By Andrew P. Napolitano
The president's men trash the Constitution to pursue antagonists
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
After months of refusals to disclose verifiable information, Mayor Vincent C. Gray last week gave a D.C. Council oversight committee documents showing he hired and gave a raise to campaign consultant Cherita Whiting after she had lied about a felony conviction on a 2010 job application to work for council member Phil Mendelson.
The Gray administration's request for retroactive approval of a school security contract that has been extended without D.C. Council approval since August met with bruising criticism last week at the confirmation hearing for James D. Staton Jr., acting chief of the D.C. Office of Contracting and Procurement.
Documents showing the annual pay of a controversial campaign consultant turned political appointee of Mayor Vincent C. Gray and salary information posted on two D.C. government databases directly contradict information the mayor's office provided to the D.C. Council last month as part of the 2012 budget process.
A D.C. Council committee that hoped to shed light Friday on charges of nepotism in Mayor Vincent C. Gray's hiring practices will have to wait a while longer.
