D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser responded to reports that she is under federal investigation for an overseas trip she took in 2023. She said they’re not true – and U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro confirmed that Bowser is not under investigation.
Just after noon on Friday, Pirro made an extraordinary statement, saying Bowser is not under investigation.
“Mayor Bowser is not under investigation, nor is she the target of any investigation,” Pirro said in a statement.
For years, the policy of the U.S. attorney’s office was to neither confirm nor deny the existence of any investigation.
Bowser said she has not been contacted by any federal officials.
“I have checked our lawyers, and we have a regular kind of chain of who talks to who, and we have not been contacted, not related to me or to anybody else, as I’m aware, and I have no explanation from federal officials about what happened,” she said.
The New York Times was first to report, quoting people familiar with the inquiry, that a probe of Bowser had been underway for months and centered on potential violations of bribery or campaign finance laws.
But after the story was published, News4 and Axios reported the opposite – that Bowser was not under investigation. The Times is standing by its story.
The Times report questioned a 2023 trip that Bowser made to Qatar and Dubai. Her office released a statement about the trip.
“This was a business trip. D.C. representatives regularly travel to promote Washington for a destination for investment and growth. This regular work has helped bring investment, infrastructure, new business, new grocery stores, growth and jobs to the District. In some cases, economic development funds are used for the business travel. In other cases, the host or organizer cover the expenses. All proper paperwork for this standard donation is on file,” they said.
“A business trip, a publicly noticed trip to promote Washington, D.C., in Qatar – that’s what we did, and we don’t have any bones about saying it,” Bowser said.
The mayor’s office confirmed Qatar paid $61,930 for part of the trip, which included several members of Bowser’s staff.
News4 asked Bowser if her office had received any subpoenas or inquiries related to the trip.
“We haven’t been contacted at all,” she said.
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