Watching embattled D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray being carted away in police vans during a staged protest on Capitol Hill had the opposite of its intended effect, reminding D.C. residents why both Democrats and Republicans in Congress still have such a paternalistic view of the capital city’s government. Monday’s publicity stunt was ostensibly a protest against the latest budget deal negotiated between House Republicans, Senate Democrats and President Obama. But it would be hard to imagine a more transparently cynical attempt to divert public attention from serious allegations of political corruption still pending against the District’s top elected official. Key officials with the Gray campaign are alleged to have secretly passed envelopes stuffed with cash and to have offered a city job to mayoral candidate Sulaimon Brown in return for his attacking then-incumbent Mayor Adrian Fenty. There are also accusations that the city’s hiring procedures were ignored on behalf of the children of five of Gray’s top aides. The mayor has retained high-powered white-collar-crime attorney Robert Bennett to defend him against charges of violating campaign finance laws, rampant nepotism and quid pro quo dealing at city hall. These are extremely serious charges that must be investigated fully and charges brought, if evidence is found to support them, regardless of who becomes a defendant.
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