U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen said Friday afternoon that former D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown was not singled out for prosecution on bank fraud and campaign finance charges.
“This was not the result of this office targeting Mr. Brown,” Machen said. “If his name was Joe Smith, he would have been charged.”
Machen, who described Friday as “a dark and unfortunate day in our city’s history,” said his office’s probe into Brown’s 2008 had not concluded.
“We’ve still got an ongoing investigation,” Machen said. He declined to elaborate.
As a part of his agreement with prosecutors, Brown has agreed to cooperate with the investigation, which the federal government began after the city’s Office of Campaign Finance referred an audit of Brown’s 2008 at-large campaign to authorities.
That probe, Machen said, led to the broader review of Brown’s personal finances.
“We try to follow the money,” Machen said.
Brown is the second city lawmaker in five months to plead guilty to a federal crime related to personal finances. A FBI official said that after former Ward 5 Councilman Harry Thomas Jr. admitted to stealing more than $353,000 in public money, Brown’s audacity stunned him.
“The night that Harry Thomas pleaded guilty to enriching himself with money intended for children’s programs, I watched in amazement as Kwame Brown sat on one of the TV stations and pontificated about corruption allegations that had been swirling in the District,” said Ronald Hosko, the head of the criminal division in the FBI’s Washington field office. “He did so knowing fully that the sword of justice was dangling precariously over his own head.”
