(DC Mayor) Vincent Gray campaign accepted cash donations above legal limit, review shows

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Source: The Washington Post

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s campaign accepted cash contributions above the city’s legal limit and in some cases recorded donations from people who say they didn’t contribute to his mayoral bid, according to a Washington Post review of District records and interviews.

The Post found several instances of cash donations that exceeded the city’s $25 limit. Gray campaign workers then improperly exchanged that cash for money orders, which carry a higher donation limit. The campaign officially reported the money-order donations and not the cash, The Post found.

Money-order donations totaled more than $56,000 — primarily from the city’s taxi industry — and are part of the $2.7 million war chest the Gray campaign amassed in last year’s defeat of incumbent Adrian M. Fenty, who spent nearly $5 million on his reelection bid.

Revelations about the money orders and cash follow allegations that Gray’s campaign paid and promised a job to Sulaimon Brown, a minor mayoral candidate, to entice him to stay in the race and disparage Fenty. The U.S. attorney’s office is investigating Brown’s allegations as part of a criminal probe; Gray has denied any wrongdoing.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/vincent-gray-campaign-accepted-cash-donations-above-legal-limit-review-shows/2011/07/14/gIQAQMQpMI_singlePage.html