When the D.C. Council steps out for its two-month summer recess next week, there might be some residents who think they’re going to catch a break of their own from the steady stream of scandals that have poured out of city hall. Paul Craney, executive director of the D.C. Republican Committee, is among them.
“Most residents hear about a council recess and at this point, and they’re jumping for joy,” Craney said. “All we’ve seen is one scandal after another and people need a break.”
From Chairman Kwame Brown’s quest for a taxpayer-funded fully loaded Lincoln Navigator to Ward 5 Councilman Harry Thomas being sued by the D.C. attorney general for allegedly steering to his wallet more than $300,000 in city funds meant for a youth baseball league, District residents have been unable to escape the stink of scandal in their city.
But news about those scandals isn’t going to stop just because the council is on break from July 15 to Sept. 15.
On Thursday, for example, Brown will face a hearing in front of the board of elections where he’ll have to explain why his 2008 campaign failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations and expenditures. He may also be asked why he used a company owned by his former campaign treasurer to steer more than $200,000 in campaign cash to a company owned by his brother.
Meanwhile, Thomas will have to answer the attorney general’s complaint against him a couple of days after his summer recess begins, his attorney Fred Cooke confirmed. His first court date is scheduled for Sept. 9.
Mayor Vince Gray and his campaign probably won’t escape the summer news cycle either. It seems likely that sometime in the coming months news will be made as federal investigators conclude their probe into accusations that members of the Gray for Mayor Campaign passed cash-stuffed envelopes to help keep another candidate in the race.
