Council-member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) has probably had better weeks. Monday brought revelations from the Post that he had used a political action committee he controlled to pay himself back for certain expenses, and today the Post reported that he may have been reimbursed twice for an official trip to China and Taiwan last October.

While not as juicy as leaking the name of an undercover CIA agent to the press and not as gossip inspiring as a sex scandal, the accusations against Evans — which amount to violations of campaign finance laws and fraud — could well impact his standing in the City Council and his future as a candidate for higher office. Needless to say, Evans may have gotten wrapped up in the type of white-collar crime Washington is best known for — technical and bureaucratic in nature; if not illegal, very close to it.

This is the skinny on the emerging Evans scandal (Evansgate?). In 1993, Evans, like many other politicians, created a political action committee to support his favored causes and candidates. Eleven years and some $206,264 later, the Post discovered that Evans, who admitted to controlling the committee’s finances, may have been writing checks to himself for expenses that, legally speaking, should have been covered by his campaign committee or his constituent services fund. Among these expenses were lunches and various trips — including the October 2004 trip to Asia with D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and four other members of the council, for which his political action committee reimbursed him $6,772.72. And this where today’s revelations find us; for that same trip, Council Chair Linda Cropp claims that Evans received a reimbursement to the tune of $8,535 from the council. In short, Evans illegally used specific funds for certain expenses and, when it came to the Asia trip, committed the equivalent of a financial double-dip.