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She’s been in hiding – oh, excuse me, on leave – for a while, but Mayor Catherine Pugh of Baltimore just had a very, very bad day, thanks to FBI and IRS agents.
Mayor Pugh, if you remember, went on leave after her shady kickback deals over her “Healthy Holly” children’s book series that no one read came to light. Since then, the Baltimore City Council asked her to resign. She didn’t.
And then this morning, FBI and IRS agents came knocking.
Among the locations being raided by the FBI in Baltimore:
+ City Hall
+ Two homes owned by Mayor Catherine Pugh
+ The Maryland Center for Adult Training
+The office of Pugh's attorney, Steven Silverman
+ Home of Pugh aide Gary Brown Jr. https://t.co/KpinYvK3cC— The Baltimore Sun (@baltimoresun) April 25, 2019
Note that her attorney’s office is also being searched. That is not a small matter.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and the Baltimore City Council are all calling on Catherine Pugh to resign after these raids.
The FBI and the Internal Revenue Service conducted the raids on Pugh’s home and Baltimore City Hall amid allegations of improper financial dealings with the University of Maryland Medical System, Governor Larry Hogan said on Twitter.”
“Mayor Pugh has lost the public trust. She is clearly not fit to lead. For the good of the city, Mayor Pugh must resign,” Hogan wrote.”
City Councilman Brandon Scott also called for Pugh’s resignation, saying in a statement: “Baltimore needs to move forward and heal from this embarrassment.” The Baltimore City Council previously called for her resignation earlier this month.”
And while the mayor apparently can’t be forced out of office while she’s on a leave of absence (really?), the interim mayor seems to be clearing out her office.
Three of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh’s aides were fired earlier this week, as her leave of absence continues.”
Acting Mayor Jack Young has not said why those three aides were fired, or why four others have been put on leave, while their boss is indefinitely out of office.”
“We can’t speak to personnel decisions, but I can tell you that I’ve made a decision of three people who will no longer be in the mayor’s office,” the acting mayor said.”
Acting Mayor Young has stayed tight-lipped on why he’s been shifting Pugh’s staffers.”
But a spokesperson confirmed to our media partner the Baltimore Sun that one of the now terminated employees Gary Brown Jr., worked in the city’s lobbying office.”
Mayor Pugh stood by Brown in 2017, allowing him to keep his City Hall job after he pled guilty to a campaign finance crime tied to her 2016 mayoral campaign.”
Wednesday, four of her other staffers remain on paid administrative leave as she enters her 24th day out of office.”
Pugh is battling an extended bout of pneumonia that coincides with the controversy surrounding her sale of children’s book to the University of Maryland Medical System while serving on its board.”
City Solicitor Andre Davis said the city charter does not put a cap on a mayoral leave of absence.”
“The charter is utterly silent on how long a leave can last, the reasons for a leave. There’s just nothing in the charter to address that,” Davis said.”
And yes, one of those fired aides, Gary Brown, Jr., was on the list of raided locations this morning.
The muck in Baltimore runs deep, but Catherine Pugh seems determined to hang on until the last second to the mayor’s office. I expect nothing short of federal charges is going to oust her from office at this point.
Welcome Instapundit Readers!
Featured image: Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh (screenshot via CBS News on YouTube)
GWB says: Two homes owned by Mayor Catherine Pugh
Why is it all these Democrat low-level politicians all have two homes and I can barely afford one?
Oh, wait, I don’t have a “bestselling” children’s book out there, netting me half a mil………….
That is not a small matter.
Meh. Just use the same team that raided Cohen’s office. It’s a thing now – especially for the FBI.
after he pled guilty to a campaign finance crime tied to her 2016 mayoral campaign
Well, duh! You throw him under the bus and he turns state’s evidence.
Pugh is battling an extended bout of pneumonia that coincides with the controversy
LOL! Nicely done! Someone at that CBS affiliate still has a sense of real journalism.
As Instapundit likes to point out:
Baltimore’s last Republican mayor left office at the start of 1967.
GWB says: BTW, there’s an article that stated she might be out of state. That article now says that they were wrong, and she appears to actually be at one of her homes.
After all, it’s hard to travel with pneumonia and stuff…… *eyeroll*
Charles N. Steele says: I highly recommend everyone go to Amazon and read the reviews of her book; they are wonderful. It will warm your heart.
Deanna Fisher says: Reading those reviews was definitely the best laugh I have had in a while, so thank you for that!
Scott says: Maybe this is why she wasn’t at “She the People?”
Baltimore is starting to rival Shitcago for worthless, corrupt politicians… This moron, and who can forget the one that told the cops to give the thugs room to riot… I do notice a common thread between them, besides the “D” after their name, but I’ve been told it’s not socially acceptable to point it out..
GWB says: And now, her lawyer says she “remains in poor health and is not ‘lucid’ enough to make a decision about whether to resign.”
via Twitchy, and this tweet:
https://twitter.com/TaliRichman/status/1121534011132796930
We’re returning to the old days when incompetent kleptocrats retired to “asylums” to get better (IOW, until people forgot who they were).
GWB says: Dangit. Forgot to close the ’em’ tag after the end of the sentence.
The Old Sarge says: Theo McKeldin must be rolling in his grave.
Bandit says: She has Dem minority privilege. She should be in jail.
Rick Caird says: No one is saying why attorney/client privilege is being breached. I have a feeling that Mueller/Cohen has managed to lower the bar. We need to be very careful here. We need less state power, not more.
Panzer says: Arrogant left wing mayor of a ghetto cesspool
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