D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown resigned from his seat Wednesday night, hours after he was charged with bank fraud, plunging the city government into a leadership crisis.
“Because of the great respect that I have for the institution that is the Council of the District of Columbia, I have chosen the only honorable course in submitting my resignation at this time,” Brown wrote in a letter to the council secretary. “I simply will not hold this body, and its important work hostage to the resolution of my personal indiscretions.”
In a three-page charging document filed in the District’s federal court, prosecutors accused Brown (D) of falsifying records in applications to obtain a home loan and to buy a $50,000 power boat. Brown inflated his income by “tens of thousands of dollars” in the two-year scheme, which started in August 2005, federal prosecutors wrote.
Brown, 41, dogged for months by a probe into his personal finances and his 2008 campaign for a council seat, is scheduled to attend a plea hearing in the District’s federal court before Judge Richard J. Leon on Friday. Bank fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, but Brown will face far less potential punishment under federal sentencing guidelines.
The disclosure of the charges set off a frenzy of activity at the District’s Wilson Building, including a hastily scheduled closed-door Council meeting at Brown’s office.
Brown refused to address a platoon of reporters flanking him as he left his council offices about 4 p.m.
Brown -- who speaks of himself in the third person, has compared himself to President Kennedy and has a love-affair with expensive cars — flashed a large grin as he shoved his way through the scrum and tried to ignore reporters’ shouted questions.
“I will have a comment tomorrow,” said Brown, who as recently as last week said that he was not “worried one bit” about an intensifying federal probe into his finances and a previous city campaign.
The charges against Brown came in a “criminal information,” a document that can only be filed with the defendant’s consent and signal a plea deal has been reached. Officials familiar with the case said prosecutors and Brown’s lawyer have been discussing the plea deal for weeks.
“Thank you,” he told reporters as he battled his way to his car. “No comment as of now. I appreciate you for waiting in this hallway all this time. I don’t have a comment.”
Wednesday night, well after Brown had left the Wilson Building, city workers removed his name from his office door, leaving only the word “Chairman” on room 504.
Brown’s attorney, Frederick D. Cooke Jr., did not respond to numerous emails or phone messages seeking comment. U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. also declined to comment.
As chairman, Brown was the second highest-ranking official in D.C. government; he wielded incredible power over the city’s finances and decides what legislation is taken up by the Council. He had increased the influence of the Council chairman -- literally expanding the size of his own office by blasting out walls — and was known to reward supporters with coveted leadership posts and strip such assignments from those who crossed him.
