Vincent Gray Meets Obama: The D.C. Council chairman's mayoral campaign spread the news by email, Twitter, and blog post: Vincent Gray had shaken the hand of the president of the United States! Less impressive: They bumped into each other at a basketball game. Even less impressive: The campaign saw fit to announce that Gray had [...]
Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, beloved folk hero and future bold name and/or photo in Barry obit montage, is impossible to figure out. Yesterday, she attended Barry's State of the Ward speech. Before the speech, she posted this cryptic comment on Facebook:
"You'll soon know why MB the politician continues to keep me close. I'll work with him and [...]
Whether you're a member of the D.C. Council or one of Ward 8's ANC Commissioners, you have rendered an opinion about the conduct of Councilmember Marion S. Barry, as laid out in the Bennett Report.
Yet one constituency has yet to speak out on the politician's ethics: Jewelry merchants.
Their voice must be heard in this matter, [...]
City Desk did a survey of ANC commissioners in Ward 8 today to find out: As the D.C. Council considers what, if any, action to take against Marion Barry following the release of the Bennett Report, what do you think should happen to him?
Mary Buckley, of ANC 8B: Buckley says "everyone should be treated the [...]
I'm sure LL Daily will have more on this. If Councilmember Marion Barry wants to know how his lame apology is being received, he's got at least one answer. WaPo's editorial board is calling for Barry to step down. The board writes:
"It frankly is disgusting to hear Mr. Barry talk, as he did Tuesday, about [...]
On Tuesday, Robert S. Bennett laid out an astonishingly detailed case against Ward 8 Councilmember Marion S. Barry Jr. and concluded that the matter should be referred to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Bennett's conclusion raises the rather comical notion that the U.S. Attorney's Office consists of a bunch of bureaucrats sitting around the office waiting for [...]
Councilmember Marion S. Barry Jr. has until Tuesday to formally respond to the evidence put forth against him in the Bennett Report. Several of his council colleagues told WaPo that they wanted to wait to see Barry's rebuttal before possibly censuring him. I'm all about respecting the process. But hasn't Barry had enough time to [...]
According to the Bennett Report, Councilmember Marion S. Barry Jr. attempted to monitor the testimony of potential witnesses. The scope of Barry's alleged behind-the-scenes activities extends beyond pressuring Donna Watts-Brighthaupt to withhold key evidence from authorities.
According to the report, Barry told Watts-Brighthaupt about his concern that another crony, Rev. Anthony Motley was deposed without a [...]
Granted, kickbacks are bad. Steering contracts to cronies—bad as well.
Yet another of the allegations in the just-released report by Special Counsel Robert S. Bennett builds an even more scandalous, Nixonian case against Ward 8 Councilmember Marion S. Barry Jr. This allegation is that Barry advised a "material witness to withhold documents and information requested or [...]
Throughout Robert S. Bennett's investigation of Ward 8 Councilmember Marion S. Barry Jr.'s official ethics, Donna Watts-Brighthaupt had one wish: to have her work vindicated. She believed in the research and writing she'd done on young leadership under the contract awarded to her by the councilmember. Even after her project had become the subject of [...]
In the coming weeks, D.C. Councilmembers, federal prosecutors, and everyday citizens will be digesting the awesome report on Ward 8 Councilmember Marion S. Barry Jr. issued today by Special Counsel Robert S. Bennett of Hogan & Hartson LLP. The report encapsulates a whole bunch of unethical and perhaps illegal behavior by Barry, especially in relation [...]
UPDATED, 12:35 P.M.
Well, it sure as hell wasn't a whitewash.
Attorney Bob Bennett this morning presented the findings of a five- seven-month investigation into D.C. Council contracts and earmarks—a probe prompted by the shenanigans of Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry this summer. [Download a PDF of the report's executive summary; download the full report.]
The blockbuster finding [...]
The year started off on the Mall
(If you weren't a purple tic thrall)
We stood there and shivered
As Barry delivered
A moment for years to recall
Come summer, nine people were lost
When train control signals got crossed
Commutes were enraging
Since Metro is aging
But fixing it comes at great cost
A self-proclaimed pol "who is moral"
Turned stalkerish after a quarrel
It got [...]
"You put me out in Denver 'cause I wouldn't suck your dick."
—Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, ex-Barry paramour, mid-June
I guess I didn't get the memo.
Apparently, this is not the time to ask Councilmember Marion Barry or his staff about Sharon Bowen. Barry paid Bowen $50,000 to work on poverty issues in 2007 and 2008. Bowen was another Barry girlfriend.
Why not today? HBO is premiering a documentary on Barry's life. It's either that or [...]
