Photo by philliefan99.

Last night, Mayor Vince Gray officially responded to allegations, uncovered in the Washington Post on Tuesday, that his mayoral campaign improperly shifted campaign donations from cash to money orders in order to skirt legal caps and accepted donations from organizations that don’t exist. (Of course, some thought Gray would respond during an online chat with the newspaper yesterday, though it appears that the Post put the kibosh on that specific line of questioning from readers.)

Gray, citing an open investigation, refused to comment on specifics regarding the campaign’s finances — which would have been nice, since the key question still unanswered is why Gray’s campaign felt it needed to resort to impropriety to grab $56,000 of a nearly $2.5 million war chest — but did note that a “tight schedule” forced him to “trust people to properly carry out the duties for which they were responsible.” Gray admits that “if mistakes were made, the campaign should be held accountable.”

Below is Gray’s full statement on the matter. Let the finger pointing commence!

“The story published in today’s Post raises serious questions about my mayoral campaign. I regret that unresolved issues from the campaign continue to surface.

The campaign has been under investigation – an investigation for which I called as soon as allegations of improprieties were made several months ago – and I cannot comment on specific matters. Last year, we mounted a grass-roots mayoral campaign and won within a brief six-month time frame. The schedule was very tight, and I had to trust people to properly carry out the duties for which they were responsible. But obviously, if mistakes were made, the campaign should be held accountable.

As the investigations of the mayoral campaign continue, neither I nor my administration will be distracted from continuing the important work we are mandated to do for the residents of the District of Columbia.

The Gray Administration is working diligently and at full strength in moving my agenda forward, and in no way are we distracted by the ongoing investigation of a campaign that ended more than eight months ago.”