Federal grand jury subpoenas D.C. Council members’ campaigns

A federal grand jury has subpoenaed some of the campaigns of D.C. Council members for records related to political donations and gifts from the city’s largest contractor and his business interests as part of a widening federal probe into campaign finance irregularities.

The subpoenas appear to have been sent to campaigns that have received contributions from Jeffrey E. Thompson in the past several years, according to a council member whose campaign received one but who did not want to speak publicly about it.

The subpoena seeks “all documents” related to Thompson and his partners at his accounting firm Thompson, Cobb, Bazilio & Associates, and Chartered Health Plan, a Thompson-run company that has a $322 million city contract, according to a copy of a grand jury document obtained by The Washington Post.

It also requests campaign records, e-mails, invitations and meeting notes, suggesting that federal officials are expanding their interest in Thompson, whose office and home were recently raided by federal investigators. Thompson, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, has declined to comment.

“It’s very broad and it shows you they are really taking this stuff seriously,” said the council member, adding that the subpoenas were being sent to campaign treasurers.

Many council members did not return calls on Tuesday, but Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 7), Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) and Chairman Kwame R. Brown (D) said their campaigns had not received subpoenas. At a candidate forum Tuesday night, Council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) declined to say whether she received a subpoena, according to WTOP.

The grand jury reach into the John A. Wilson Building comes amid an investigation into Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s 2010 mayoral campaign. That probe focuses on apparent irregularities in money-order donations in possible violation of campaign finance laws, according to people familiar with the investigation who are not allowed to speak publicly about the inquiry. Gray has denied any wrongdoing.

The subpoena also follows council member Vincent B. Orange’s (D-At large) decision to explain $26,000 in money-order and cashier’s-check donations he said his campaign received last year from donors with ties to Thompson.

A Post review of Orange’s campaign documents shows that four groups of money orders were purchased from Western Union on March 10 and are in sequential order. The money orders appear to come from different donors, but the handwriting on several of them appears similar.

Orange, who said he has not received a subpoena, also accepted 10 U.S. Postal Service money orders of $1,000 each. Several of the money orders appear to have used similar font type to identify the donors’ names and addresses.

According to tracking numbers, some of the money orders were purchased in the District but sent in the names of donors with addresses in California or Georgia.

In an interview Tuesday, Orange said he needed Thompson to help raise money during the initial weeks of his campaign last year, but he had no reason to suspect until recently that the donations were “suspicious and questionable.”