Photo by aperryproductions.

“I was not in the business of giving out jobs.” That’s the sentiment that Mayor Vince Gray tried to get across during a hastily-called press conference at the Wilson Building this afternoon concerning recent allegations made by former mayoral candidate Sulaimon Brown that the Gray administration paid him and promised him employment in exchange for support during the campaign.

The Mayor announced that he has asked both acting Attorney General Irv Nathan and Council Chair Kwame Brown to open investigations into Brown’s hiring in order to “address the public trust” and “externalize” the situation. He also said that it would be possible for the city’s Office of Campaign Finance to look into the allegations of cash transfers.

“I acknowledge that we have made missteps,” Gray said. “We have taken steps to acknowledge those missteps.”

The Mayor called Brown’s accusations, leveled in a Washington Post report published early this morning, “surprising, shocking and appalling.” Gray said that Brown “was very aggressive about seeking employment…one of many.” On the subject of cash payments, which Brown alleges he was given in exchange for campaign boosterism, Gray said, “I can’t even imagine in engaging in such reprehensible behavior.” The Mayor also claimed that he didn’t “know of any cash payments [made to Brown].” Gray denied having any hand in Brown’s behavior during the campaign last fall, but did admit that Brown was promised a job interview. Brown “was not a surrogate for our campaign…I cannot tell you that any more directly,” Gray said.

So why was Brown hired? “There was a feeling that he had the credentials,” said Gray.