likely extend to any question related to the process by which Mr. Brooks was hired and later separated from the District government.”
Cheh told reporters on Monday that with no more witnesses left to question, she expects to hold no more hiring hearings.
