Wells: Mayor Gray More Concerned With Investigation Than Running the City

The time for Mayor Vincent Gray to decide whether he’ll seek reelection is getting short.

Candidate and Council member Tommy Wells charged that Gray is more worried about staying out of jail than running the city.

Prosecutors - after more than two years - are still investigating an illegal shadow campaign that helped Gray win over incumbent Adrian Fenty by an easy margin in 2010. On advice of his lawyer, Gray refuses to discuss what he knows - if anything - about the corruption.

On the WAMU Kojo Nnamdi Politics Hour Friday, Wells said Gray is distracted by the corruption investigation and should tell citizens what he knows.

“Was there collusion for running an illegal campaign, and the mayor has essentially, said his attorney said he shouldn't talk about it., which means the mayor is more concerned about his own personal liability rather than what should the people that have voted for him and the city he leads, should we know,” he said. “But i think it impacts someone's ability to lead the city if they have participated in a crooked campaign.”

In a statement to News4 after Wells's remarks, Gray's press secretary Pedro Riberio said, "It's obviously more of Mr. Wells' absurdity. [The mayor] responding to [Monday's] shooting, that's not someone who is distracted."

The campaign petition period begins in six weeks and ends Jan. 2. So far, Gray has no campaign operation.

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