Council Censures Barry

The D.C. Council censured Councilman Marion Barry Tuesday afternoon and sent his case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Office of Campaign Finance.

Legislation distributed to council members Tuesday morning included findings from attorney Robert Bennett’s investigative report that Barry’s contracts with a girlfriend and other associates violated ethical and legal standards. Bennett’s report found Barry violated conflict-of-interest laws by helping award a $15,000 city contract to a woman he had a sexual relationship with.

A special legislative session on the matter was held Tuesday afternoon after the council’s regular session. With Barry recusing himself from the vote, the council voted unanimously for censure and to strip Barry of his chairmanship of the Committee on Housing and Workforce Development.

The council defined censure as “a punitive action, which serves as a penalty imposed for wrongdoing but carries no fine or suspension of the right of the member as an elected official. Censure should be used for cases in which the council determines that the violation of law or policy is a serious offense.”

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