D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton indicated Thursday that she does not plan to return any campaign contributions from embattled donor Jeffrey Thompson.
“I don’t think we have any allegation of illegal contributions or straw contributions,” Norton told WPFW-FM. “I don’t have any reason to believe that any of the contributions were illegal.”
Norton acknowledged that Thompson regularly organized fundraisers for her during her tenure as the District’s non-voting member of Congress, but said, “Jeff Thompson never collected or bundled money for me.”
Norton’s campaigns have benefited from tens of thousands of dollars in donations from Thompson and a network of companies, friends, family members and employees.
Although he has not been charged, officials familiar with the probe into D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray’s 2010 campaign say Thompson bankrolled an illegal shadow campaign that helped elect Gray at a cost of $653,800. Thompson’s attorney, Brendan Sullivan, has refused to comment on the investigation, which has prompted calls for Gray to resign.
After details of the shadow campaign emerged, President Obama and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley announced they would issue refunds for donations Thompson made to their campaigns.
