Graham. (via Wikipedia)Responding to a stinging, but somewhat toothless, report by the D.C. Board of Government Accountability and Ethics that he violated the code of conduct for city employees in his handling of a 2008 lottery contract, Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) said he has no plans to leave his job.
“I am not resigning,” Graham said in a statement emailed by his office.
Although the board wrote that there is “substantial evidence” that Graham used his influence to aid political donors applying for a Metro construction project by securing the D.C. Lottery contract for a rival bidder, it also concluded that it lacked the authority to launch a fuller investigation that could potentially lead to sanctions. Still, calls for Graham’s resignation began this morning with an editorial in The Washington Post imploring him to step down.
In its report, the city ethics board wrote: “Councilman Graham engaged in conduct that adversely affected the public confidence in the integrity of government.” The Post’s editorial board responded to that line today.
“The best way to begin restoring that confidence would be for Mr. Graham to resign,” the editorial reads.”
In his statement today, Graham denied that he did anything wrong. “There has been no allegations or suggestion that a crime has been committed, or that there is an illegal financial request or laws that have been broken,” he said.
The handling of the contracts had been investigated several times by the D.C. government and Metro, which hired an outside law firm to compile an extensive report on the construction bid, which was made when Graham served on the transit agency’s board of directors.
After the ethics board’s ruling yesterday following a “preliminary investigation,” Graham’s lawyer still slammed the panel. “The Board had not conducted a hearing in which any fact-finding could occur,” William W. Taylor III wrote.
Speaking on The Politics Hour on WAMU today, Mayor Vince Gray declined to weigh in on what should happen next with Graham, who is up for re-election next year and currently has one Democratic primary opponent in Ward 1 political activist Brianne Nadeau. “This is an issue for the council to deal with,” Gray said.
In his statement, Graham continued to deny any link between his actions and any of his donors. “I categorically deny any connection between any campaign donation and my actions on these matters,” he said. “I am now in discussions with my lawyer as to next legal steps.”
Graham’s statement referred reporters to ask Taylor about those next steps, though Taylor was unavailable by phone.
