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AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite
Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in on May 29.
The mayor of the nation's capital is facing calls to resign amid allegations that he knew money was spent illegally on his successful campaign for election in 2010.
The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, reported Thursday that Mayor Vincent Gray met with longtime associate Jeanne Clarke Harris on Jan. 10 to discuss the expenditures. The Post said the disclosure was the first indication that Gray knew of the improper spending before federal raids on the homes and offices of Harris and Jeffrey E. Thompson in March.
NBCWashington.com reported that it had confirmed that the January meeting took place.
On Tuesday, Harris, 75, pleaded guilty in a case in which she was accused of helping foster a $653,000 shadow campaign for Gray in 2010. Harris, who was charged with obstruction of justice and conspiring to break campaign finance laws, could receive 30 to 37 months in prison, and a fine between $6,000 and $60,000.
She admitted to helping hide the spending of money by Thompson, who has not been charged in the case, the Post said.
Harris said she wasn't the person who came up with the plan, but she declined to say who had, NBCWashington.com said.
Three members of the D.C. Council called Wednesday for Gray's resignation, hours after Gray said he had "no plans" to step down, NBCWashington.com reported. The council members were Muriel Bowser, Mary Cheh and David Catania.
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"Whether or not (Gray) knew of the massive election fraud that was taking place in his name, he is responsible for it," said a statement from Cheh, who endorsed Gray in his 2010 campaign, NBCWashington.com reported.
Cheh had broken with her ward to endorse Gray for mayor in 2010. The vast majority of Ward 3 residents voted for incumbent Adrian Fenty. In an interview on NBC4 Wednesday evening, she said she was "very, very sad" to call for Gray's resignation.
Catania said the scandal is hurting the city.
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"The legitimacy of the election was called into question by all this illegal money," Catania said Wednesday. "Gray should not be the beneficiary of that illegality. He needs to think about the best interest of the city."
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Leave a Comment:
What? A crooked politician in DC? How can that be? It's never happened before.
He is a Democrat so it is to be expected.
Note the lengths that MSNBC went through to remove that fact from its version of "news".
Yeah. M$NBC does make a habit of glossing over the sins of Democrats while exhaustively covering and sensationalizing every real or imaginary sin of Republicans or others.
ain't that the truth!
Corrupt politicians run amok across the spectrum (City, State, and Federal).
Example: Ask the HUNDREDS of "elite" elected Congressional Representatives (in addition to the 41 Obama White House staffers and some of their aides and HUNDREDS of Government workers) why they HAVE FAILED TO PAY THEIR BACK IRS TAXES. And these folks draft and pass TAXING legislation.
I could post MANY elected officials who are just down right CORRUPT but that would take up too much space.
Still wondering why Congresswoman Waters' Ethics violations investigation is on a STALL mode. Maybe an "investigative" MSNBC "journalist" could provide an update on this investigation which has been going on for YEARS.
Com-on MSNBC.....cross the party line.
Hell---he's just doin' what every other one of those crooked sumbitches back there do. He's just the one gettin' the ink this week.
Hmmm ... if you are mayor of Washington DC and get caught on tape smoking crack with a hooker, you get re-elected. But illegal campaign spending is over the top?
Hell, Now he qualifies to run for governor of Illinois and then president, maybe?
It doesn't matter whether he is a Democrat or a Republican-- he's a politician.
Ergo, he is corrupt.
Mayor Vincent Gray, DEMOCRAT. Just thought I'd throw that in in case anyone was wondering. MSNBC some times leaves things out of stories.
We had a scandal in Washington State last year involving democrats cheating on elections too. It seems pretty common. But let's not try and make things more open and honest because we might disenfranchise some people.
Pretty sure as soon as the word "politician" was involved, most people knew it was a corrupt, thieving sleazeball.
Pretty much like the Republicans enacting laws that prevent minorities, the elderly, students and the poor from voting, huh.
The one that requires ID? I want to meet these elderly, students and poor people who have no id. I've worked behind a teller line and these people came in regularly to cash checks, poor, elderly, and students alike. They had no checking account but had no problem getting an ID in any case. Heck, walk into any walmart and see for yourself. These people are able to get their checks cashed there as well.
spartan, pretty much like Democrats fighting laws that help keep the elections honest! There can't be a more asinine argument than voter ID laws prevent legitimate voters from voting. Like Headshaker005 said, produce some of these voters that don't have an ID and explain why they can't get an ID.
JH-479998, good point. If he were Republican, it would have been plastered all over the article. Too bad Gray can't mount a racism defense like that other fine DC Democrat, Marion Barry.
Let the left keep saying that ID is a bad thing for voters. It just pushes more independents to the right.
LEAN FORWARD libs, this won't hurt a bit.
1/20/2013 - the end of an error
In D.C., the soap opera never ends. Don't you just love the culture of integrity?
If the Mayor didn't know this was going on all around him and it's plausible he didn't. The next question becomes what is going currently under his nose and all around him that he doesn't know about.
