Federal authorities investigating D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray’s 2010 campaign have obtained a document that could link Gray directly to the allegations of elections misdeeds made against him by a former mayoral candidate, a source with knowledge of the investigation told The Washington Examiner. The document, which the source said is being examined by authorities, list points that former candidate Sulaimon Brown should make in his verbal attacks against Gray’s primary opponent, then-Mayor Adrian Fenty. According to the source, Gray gave the document to Brown.
The document played into a five-month-old grand jury probe into Brown’s allegations that members of Gray’s mayoral campaign gave him cash-stuffed envelopes and money orders so he would stay in the race and keep up his verbal assault on Fenty.
Brown said Gray and his campaign chairwoman, Lorraine Green, also promised him a city job for helping take down Fenty.
Gray’s attorney Robert Bennett denied that the document ever existed.
“There’s no truth to it; it’s nonsense,” he told The Examiner.
Gray also has denied knowledge of any cash and money orders given to Brown.
The FBI would have to lift fingerprints from the alleged documents to see who has handled them. Brown and campaign consultant Howard Brooks have provided their fingerprints to the federal authorities. However, Gray said on Oct. 19 he had not been asked by the FBI for his.
The contents of the documents were first reported by the Associated Press.
Bill Miller, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., said he could not comment about the case because it’s still under review.
The document alone wouldn’t be proof of a crime, but it could be damaging politically. Leaks in the investigation have alleged that Brooks is cooperating with investigators and was wearing a wire, while his son Peyton has been offered immunity. Peyton was given a city government job after the election, but resigned soon after administration hires were questioned.
Former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova said charges potentially coming from the investigation would stem from campaign finance violations like using false names in reporting. But those could be expanded into major crimes like conspiracy, money laundering and bribery.
“You can start getting felonies pretty fast when you start lying,” diGenova said.
The investigation into Gray’s mayoral campaign has cast a shadow for nearly his entire administration. Just six weeks after he took office, it was revealed that Gray’s team hired allies and family members of staffers for cushy city jobs, including
Brown. Brown was fired from his $110,000-a-year job
at the end of February, then accused Gray of the cash-for-campaigning scheme.
Civic activist Terry Lynch recently speculated to The Examiner that Gray might even be thinking of resignation scenarios. Gray spokeswoman Linda Wharton-Boyd said at the time, “There’s no evidence whatsoever to back up the idea that this investigation is, in any way, preventing the Gray administration from moving its agenda forward.”
Examiner Reporter Scott McCabe contributed to this report.
