D.C. Council Member Phil Mendelson played loose with the “spirit of the law” when his office mass e-mailed his legislative newsletter last week to more than 1,000 constituents, the candidate vying for his at-large seat claims.

“He’s the only council member who’s in the middle of a campaign and has decided to split hairs and stand behind, ‘It’s not actual mail, it’s e-mail,’ ” lawyer A. Scott Bolden said Wednesday. “It’s pattern and practice of either skirting the law or violating the spirit of the law.”