A high-level consultant to D.C. mayoral candidate Muriel Bowser is no longer working for her campaign after he and his company were publicly linked to another mayoral campaign scandal.
Tom Lindenfeld -- a veteran strategist for national and local campaigns, including several D.C. mayoral races -- helped Council member Bowser win the April 1 Democratic primary and was on the team for the November election. Now Lindenfeld is out of Bowser's inner circle.
His company surfaced in a complicated campaign scandal involving the 2007 Philadelphia mayoral campaign of U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D), with allegations of an unreported million dollar campaign loan and misuse of federal grant funds.
Bowser declined to comment to News4 on Lindenfeld but told the Washington City Paper, which first disclosed the Philadelphia story, "I'm quite surprised by the allegations out of Philadelphia. ... Tom no longer has a role on the campaign."
Sources tell News4 Lindenfeld -- normally talkative with media -- quietly left the Bowser campaign in midsummer. He declined to comment to News4 over the weekend.
Independent mayoral candidate David Catania said the Lindenfeld resignation and Philadelphia scandal concerned him.
“Mr. Lindenfeld has run all of Ms. Bowser's campaigns, and the fact he's been engaged in shadow campaigns in other jurisdictions raises questions about how he runs elections generally,” Catania said.
There have been no allegations of any wrongdoing in any of Bowser's campaigns.
