Former D.C. mayor says prosecutors owe him an apology
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Version 0 of 1. Former D.C. mayor Vincent C. Gray said Tuesday that he thinks he would still be the city’s mayor had it not been for allegations by federal prosecutors, three weeks before last year’s primary election, that he knew about the illegal financing of his 2010 campaign. “I think I would have won,” Gray (D) told WAMU radio host Kojo Nnamdi in reference to the 2014 Democratic primary. “Maybe there should be a do-over.” In a flurry of interviews Tuesday, Gray appeared on air for the first time since prosecutors last week concluded a long-running investigation into an illegal “shadow campaign” funded by former businessman Jeffrey E. Thompson. Since 2012, six people directly related to Gray’s first mayoral campaign, including top advisers, have pleaded guilty in federal court. In March 2014, Thompson pleaded guilty and said Gray had detailed knowledge of and had provided a budget for the secret get-out-the-vote effort. The allegations came just weeks before Gray lost the Democratic primary to now-Mayor Muriel E. Bowser. On Tuesday, Gray blasted the prosecutors’ allegations, which he said “undid” his election bid. He demanded apologies from former U.S. attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. and from those who called for his ouster, including Bowser. “I think she owes me an apology,” Gray said, appearing on local TV channel WUSA9. Meanwhile, Gray said, Machen’s news conference a few weeks before the vote effectively resulted in “voter suppression.” His supporters, deterred by prosecutors’ allegations, stayed home, he reasoned. Gray, who did not respond to messages last week seeking comment after the closing of the case, also appeared to be positioning himself Tuesday for a re-entry into city politics, commenting on a range of issues facing the city and Bowser. Chuck Thies, Gray’s former spokesman who coordinated Tuesday’s media appearances, said Gray was not available for a follow-up interview with The Washington Post. The former mayor said he was “weighing” a run for either the Ward 7 seat or an at-large seat on the D.C. Council and would not rule out a future run for mayor. In multiple interviews, he pivoted quickly from criticizing the former U.S. attorney’s actions to touting his credentials as “a native Washingtonian” who spent his career working to help the disabled, homeless youths and others in need. “I’ve spent my whole life working on behalf of people,” he said. “I love public life. I love doing things for people.” Gray also took swipes at Bowser, calling her fundraising behavior “hypocritical.” Bowser drew criticism this fall after revelations that a political action committee, Fresh PAC, run by her former campaign treasurer was exploiting a legal loophole to solicit unlimited donations in a non-election year. “She made no bones about calling for my resignation and criticizing what was done in my campaign, yet just in the first year of office, she winds up in a situation — while I guess ostensibly legal — certainly has, in my opinion, a negative appearance associated with it,” Gray said. Bowser on Tuesday said she was unaware that Gray wanted her to apologize, and she declined to comment on his statements. Throughout the probe, Gray, 73, denied having any knowledge of the secret, unreported spending of more than $660,000 on his behalf, a claim that he made again repeatedly Tuesday. “I did nothing. I was not involved in any of this,” Gray said on Fox5 television, adding that “it’s regrettable that things were done.” In the run-up to the election, Gray said, he was too busy with his “legislative responsibilities” as the D.C. Council chairman to notice anything fishy in his campaign. “I rarely went to the campaign office,” he said during his appearance on WAMU (88.5 FM). At the same time, Gray said, those who broke the law were probably doing so because they “desperately wanted a change.” “I think they wanted [former mayor] Adrian Fenty out of office.” At one point during the radio interview, a caller accused Gray of whining about election results that were of his own making. “We know for a fact that he ran a corrupt campaign. For me, it’s sort of — what goes around comes around,” the caller said. Gray responded by calling the comment “ludicrous.” Machen strongly defended the investigation and the timing in a statement Tuesday. When Thompson admitted to a “massive scheme to corrupt D.C. politics, the office could not just sweep that under the rug,” he said. The office also would have faced criticism for withholding information, Machen said, if the plea deal had been announced after the primary election. For prosecutors and investigators, he said, the case was about “far more than Mr. Gray. It was about exposing and putting an end to a decade-long scheme that funneled millions of dollars of illegal cash into D.C. politics, election after election.” But last week, the office of newly appointed U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced the end of the investigation, saying the office probably did not have enough evidence to bring additional charges. Thompson and several others who pleaded guilty are awaiting sentencing. “It’s hard not to be bitter,” Gray said on Fox5. “I’m certainly angry. There’s no question about that.” |