Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans has agreed to sign a consent settlement with the Board of Ethics And Government Accountability as part of the oversight body’s investigation into alleged ethics violations, Evans’ office announced on Thursday.

The councilmember will pay a $20,000 fine as part of the agreement, according to Brent Wolfingbarger, BEGA’s director of government ethics. The settlement documents also specify that Evans and his entire staff must complete an ethics training administered by the Office of Government Ethics.

The Washington Post first reported the settlement on Thursday afternoon.

Earlier this year, the Post reported that Evans had used his government email to seek business for his consulting firm, touting his position as a councilmember and chair of the WMATA board in his business proposals. In the wake of those revelations, the D.C. Council voted in March to reprimand Evans and strip him of some of his responsibilities as chair of the powerful Finance Committee.

The settlement focuses on the emails Evans was reprimanded for, specifically one sent on January 14, 2015 and another sent on January 31, 2018, both from his chief of staff’s government email address. In the messages, Evans sought employment with two separate law firms and suggested that his experience and connections on the council would be useful to the private companies. BEGA determined that Evans “attempted to use the prestige of his public office for personal gain” and violated three separate parts of the ethics code, according to the settlement.

Evans spokesperson Joe Florio said in an emailed statement that the veteran lawmaker is not “admitting any violation” of the Council’s code of conduct, but that he “recognizes that these issues needed resolution in order to avoid a protracted and costly dispute resolution process.” The settlement itself confirms that, in signing, Evans “does not admit or deny” that he violated the code of conduct.

Evans also offers some defenses of his conduct in the settlement. He claims that he believed the emails would be sent from his chief of staff’s personal email and that “he had no knowledge Council resources would be used.” The councilmember also claims that he believed “his preparing and sending a personal letter would not violate the code”; that the business plan attached to the January 31, 2018 email was drafted by the law firm, not by him; and that he believes the emails can be characterized as “puffing” his experience as a public official “in an exchange between attorneys, not clients and as such did not present a conflict of interest,” citing an outside ethics professor.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson declined to comment on the censure agreement, which he said he has not yet seen this afternoon. The chairman had hired an independent law firm to investigate Evans’ “activities” over the summer recess.

Last month, Evans’ colleagues voted to strip him of his chairmanship entirely, and At-Large Councilmeber Grosso became the first sitting D.C. councilmember to call for Evans’ outright resignation from the council.

Evans also stepped down from the Metro board last month after the transit agency’s released a 20-page memo that listed violations of the transit agency’s ethics code.

And federal agents raided his Georgetown home in June over a separate case of corruption allegations related to Evans’ dealings with a digital sign company.

Meanwhile, five candidates have already announced that they plan to challenge the veteran lawmaker, who has not yet filed to run, in the 2020 Democratic primary.

His would-be opponents quickly seized on the latest news. “When will Evans finally take responsibility and resign so Ward 2 can move forward?” said Jordan Grossman, one of his challengers, in a statement. “The constant revelations from investigation after investigation are embarrassing.”

This story has been updated. 

Previously:
House Republicans Demand Information On Jack Evans Probe, Suggest Metro Investigation Was A ‘Whitewash’
D.C. Council Strips Jack Evans Of Committee Chairmanship
First D.C. Councilmember Calls On Jack Evans To Resign
After Asking To Tell His Side Of The Story, Jack Evans Declines To Answer Questions
Jack Evans Resigns From Metro Board After Doozy Of A Report About His Ethics Violations
D.C. Councilmembers Receive Subpoenas For Their Conversations With Jack Evans
Notes On A Scandal: WTF Is Going On With Ward 2’s Jack Evans?