Sulaimon Brown’s allegations prompt House oversight committee probe into Vincent Gray campaign

A congressional committee has launched an official probe into allegations by Sulaimon Brown, the fired D.C. government employee and former mayoral candidate who says that Mayor Vincent C. Gray promised him a job and that he received payments from two members of Gray’s campaign for attacks on then-Mayor Adrian M. Fenty last year.

Last week, staffers of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform reached out to Brown and others to learn more about the process city agencies were planning to use to investigate the allegations. But they were struck by the lack of cooperation from Gray campaign chairman Lorraine Green, campaign consultant Howard Brooks and Gerri Mason Hall, who was ousted Wednesday as Gray’s chief of staff, said committee spokesman Frederick R. Hill.

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During the 2010 D.C. mayoral campaign, candidate Sulaimon Brown was a frequent and harsh critic of incumbent Adrian M. Fenty. He often urged voters to support Vincent C. Gray instead.

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• Sulaimon Brown’s allegations prompt House oversight committee probe into Vincent Gray campaign
• Gray fires chief of staff before testimony
• Gray meets with business leaders to allay fears
• Brown had six run-ins with law enforcement before landing D.C. job

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• Former mayoral candidate Sulaimon Brown says he struck a job deal with Vincent Gray campaign

“It’s unprecedented, the lack of information we’ve received,” Hill said in an interview Thursday.

An investigator for the committee, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), said he has obtained evidence that Brown did not interview for his $110,000 job as a special assistant in the Department of Health Care Finance. He was simply placed there, Hill said.

The committee has subpoena power and could hold public hearings on the matter, Hill said.

“We haven’t ruled out hearings,” he said.

The committee’s action adds another layer of investigation outside D.C. government. The U.S. attorney’s office previously announced that it “is working with the FBI to assess the matter.”

In a statement, the mayor’s office said there are “sufficient investigative bodies” looking into the allegations. “Congressional involvement is not likely to illuminate any additional issues or information,” it said. “Although the mayor, in his support for the autonomy of the District of Columbia, does not encourage congressional oversight of city matters, he and his administration will cooperate fully with this investigation.”

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), said in a statement: “A congressional investigation would take the new House Republican majority’s obsession with invading the District’s home rule to a new low. I hope to meet with Chairman Issa to ask him to defer to the investigations now underway.”

Brown, 40, an unemployed auditor who has a limited resume and has had six run-ins with the law through the years, told The Washington Post that he landed the six-figure job in return for bashing Fenty during the campaign. He said Green and Brooks gave him payments to keep his campaign afloat. The Washington Post could not independently verify any payments. But Brown exchanged text messages with Gray, and Brown’s phone records show several exchanges with numbers belonging to Gray, Green, Brooks and a personal campaign aide to the mayor.

Green, Brooks and Gray have denied Brown’s allegations. Gray has said that he promised Brown only a job interview. Green has said she told Brown that he would have to “qualify” for a job.

“I’m pleased that the Congress oversight committee is taking the allegations seriously, because this is serious,” said Brown, who met with the FBI last week and said he is scheduled to meet again Friday. He would not comment further.