The article fails to mention that Gray also paid another candidate to run in the election and relentlessly attack Fenty. Essentially a negative campaign by proxy.
Also, the 653k mentioned in the article made up 1/3 of all campaign spending and was all donated by a single businessman.
Well he's just taking a page from Holder and O's playbook -- I didn't know, wasn't me, and we're doing an exhaustive search. As if anyone with half a brain believes any of that -- well except the one's that are on the dole getting taxpayer freebies and the 49% that don't pay taxes.
The only people who know what is going on in the world are journalists.
Politicians, Congressmen, and Senators have not a clue!
If pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of progress?
He learned everything he knows from Ex Mayor Marion Barry.
Ex Mayor and current Council member.
He is another piece of garbage.
hundreds of millions of dollars being pumped into political campaigns, most of which going to the republican party, by corrupt corporations and banks to buy politicians as a result of the Citizens United ruling and people think this story is scandalous?
lol, I guess its only ok when the democrats outspend the republicans
HUH???? What about the hedge fund directors, hollywood elite, and let's not forget the Unions (they're going to spend BILLIONS over elections and their members have no say as to how their membership dues are scandered). If you're living in a glass house you shouldn't throw stones, it only makes you look like an idiot.
Smoked 8)
"No Matter if he's a Dem. or a Republican" out he goes if he's "Dishonest":
phillip
That would mean that they all had to go. Hmmmm, not a bad idea! ®¿ó
What do you expect, he is the Mayor of DC. Leave the man alone, this is just normal behavior.
He is also a Democrat, so expect obscene twitter pics accompanied by delusions of grandeur to surface any day now.
This is probably normal operating procedure throughout allot of our government.
They are entrenched with self interest and $$$.
It's who you know and who provides the $$$ nothing else matters.
Washington DC (District of Coruption)
And boy o' boy they learn that stuff early too Joker.
Even locally, our dem mayor along with a mostly dem city council), after we the people voted to overturn a massive 56% raise in our utility rates, overthrew OUR vote, saying he knows better than us what's needed to run the city.
He knows he won't win reelection for mayor, and is already speaking of running for state representative..sighhhhh.
I'm confused. I've been told by democrats and the media that election fraud cannot and does not happen. In fact, it is such an impossibility that simply requiring someone to show ID to vote is the most ludicrous idea ever proposed. Never mind that you can be required to show an ID to buy alcohol, cigarettes, and even lottery tickets. I guess proper ID for those purchases is much more important that voting legally.
You're mixing up voter fraud and election fraud.
Voter fraud is essentially nonexistant, simply because the scale needed to influence an election would be so massive as to be impossible to hide.
Election fraud is fairly commonplace and could conceivably cover everything from stealing lawn signs to actively suppressing turnout (like the now common tactic of telling people the election is on a different day or that they don't need to vote because their candidate already won).
As a side note: Yeah, it's pretty silly that you don't need to show an ID to vote, but most of the concerns raised are valid, if exaggerated.
Really, Mayor? Really? What is wrong with these people?
Corruption in D.C.??? Who would have ever thought that possible?
It is called the Chicago Way - Barack Obama approves that message! Corruption is required by all Democrats to steal money from the poor and the middle class while the news media hides their crimes.
This guy will resign and Barry will be elected to replace him.
Next step would be for obama to name him treasury secretary.
D.C., the Chicago of the east.
Ever notice the closer you get to Washington DC, the more corrupt things get?
yet marion barry gets re-elected after getting caught smoking crack, wtf lol
Snort some coke and smoke some crack, they'll re-elect you in a landslide.
Is a criminial history a requirement to be Mayor of DC?
Why all the uproar? DC had a criminal drug addicted pos for a mayor and he was glorified by DC residents. Amazing.......
Here is yet another example of corruption within the
Democratic Party. Thank you MSN for “glossing
over” that fact for us. MSN is a
joke. Here is yet another black politician
that is not only in over his head when it comes to running something bigger
than a barber shop but cannot handle being responsible.
Thank you for overlooking the facts MSN. This web site is a crock. I’m done trying to find news from the
MSM. Before all of you start screaming
that what I wrote is racist I can tell you maybe it is. It is the truth though.
By golly, why didn't we think of this course of action for the illegal occupant of the White House 9 years ago?
Could have saved about $12,000,000,000,000 initially not to mention the $2,000,000,000,000 of residual losses as the result of his criminal acts of war mongering.
Like MSNBC you conveniently "forgot" to mention any military action taken by George Bush was voted on by (and approved) by the House and the Senate.
Campaign spending fraud happening in Washington D.C.?? Good thing this was not going on with "Citizens United", See "Mr. Bucks Travels to Washington".
If "Inside the Beltway" were a waist line it would have expanded across the country, but it would have a different spelling, waste time.
Corrupt politicians run amok across the spectrum (City, State, and Federal). Hes another scape goat for all the other politicians to take heat off them. Dems & Republicans
AFN, who cares?