Via U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Ron Machen, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, couldn’t provide reporters with much new information after businessman Jeffrey Thompson pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and accused Mayor Vincent Gray of having knowledge of a 2010 “shadow campaign.”
But he did say this: “What you learned about today is only the tip of the iceberg, a fraction of the information we’re learning, so you can expect that this cooperation is ongoing.”
Gray called Thompson’s claim that he knew about the illegal $653,000 campaign that benefited his 2010 mayoral run a lie. Thompson alleges that he met with Gray — identified in court records as Mayoral Candidate A — about a get-out-the-vote effort and asked the then-candidate to call him “Uncle Earl” to keep the whole thing a secret.
According to the government, Thompson conducted shadow campaigns for one other mayoral candidate, six Council candidates and national candidates, who Machen said had “varying degrees of knowledge” about what was happening. There’s no indication the presidential candidate, believed to be Hillary Clinton, “was personally aware of Mr. Thompson’s illicit activities,” Machen said. None have been charged.
Via U.S. Attorney’s office. Open in a new tab to enlarge.
Three of this year’s mayoral candidates were quick to respond to the allegations. Muriel Bowser, the closest candidate to Gray in the polls, said it was a “tragic day for D.C. politics and our city.”
“In its plea agreement with Jeffrey Thompson, federal prosecutors detailed the worst of kind of corruption — trading illegal, under the table campaign cash for political contracts and favors for the Mayor’s family and friends,” Bowser said in a statement.
Jack Evans called it “a sad day in the District”: “The allegations against the Mayor are extremely serious; however, it is critical that this matter not cast a cloud over our city and the progress we have made. If the allegations are true, and if the Mayor is charged, I believe he should do what’s in the best interest of the city.”
Both Evans and Bowser received money from Thompson and donors connected to him, while Tommy Wells did not. Evans received a subpoena related to the case, while Bowser has declined to say whether or not she has.
“This is a sad day for D.C. government, but justice is prevailing,” Wells said in a statement. “The US Attorney has ensured that Jeffrey Thompson won’t get away with illegally putting a mayor and Councilmembers in office so he could get multi-million dollar contracts.”
Under the plea deal, Thompson would serve at most six months in prison and three years of supervised release. Machen reminded reporters that this is contingent on his continued cooperation with the probe. “You have to understand, it’s a balancing act here,” he said. “We had an opportunity, we have an opportunity to lift up this curtain and discover things about corruption, not only in campaign finance but other parts of this city, that is unprecedented. Given that opportunity, we decided to take it.”
“The people of the District of Columbia deserve the truth, and today we begin the process of giving it to them,” Machen said. “But today also marks a new today because with the cooperation of Mr. Thompson and the many others who have pled guilty in this inquiry, we will now enter a new phase of this investigation seeking to hold accountable all those who conspired with them to hide the truth from the public. I want to be very clear in our collective message this afternoon: If you participated in backroom, under-the-table deals with Jeff Thompson, I urge you to come forward now and own up to your conduct. I promise you we are not going away.”
