Lawyers for D.C. Councilman Jack Evans are pleading for — in their words — a “fair process” as the D.C. Council continues its investigation into allegations of ethical lapses.
In a letter sent to D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson and Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh Wednesday, attorneys for Evans say the alleged violations listed in a report released this week “are nowhere near as serious” as some of Evans’ critics make them out to be.
They also blast someone who had access to the report who leaked it to The Washington Post, saying it was “done with malice and with the intent to poison the well of public opinion” in order to get Evans to quit.
The Washington Post reports that Mendelson has talked repeatedly with Evans about resigning, but the paper quotes Evans saying he isn’t going to do it now or in the future.
Nine of Evans’ 12 colleagues on the council have publicly said he needs to step down. Lawyers say that “drumbeat” is “flattening any remote sense of fairness or due process” and that the council needs to slow down and consider the real facts at hand.
Cheh, who is leading the council’s investigation into Evans, quickly responded with a letter of her own — one that was much shorter and to the point.
She begins calling the concern “misplaced” and that Evans “has already had considerable due process and will be receiving even more.”
Cheh then quickly closes the letter by again saying the listed concerns are “misplaced” before adding that “Cloaking your public relations campaign in legal jargon does nothing to advance your defense”
