WASHINGTON -- An attorney representing the former re-election treasurer for District of Columbia Councilmember Michael A. Brown (I-At Large) responded on Wednesday to accusations the incumbent made about his client misdirecting campaign funds.
"You mean to tell me that over two-thirds of your campaign treasury was depleted and you knew nothing about it? Incredible," attorney J. Wyndal Gordon said in a message posted to Facebook.
In June, Brown said that a "substantial" amount of money was missing from his re-election coffers and asked the Metropolitan Police Department to launch an investigation. Brown fired Sutton as well.
Late Monday night, Brown's re-election campaign, under a D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics deadline, detailed just how much was allegedly stolen: More than $110,000.
As The Washington Post reported, Brown's filing listed $113,950 as "unexplained expenditures" made by Sutton. In a statement released late Monday night, Brown described the situation as a "crime committed against the campaign."
Gordon, who said that he will "vigorously and zealously defend" Sutton, had a lengthy response to Brown in his Facebook message:
Brown reviewed his bank statements on a regular basis just as any incumbent would whose duty it was to raise money for re-election. He further reviewed and signed off on all of his campaign finance reports before they were filed with the OCF. Brown knows the truth. Although he was a lazy campaigner, --coming to fund-raising events late and leaving early, he was miserly on the dollar, sometimes failing or refusing to pay his employees while demanding maximum work output. In short, Brown did not like to pay people for work performed, and has been known to issue rubber checks. If charges are actually filed by the Government, the public will soon find out where the money was going and by whose authority and direction it was sent. It will also find out about the skuldduggery and debauchery Brown has been known to frequently engaged.
According to The Washington Times, Gordon said that Brown is using Sutton as a scapegoat for his campaign's finance failures.
Brown hit Gordon back via Twitter, responding to a tweet from The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis:
Gordon, according to a 2009 Baltimore Sun profile, became a "trusted confidant" of John Allen Muhammad when the notorious D.C.-area sniper was on trial in Montgomery County, Md., in 2006. Muhammad, at the time, was representing himself and Gordon was volunteering as a stand-by counsel.
Brown, the son of former Democratic National Committee chairman and Clinton administration Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, comes from a family with deep Democratic roots but is running as an Independent to retain one of two At-Large D.C. Council seats reserved for non-Democrats.
Brown, an attorney first elected to the D.C. Council in 2008, has been considered the heavy favorite to retain his seat. A relatively unknown candidate, David Grosso, has been waging a feisty campaign to unseat Brown.
Brown recently survived separate ballot signature challenges filed by Grosso and D.C. government watchdog Dorothy Brizill.
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