In our running poll of the D.C. Council’s Judiciary Committee members regarding AG Peter Nickles‘ conduct, we finally reached Councilmember Yvette Alexander.
Nickles has come under fire recently for his office’s conduct in a Pershing Park civil suit. District evidence has either been destroyed or lost and discovery continues to be a problem in that case. The discovery process has dragged on for years. The U.S. District Court judge in the case slammed the OAG, ordered Nickles to submit a sworn statement explaining his office’s actions, and called on the D.C. Council to investigate the OAG’s handling of the case. The issues before Nickles include one very false affidavit.
So far Councilmember Mary Cheh has called for Nickles to resign. Yesterday, Councilmember Phil Mendelson joined Cheh in pushing for Nickles to rejoin the private sector. Councilmember Jack Evans still fully supports Nickles.
Alexander says she is reserving judgment on Nickles for the time being. She would like to see the council take up the matter. “I wouldn’t have a problem with requesting an investigation,” she tells City Desk. “You are innocent until proven guilty. I would want to know what happened with the evidence.”
If there was purposeful or criminal mishandling of evidence, Alexander says, then Nickles should be ousted.
Alexander says that Nickles still hasn’t accepted his role as the attorney general. “I have not seen the distinction in his role as the general counsel and attorney general,” she explains. “It troubles me. That was one of my concerns during the confirmation.”
*photo courtesy of Alexander’s awesome website.