Copyright The New York Times
Federal prosecutors have opened a corruption investigation into Mayor Muriel E. Bowser of Washington, examining a foreign trip she took with members of her staff that was paid for by Qatar, according to people familiar with the inquiry. The investigation, which is being handled by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, has been underway for months, but could face significant hurdles because of the known facts of the case and recent turmoil inside the Justice Department. This week, the F.B.I. agent who was leading the investigation was fired by the Trump administration for having taken part in a criminal inquiry into President Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. The public corruption unit inside the prosecutors’ office that would typically be responsible for pushing the case forward has also been badly damaged by a series of dismissals and resignations stemming from Mr. Trump’s efforts to seek revenge against Justice Department officials and his perceived enemies. It remains unclear how far the investigation into Ms. Bowser, a Democrat who has served as Washington’s mayor since 2015, has advanced since it was opened. But the people familiar with the inquiry said it was based on potential violations of bribery or campaign finance laws. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment. There are also questions about the strength of the case. It is unclear whether the mayor’s office did anything for the Qatari government, which would be a critical element of any possible bribery accusation. And any criminal case involving campaign finance law would have to show that wrongdoing or misstatements were intentional rather than mistakes in paperwork. The mayor’s office said in a written statement that it had not been notified of any investigation. “This was a business trip,” the statement said. “D.C. representatives regularly travel to promote Washington as a destination for investment and growth,” and those efforts have brought business to the city, it continued. “All proper paperwork for this standard donation is on file.” The inquiry began in the wake of an April report by a local TV station, WJLA, over a trip Ms. Bowser and four members of her staff took to Dubai in 2023 for a United Nations conference on climate change. When questioned by reporters about the trip, the mayor’s office initially said it was paid for by the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. The mayor’s office then claimed the trip had been covered by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, a nonpartisan organization of leaders of relatively large cities. But it later emerged that the conference group had paid only a portion of the cost. After that report, a nonprofit group called the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust filed an ethics complaint. Matthew G. Whitaker, who held the position of acting attorney general during Mr. Trump’s first term and now serves as the U.S. ambassador to NATO, once led the organization. A March letter from Qatari officials to the mayor’s office shows that Qatar had paid more than $61,000 to bring Ms. Bowser and her team to Doha just before the conference. The mayor and her staff members traveled from there to Dubai, according to the TV station and the ethics complaint. It would not be the first time a politician’s dealings with Qatar have invited scrutiny. In May, the Trump administration formally accepted a 747 jetliner from Qatar. Valued at about $200 million, the plane is meant to be upgraded to serve as Air Force One, making it one of the biggest foreign gifts received by the government. A political firestorm ensued, but no criminal investigation was known to have been opened. The investigation into Ms. Bowser comes as the president has publicly demanded the Justice Department prosecute his perceived enemies, and fired prosecutors unwilling to obey those orders. Charges have already been filed against two of them: James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, and Letitia James, the New York attorney general, both of whom are being prosecuted in Virginia by an inexperienced U.S. attorney handpicked by Mr. Trump. Ms. Bowser has clashed with Mr. Trump in the past. But the opening of the corruption investigation appears to have preceded their most serious conflict. That erupted over the summer when Mr. Trump, claiming he was rescuing the city from a violent crime wave, placed the Metropolitan Police Department under the control of the federal government and flooded city streets with hundreds of federal agents and National Guard troops. After initially opposing the takeover, Ms. Bowser softened her stance somewhat, saying she wanted to work with the federal government to decrease crime. In August, she called his move to assert direct control over the city’s police force “unsettling and unprecedented,” but appeared resigned to cooperate, stressing at a news conference that there was little she could do to block the effort. In its broad contours, the investigation into Ms. Bowser recalls a similar inquiry into Eric Adams, the Democratic mayor of New York, who was charged last year by federal prosecutors in Manhattan in the waning months of the Biden administration. Mr. Adams was accused of abusing his office to obtain free and discounted travel and illegal foreign campaign contributions, largely through his dealings with Turkish officials and wealthy foreign businesspeople. The Trump administration ultimately moved to drop the charges, prompting a series of resignations by top officials in the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, who claimed the Justice Department was seeking to curry favor with Mr. Adams to win his support for the president’s aggressive immigration agenda.
