A Ward 2 resident has asked D.C. Council Member Jack Evans to recuse himself from the confirmation vote of a mayoral appointee, saying that the employment of both men at the same Foggy Bottom law firm could pose a conflict of interest.
But the panel’s General Counsel Brian Flowers has ruled that Evans’ vote on Patton Boggs lawyer Matthew Cutts, who Mayor Adrian Fenty named to the Board of Directors of the Sports and Entertainment Commission, would not pose such a conflict. Evans will weigh in on the confirmation before the D.C. Council today.
David Mallof last week wrote to Evans requesting he recuse himself because Evans also works for Patton Boggs.
“Inan absence of knowing what good works he does to receive substantial income in the private sector, it seems to me to be a fundamental potential conflict to also elevate active business partners to office where we know nothing of their interactions together in the past or going forward,” Mallof said Monday.
Evans on Monday described his relationship with Cutts as irrelevant to the confirmation vote, saying it is “almost nothing.” Evans wrote in an e-mail to Mallof Jan. 30 that he and Flowers agreed his participation in the Cutts vote held no conflict of interest.
“If Mr. Cutts himself participates in activity at the SEC [Sports and Entertainment Commission] that would financially benefit the firm — which would be improper, or Patton Boggs does business with the SEC, Mr. Cutts would have to recuse himself,” Evans wrote. “If this type of contract came to the Council for its approval, I’d have to recuse myself as well.”
