Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh is calling for a formal council investigation into the Vince Gray administration’s hiring of political allies and children of top administration officials.
Doing so will allow her to issue subpoenas to witnesses.
Government employees are required to appear at the hearing if requested, but it might take a subpoena to force people who do not work for the city to appear. The D.C Council may issue subpoenas only when it has initiated a formal investigation. Cheh said in a statement she is seeking approval of a council resolution on Tuesday.
“Up to this point, the [government operations] committee has received the full cooperation of the executive and I continue to expect that the committee will not be called on to use all of its investigative powers,” Cheh said. “Nevertheless, there are witnesses who have been invited to testify who are not employed by the District government, and who may be unwilling to appear before the committee without a subpoena.”
Former mayoral candidate-turned accuser-in-chief Sulaimon Brown is likely to be among those called to testify who do not work for the city. Brown was fired last month from a politically appointed job, $110,000-a-year job in the Gray administration. Since then, he has said Gray offered him the job last summer so that Brown would stay on the campaign trail and attack then-Mayor Adrian Fenty. Brown also says top members of the Gray for Mayor campaign passed him cash-stuffed envelopes for the same reason. The House and the U.S. Attorney’s office are currently probing the allegations.
Gray’s former chief of staff Gerri Mason Hall might also be among those called to testify who do not work for the city. Hall was fired last week, just moments before she was scheduled to testify before an oversight hearing conducted by Cheh.
