A raid by federal law enforcement officials at the home and offices of one of the District’s most prolific campaign contributors threatens to rattle the city’s political landscape for months, observers say.
“No one is protected from the reach of this scandal whether or not they did anything wrong,” said Chuck Thies, a Democratic consultant.
The U.S. attorney’s office acknowledged late Friday that federal authorities had engaged in “law enforcement activities” at locations connected to Jeffrey Thompson, an accountant whose healthcare management company, Chartered Health Plan, is the city’s largest contractor.
“We can confirm that there were no arrests today and that no charges have been filed as of this time,” spokesman Bill Miller said Friday. “Due to the ongoing nature of our inquiry, we are unable to comment any further.”
Thompson did not respond to repeated requests for comment on Monday.
Law enforcement officials have been publicly silent about their reasons for the raid, but a spokesman for D.C. Attorney General Irvin Nathan acknowledged Monday that federal prosecutors had asked Nathan to preserve city records that could be relevant to the investigation. The spokesman, Ted Gest, had no additional details about the federal government’s request.
The city has close, expensive links to the Thompson-owned Chartered. In exchange for helping to manage Medicaid services, the District pays the company as much as $322 million annually, a contract Chartered maintained despite a $12 million payout four years ago to settle allegations it overcharged the city.
Thompson, along with people and entities with ties to him, has long been one of the city’s most generous political donors. Almost every member of the D.C. Council has accepted campaign contributions from Thompson, Chartered, his separate accounting firm or another company he controls. Those same entities also gave tens of thousands of dollars to Mayors Adrian Fenty, Vincent Gray and Anthony Williams.
“He’s a very significant player,” said Terry Lynch, a longtime political activist. “The campaign money makes campaigns flow. Candidates and the politicians all know who supplies the funds for the campaign machine, and he’s certainly been a significant funder of these different campaigns.”
Word of the Thompson probe prompted rampant speculation among the city’s chattering class about the potential political fallout.
“Given his support or his company’s support for numerous candidacies and candidates, who knows where this goes?” Lynch said. “It’s just another one of the shoes dropping.”
Thies said some District politicians might find themselves in political peril even if they aren’t otherwise connected to a potential scandal.
“Even being associated by name with Jeff Thompson — and, in particular, having taken money from him — is an enormous liability,” Thies said.
