This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/court-unseals-investigative-file-from-ex-dc-mayor-gray-campaign-probe/2016/04/14/df679c38-0259-11e6-9d36-33d198ea26c5_story.html

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
Court unseals investigative file from ex-D.C. mayor Gray campaign probe Court unseals investigative file from ex-D.C. mayor Gray campaign probe
(about 3 hours later)
A federal court in Washington has unsealed dozens of investigative records expected to provide new insight into how prosecutors conducted a long-running probe into the illegal financing of Vincent C. Gray’s 2010 campaign. Court records released Friday show federal prosecutors were investigating whether former D.C. mayor Vincent C. Gray promised city jobs and thousands of dollars to a political rival to get him out of the 2010 Democratic primary.
The search warrants, declarations from federal agents and other documents were released Friday morning after The Washington Post went to court seeking access to records from the closed investigation that cast a dark cloud over D.C. politics and resulted in guilty pleas from 12 people, including several top aides to the former mayor. Among the hundreds of pages of documents unsealed, an excerpt of an email to Gray describes a series of positions in city government that the former mayor allegedly offered if the rival agreed to drop out of the contest.
The Post asked to review the investigative materials on First Amendment grounds, saying there was no compelling justification to keep records secret after the probe was shut down. The documents were released Friday morning after The Washington Post went to court seeking access to records from the closed investigation that cast a dark cloud over D.C. politics and resulted in guilty pleas from 12 people, including several top aides to the former mayor.
The nearly five-year-long federal investigation uncovered an illegal shadow campaign for Gray funded by former city contractor Jeffrey E. Thompson. The case had been widely viewed as leading to the former mayor, but prosecutors closed the investigation in December without charging Gray. [What’s inside the Vincent Gray campaign case file]
The nearly five-year-long federal investigation uncovered an illegal shadow campaign for Gray funded by former city contractor Jeffrey E. Thompson and coordinated by public relations consultant Jeanne Clarke Harris. The case had been widely viewed as leading to the former mayor, but prosecutors closed the investigation in December without charging Gray. Both Thompson and Harris have pleaded guilty to charges related to the campaign funding and are awaiting sentencing.
[Timeline: The investigation of Vincent Gray][Timeline: The investigation of Vincent Gray]
Gray denies allegations that he knew about the off-the-books spending, as Thompson has asserted in court. Gray denies allegations that he knew about the off-the-books spending, as Thompson has asserted in court. He and his supporters have blamed the timing of the broader investigation for Gray’s loss to now-Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) in the 2014 primary. Gray has mounted a bid for his former seat on the D.C. Council.
The roughly 90 files totaling at least hundreds of pages include search warrants from 2012 through 2015, and are expected to fill in the blanks about some aspects of the investigation. The Post previously reported that during the 2010 Democratic mayoral primary, Gray was deeply concerned that fellow candidate Leo Alexander could draw votes from him and ultimately cost him the election to incumbent Adrian M. Fenty.
Gray met with Alexander in August 2010 at a house in a Maryland suburb to discuss exiting the race, The Post has previously reported.
On Friday, Alexander said an account of the meeting and discussion from Harris that is included in the newly released documents was substantially accurate, and Alexander confirmed that an e-mail exchange described there was between him and Gray.
The account in the newly released affidavit and interviews show that Alexander emailed Gray after the meeting, detailing the offer Alexander said Gray made to back him for a soon-to-be-vacant at-large D.C. Council seat, a deputy mayorship or a job at the D.C. Office of Cable Television.
Alexander also sought $50,000 to pay off campaign debts, new court records and interviews show. But Gray told Harris that the campaign had only $20,000 immediately available, and also that Alexander should be paid through Harris because Gray “did not want publicity for their campaign report,” according to the affidavit and a person familiar with the exchange.
A $20,000 check was cut from the Gray campaign to Harris’s firm, as the Post previously reported, but Alexander rejected the deal and Harris returned the check.
Gray said, “I just want him out,” according to the affidavit and the person familiar with the exchange.
Gray’s attorney, Robert S. Bennett declined to comment Friday on the documents. Gray did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
To build their case, investigators searched emails and cellphone location records to try to corroborate what they were hearing from witnesses, for example, about the places and times that key figures in the investigation were meeting.
Investigators specifically sought location records for cellphones used by Thompson, Harris and Mark Long, who served as Gray’s campaign driver and was paid by Thompson, according to court records.
A key moment in the shadow campaign was a September 2010 meeting between Thompson and Gray at Harris’s apartment.
There, according to statements filed in Thompson’s guilty plea, Gray asked Thompson to fund a get-out-the-vote effort and presented Thompson with a budget. Thompson has said in court that the former mayor knew the campaign money would not be properly reported.
