Feds: Donor Gave More Than $2M in Illicit Funds to Hillary Clinton, D.C. Mayor and Others

WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) -- District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray was aware of an off-the-books "shadow campaign" to support his 2010 bid and personally requested the funds from an influential district businessman, federal prosecutors said Monday.

Further, the same businessman is reportedly tied to questionable donations made to Hillary Clinton’s failed bid presidential 2008.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Atkinson disclosed the details in court when reading a document that described the activities of Jeffrey Thompson, the multimillionaire former owner of a well-connected accounting firm who pleaded guilty Monday to two conspiracy charges.

“Five of Thompson's associates have…pleaded guilty in federal court, including two who worked on Gray's 2010 campaign. Two other associates pleaded guilty to making straw contributions to political candidates on his behalf, and another acknowledged using illicit funds to help Hillary Rodham Clinton run for president in 2008,” WJLA-TV reports. “The cases outlined Thompson's extensive financial backing of his favored candidates for federal, state and local office.”

Thompson reportedly used two firms to disburse approximately $608,750 in “excessive and unreported contributions to pay for campaign services in coordination with and in support of a federal political candidate for President of the United States and the federal and the candidate’s authorized committee," prosecutors said Monday, referring to Clinton's campaign.

The allegations against Gray were included in a document detailing crimes alleged against Thompson.

Atkinson said "Gray presented Mr. Thompson with a 1-page budget for $425,000. He asked Mr. Thompson to pay for a get-out-the-vote campaign. Mr. Thompson agreed." Gray agreed to let Thompson fund his campaign while concealing the source of those funds, prosecutors said.

Thompson's plea to conspiring to violate federal and district campaign finance laws comes as Gray seeks re-election against seven challengers in the Democratic primary, which is set for April 1. Gray has not been charged with a crime and has denied any wrongdoing in the 2010 campaign.

Robert Bennett, Gray's lawyer, said he had not yet reviewed all the allegations made Monday and could not discuss them in detail. But he said the mayor continued to maintain his innocence and denies knowledge of the "shadow campaign."

"The mayor's position on that is that it is absolutely not true," Bennett said. "That has not changed one bit."

He referred to Thompson's assertions in court Monday as mere "allegations."

In the "shadow campaign," off-the-books payments were used to pay for consultants, supplies and other expenses supporting Gray. The expenditures were never reported.

According to a criminal information filed in the case, Thompson funded illicit campaign activity for Clinton, Gray and seven other candidates for local office in the district. All told, the efforts, described previously by prosecutors as "shadow campaigns," were valued at more than $2 million.

Prosecutors also said Thompson exceeded contribution limits by using straw donors and funneling money from his corporation through intermediaries. Thompson contributed more than $500,000 to local candidates and more than $250,000 to federal candidates and political-action committees over a six-year period, according to the 10-page document.

Thompson, 58, had long been suspected of giving money to Gray's 2010 campaign to fund get-out-the vote and other efforts, and the document put the value of the shadow campaign at $668,000. He was also charged with pouring $608,750 into Clinton's 2008 presidential bid. The efforts to help Clinton were detailed in a previous case against a Thompson associate.

This photo taken through a courthouse window shows Washington businessman Jeffrey Thompson checked by security as he enters the federal courthouse in Washington, Monday, March 10, 2014. Thompson was charged Monday with conspiracy to violate federal and local campaign finance laws by funding off-the-books campaign activity for candidates including Hillary Rodham Clinton and district Mayor Vincent Gray. after being charged this morning in a criminal information with two conspiracy offenses stemming from an ongoing investigation . Thompson is suspected of funneling illicit funds into Mayor Gray's campaign (AP)

The charging document details shadow campaigns for eight candidates for office in the district, with a total value of nearly $1.5 million. The most recent race Thompson sought to influence, the document shows, was a race for an at-large council seat in 2011, which Vincent Orange won with support from Thompson's network of donors. Orange, who has acknowledged handing over documents related to his 2011 campaign to federal investigators, is also running for mayor this year. He did not immediately return a call seeking comment, but he has previously denied all wrongdoing.

Thompson also ran a $278,000 shadow effort for a mayoral candidate in 2006, the document shows. Adrian Fenty defeated Linda Cropp in that year's mayoral primary, and Cropp received contributions that year from Thompson and his associates.

Federal authorities searched Thompson's home and offices two years ago. Since then, U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen has built a case against Thompson by targeting his associates, five of whom have pleaded guilty to felonies.

Two close friends of Gray who worked on his 2010 campaign were among those who pleaded guilty. Two others pleaded guilty to making straw contributions to political candidates on his behalf, and another acknowledged using illicit funds to help Clinton's presidential bid in Texas and other primary states. The cases outlined Thompson's extensive financial backing of his favored candidates for federal, state and local office.

Thompson would tap into a vast network of donors, including employees, business associates, friends and relatives, many of whom would make large donations to his chosen candidates on the same day, campaign finance records show. After the allegations surfaced, several candidates donated the amount they received from Thompson to charity.

FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2013 file photo, Washington Mayor Vincent Gray speaks in Washington. Federal prosecutors say Gray was aware of an off-the-books “shadow campaign” to support his 2010 bid and personally requested the funds from an influential district businessman. The allegations against Gray were included in a document detailing crimes committed by the businessman, Jeffrey Thompson, who pleaded guilty Monday to two conspiracy charges (AP)

Thompson, a Jamaican immigrant, founded an African-American-owned accounting firm that received millions of dollars in local and federal government contracts. He was also the sole owner of D.C. Chartered Health Plan, a managed-care provider for district residents that had the single largest contract in city government, worth more than $300 million annually. The managed-care firm went bankrupt amid the investigation, and Thompson left the accounting firm.

Federal prosecutors were looking at possible links between Thompson's support for Gray and a settlement that his health care company received after Gray took office. Administration officials strongly denied any wrongdoing related to the settlement, which was approved by the D.C. Council.

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