Federal agents searched the Georgetown home of embattled Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans on Friday morning, indicating that the investigation into allegations of influence-peddling and conflicts of interests continues — and may be intensifying.

And pressure started building on Evans from the council itself, where Chairman Phil Mendelson said he would appoint a special committee to conduct an investigation into Evans’s conduct and also remove him from the powerful finance committee that he chairs—a move expected to happen next Tuesday.

“It is imperative that public officials maintain high ethical standards,” he said. “Public trust is critical. At the same time, it is delicate and precious. We must now work to regain it.”

Mayor Muriel Bowser also chimed in, speaking at a press conference in Ward 4.

“We are definitely disappointed and very concerned about the very serious allegations that were made this week,” she said. “The allegations go right at the heart of public trust.”

An area around his home on P Street Northwest was roped off by D.C. police early on Friday morning, and federal agents were seen going in and out of it carrying boxes.

“I can confirm that court-authorized law enforcement activity is occurring,” said Kadia Koroma, a spokeswoman for the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C., without sharing any more details on what federal agents were looking for.

A call to Evans’s cell phone went straight to voicemail, and his attorney Mark Tuohey, refused to comment after he emerged from Evans’s home.

Rick Murphy, the ANC commissioner who lives across from Evans says the FBI was at the home early, around 6 a.m. “I think it’s just sad,” Murphy said of the situation involving Evans.

The search comes a day after Evans announced his resignation from Metro’s board of directors in the wake of a damning report that found conflicts of interest arising from clients who paid him to consult on their behalf. That included Colonial Parking, which had submitted bids to operate Metro’s parking lots. The report found that Evans had tried to discredit a competitor in the bidding process.

A federal grand jury has been looking into Evans for months, and earlier this year issued subpoenas for documents relating to his consulting relationship with a digital sign company. City officials, including Mayor Muriel Bowser and members of the D.C. Council, were also ordered to retain documents related to Evans’s work on behalf of a number of other clients.

Questions around Evans’s private consulting firm and the clients he worked for have dogged him since last year, when it was revealed that he had approached a number of local law firms that lobby the Wilson Building with proposals that they employ him. Evans apologized for doing so, but in March his Council colleagues reprimanded him and stripped him of some of his Council responsibilities.

Federal investigators have taken interest in D.C. politicians in the past, including former Mayor Vincent Gray, who was the center of an inquiry into shadow-donations to his 2010 mayoral campaign for much of his four-year term in office. While a number of his associates plead guilty and some served prison sentences, Gray was never charged.

Former Councilmember Michael Brown was caught accepting bribes from undercover FBI agents in 2012 and 2013, and before that, former Council Chairman Kwame Brown was forced to resign from office after it was revealed that he lied about his income on mortgage and loan documents. Former Councilmember Harry Thomas, who also had his home searched by federal agents, served a prison sentence for embezzling more than $300,000 in taxpayer funds.

Evans’s Future On The Council

Evans has served on on the Council for 28 years, making him its longest serving member.

After Metro released its own report into Evans on Thursday, three of Evans’s colleagues on the Council—Ward 1’s Brianne Nadeau and At-large Councilmembers Elissa Silverman and David Grosso —called for an internal investigation into his conduct and any possible violations of the Council’s code of conduct.

In a statement on Friday morning, Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen went a step further, asking that Evans be removed from all committees he serves on.

“With what has been revealed by WMATA’s internal ethics investigation, I believe Councilmember Evans should be censured and removed from all committees, including as Chair of the Committee on Finance and Revenue, until we have a resolution to any federal investigation,” he said.

Mendelson released his own statement shortly thereafter, saying the committee would be created and that Evans would be removed from the finance committee.

“Certainly the Council… has investigative power,” said Bowser, herself a former member of the body. “The Council has the ability to also issue sanctions. I believe that’s the direction they are heading.”

Evans is up for re-election to the D.C. Council next year. He currently has four challengers in the race to represent Ward 2.

There are also efforts to recall Evans from office.

This story originally appeared on WAMU and has been updated with a statement from Councilmember Allen, with comments from Mayor Bowser and Chairman Mendelson, and with information about Councilmember Nadeau calling for an investigation. This story initially said Councilmember Robert White had called for Evans to be investigated, but he had actually called for him to resign from Metro’s board. The story has been updated to reflect that.