Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, center, speaks with Chairman Phil Mendelson (L) and Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray (R) at a D.C. Council breakfast in March.

Rachel Kurzius / DCist

The legal quicksand continues to expand around Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, as his colleagues at the D.C. Council have received a subpoena demanding that they preserve all of their communications with the beleaguered lawmaker.

Tom Sherwood, the Kojo Show Politics Hour resident analyst, broke the news on Friday’s show. DCist can independently confirm that D.C. councilmembers received subpoenas, which outlined a laundry list of pieces of legislation, Council actions, and lobbying entities that are of interest to federal investigators.

Evans is already under federal investigation for his relationship with a digital sign company, but now the scope of the federal inquiry into his relationships with private businesses appears to have expanded. Private clients of Evans have also received subpoenas: Colonial Parking, EastBanc Inc., and Willco Construction Co., reported Washington City Paper.

Those entities are among the ones listed in the six-page memo sent to the D.C. Council from the general counsel’s office on Friday. The memo paints a broader picture of where investigators are looking. The subpoena seeks documents related to prominent lobbying firms like Venable, Nelson Mullins, Patton Boggs, and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips (Evans has held jobs at the latter two firms), as well as big companies like Pepco and Exelon and MC Dean. It includes requests for documents related to legislation regarding digital signs, as and entities like Eagle Bank, Squash on Fire, RDP Management, Fischer Holdings, and more.

Evans’ ethics scandal is emerging on multiple fronts: in addition to the federal investigation, the D.C. Council is slated to reprimand the longest-serving councilmember over emails he sent to law firms in which he pitched his experience on the Council and as the Metro board chair to get hired in the private sector. Those emails were published by the Washington Post. While councilmembers can hold additional jobs, the D.C. Council Code of Conduct prevents using prestige of office for private gain.

While the reprimand will likely pass resoundingly, some councilmembers are calling for further action against Evans—including stripping him of his chairmanship of the Finance Committee.

For his part, Evans apologized this week. “I certainly made some major mistakes and I want to take this opportunity to apologize to my constituents, to the residents of the District of Columbia, and to my colleagues, and so, that’s all I have to say.” He has declined to say why, specifically, he was apologizing.

Previously:
Reprimand? Investigate? Sanction? Here’s Where Local Officials Stand On Jack Evans’ Ethics Scandal
Councilmember Evans Will Face Reprimand For Emails Showing He Used Office For Personal Gain
Notes On A Scandal: WTF Is Going On With Ward 2’s Jack Evans?

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