DC's No. 2 Politician Resigns After Fraud Charge

Kwame Brown charged with lying on bank loan application
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 7, 2012 9:19 AM CDT
DC's No. 2 Politician Resigns After Fraud Charge
Washington, DC City Council Chairman Kwame Brown, center, says goodbye while leaving his office in Washington yesterday.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The second highest-ranking politician in the Washington, DC, city government resigned yesterday, just hours after being charged with bank fraud for allegedly inflating his income by tens of thousands of dollars in order to secure a home loan and purchase a $50,000, 38-foot powerboat, reports the Washington Post. Sources say Council Chair Kwame Brown and prosecutors have been working on a plea deal for weeks. "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," wrote Brown in his resignation letter.

"Never would I have imagined something like this would occur," wrote Mayor Vincent Gray, who is also under investigation related to his 2010 election campaign. Despite the deal, Brown is still being investigated by federal officials for his 2008 campaign, which has apparently turned up large irregularities in an audit. "On some level, I feel betrayed," said one council member. "He let down the District of Columbia." The Post notes Brown is council member No. 2 to find himself in hot water with the feds this year; in May, a former council member received a 38-month sentence after copping to stealing $350,000 from taxpayers. (More Kwame Brown stories.)

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