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Attorney General Irv Nathan may look like his predecessor, but he’s not acting like him. Word from the A.G.’s office is that the new boss will not comment on ongoing investigations and therefore won’t be telling members of the media whether or not Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. complied with yesterday’s court-ordered deadline to hand over detailed financial records of his youth sports non-profit, Team Thomas.
Team Thomas, you’ll recall, is under investigation from the A.G.’s office for allegedly seeking charitable contributions without a license. The Washington Post editorial page has also raised all sorts of questions about Team Thomas soliciting and accepting contributions from corporations that have business before the council without there being any record of Thomas’ possible conflicts of interest.
Thomas says his lawyers met with Nathan yesterday afternoon to discuss the case, but Thomas wasn’t sure whether his attorneys had handed anything over yet. Thomas says he’s got the records ready to go and it’s just a matter of determining how the information is to be “transmitted.” (LL’s suggestion: email.)
Asked whether he’d share those records with the public, Thomas says “Yeah, absolutely, I have no problem with that.” You’ll remember that last time a judge upheld a subpoena seeking information from Team Thomas, Thomas held a news conference to release the info publicly before handing it over the A.G.’s office. This time around, however, there’s been nothing.
Thomas went on to say that he has nothing to hide and the entire investigation into Team Thomas stems from Attorney General Peter Nickles cold, black, politically motivated heart.
“That’s why I wanted to make sure that my due process rights were not violated,” says Thomas.
Thomas’ lawyer, Fred Cooke Jr., couldn’t be reached to clarify exactly what the status is on Team Thomas handing over the requested documents. LL will update as necessary.