But according to an affidavit filed for a 2015 search of cellphone records, Harris told investigators that she understood that Thompson characterized the funds as a “loan.” Had a case gone to trial, Gray’s attorneys likely would have highlighted that fact to argue that Gray assumed any spending by Thompson would be done legally.
In the earliest filings from 2012, are warrants from the raids on the offices and homes of Thompson and Harris. The records show for the first time that investigators relied on information from Thompson’s niece, Bridgette Thompson.
Thompson’s niece’s identity is redacted in the documents, but is described as having used Thompson’s money to make campaign donations in her own name. The contributions described in the affidavit match donations listed in public campaign finance records for Bridgette Thompson.
In the newly released records, the person described as having access to Thompson’s email told agents that Thompson and Harris knew about the probe and were trying to destroy evidence.
The Post has also previously reported that Bridgette Thompson worked as her uncle’s secretary and read and answered all of his business e-mails.
According to the affidavit, Thompson directed an employee to remove emails on his company’s computer system, to box up potentially incriminating documents and asked the employee whether she would be willing to leave the country.
“Harris advised that she ‘bleached’ her computer and that she would take the ‘rap’ for Thompson,’” the FBI agent wrote.
The Post asked to review the investigative materials on First Amendment grounds, saying there was no compelling justification to keep records secret after the probe was shut down.
U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips has provided little explanation for his decision to end the probe other than to say that the “admissible evidence is likely insufficient to obtain and sustain criminal convictions against any other individuals.”U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips has provided little explanation for his decision to end the probe other than to say that the “admissible evidence is likely insufficient to obtain and sustain criminal convictions against any other individuals.”
Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court in D.C. on April 1 granted The Post’s request to review materials, ordering the release of the records Friday, after prosecutors redacted some names and other details for privacy reasons. Howell wrote that “any remaining law enforcement and privacy interests implicated by the public disclosure of the relevant warrant materials is insufficient to justify maintaining these warrants under seal entirely.”
The U.S. attorney’s response to The Post’s motion for access was filed under seal. According to the judge’s order, “the government concedes that maintaining blanket secrecy on the specific records sought from the campaign finance investigation is not necessary.”
The Post reported Thursday that the shadow campaign case was stalled for months, and possibly aborted, because of concerns about the credibility of Thompson, who was expected to be a key witness against the former mayor.The Post reported Thursday that the shadow campaign case was stalled for months, and possibly aborted, because of concerns about the credibility of Thompson, who was expected to be a key witness against the former mayor.
Investigators began asking questions last year about the ages of Thompson’s sexual partners to determine whether he had committed a crime, according to witnesses who spoke to federal agents and The Post.Investigators began asking questions last year about the ages of Thompson’s sexual partners to determine whether he had committed a crime, according to witnesses who spoke to federal agents and The Post.
[Shadow campaign case delayed over claims key witness had credibility issue][Shadow campaign case delayed over claims key witness had credibility issue]
A spokesman for Phillips declined to answer questions about whether the investigation into Thompson’s relationships derailed the broader campaign finance case.A spokesman for Phillips declined to answer questions about whether the investigation into Thompson’s relationships derailed the broader campaign finance case.
Thompson’s attorneys also have declined to comment. Thompson, 61, has not been charged with any other crime since he pleaded guilty to two campaign finance-related felonies in 2014. He is scheduled to be sentenced in June. Thompson’s attorneys also have declined to comment. Thompson, 61, has not been charged with any other crime since he pleaded guilty to two campaign finance-related felonies in 2014.
Gray and his supporters have blamed the timing of the broader investigation and comments by the former U.S. attorney for Gray’s loss to now-Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) in the 2014 primary. Gray has mounted a bid for his former seat on the D.C. Council, saying he is seeking to right an “injustice.” Aaron C. Davis contributed to this report.
The records being released Friday are not expected to provide a complete explanation of why the campaign finance case was shut down because the unsealed documents are essentially snapshots from specific points in time. But the records could indicate how the investigation progressed.
To obtain search warrants for homes, offices, email accounts and electronic devices such as laptops and phones, law enforcement officials had to submit sworn statements to the court about the status of the investigation, what agents were hoping to find in their search and why such searches were necessary.
Among the records to be released are warrants from the March 2012 raids on the offices and homes of Thompson and public relations consultant Jeanne Clark Harris, a business associate and friend of Thompson, who was also friendly with Gray.
Harris is also awaiting sentencing for her role in the shadow campaign after pleading guilty for serving as a conduit for Thompson’s unreported campaign funds.
Read more:Read more:
Vincent Gray is eyeing a comebackVincent Gray is eyeing a comeback
The documents unsealed in the Gray campaign caseThe documents unsealed in the Gray campaign case