Ward 4 Councilmember Brandon Todd has been fined $4,000 by the Office of Campaign Finance for improperly using an email list to support a candidate in a school board race late last year. The list was culled from people who contacted his Council office for constituent concerns or to urge him to support or oppose legislation.

Last November, WAMU reported that a number of Ward 4 residents had received a campaign email from Rhonda Henderson, then a candidate for the Ward 4 seat on the State Board of Education. The email included a disclaimer saying its recipients were getting it because they had “contacted Councilmember Todd in the past.”

Todd endorsed Henderson in her unsuccessful bid for the school board seat.

D.C. law specifically prohibits elected officials from using government resources — including “supplies, materials, equipment, office space, facilities, and telephones and other utilities” — to support or oppose any candidate for office. That includes email and other contact lists compiled through traditional Council work.

In a statement to WAMU at the time and later to investigators with OCF, Todd said it was an honest mix-up between his private and public email accounts, and that his private email list had been compiled “over the last 10 years from a variety of sources that were exclusive of the District government.”

But he also further argued that even if he did use emails collected from constituents, that wouldn’t constitute a violation of the law.

“He stated that he is unaware of any provision which would designate email addresses which originated from direct constituent contact with his Council office as government resources,” according to the OCF order against Todd.

But the OCF order disagrees with Todd.

“Despite the fact that the councilmember has emphasized his conscientious efforts to segregate his Council email account and his personal email account, the email promoting Ms. Henderson’s candidacy… drew no such distinction,” reads the order. “Thus, the appearance of impropriety that was created by the transmission of email from councilmember Todd soliciting not only support for Ms. Henderson’s campaign but donations as well significantly undermined the public trust in government.”

In a statement, spokesman Joshua Fleitman said Todd is “reviewing the order from the Office of Campaign Finance” and that “he looks forward to moving past this and remains focused on doing the important work of advocating for and serving the residents of Ward 4.”

The order fines Todd $4,000, but will discount that to $2,000 if he attends an ethics training at the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability within 60 days. If he doesn’t, he’ll have to pay the full fine.

This isn’t the first time Todd—a close ally of Mayor Muriel Bowser—has faced sanctions related to his campaigns for office. In 2017, Todd was fined $5,100 for failing to account for the provenance of $83,000 in donations to his 2015 special election campaign for the Ward 4 seat once held by Bowser.

The announcement of Todd’s new fine comes the same week as the Council reprimanded Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans for using his public office for private gain.

Todd faces re-election next year.

This story first appeared on WAMU.