A D.C. Council candidate appears to have claimed donations from several people who say they did not contribute to his campaign, leading to calls for an investigation by city officials.
Two people listed as contributors to Khalil Lee’s campaign tell WAMU they never donated to the candidate in the independent at-large race, despite Lee filing a report earlier this month listing contributions from them. One person, who asked to remain anonymous out of privacy concerns, said Lee also listed their two children as contributors and volunteers gathering petition signatures for the campaign, even though they never gave money or worked for Lee.
Former At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman, who is also running in the special election race for the seat, says she discovered the discrepancies while reviewing Lee’s fundraising reports and asked some of the people listed as contributors if they’d ever given money to him. She wrote to the Office of Campaign Finance Monday asking for an investigation of the matter, and a spokesperson says the agency has opened one. If the agency discovers any irregularities, it could refer the issue to Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who handles prosecutions of misdemeanors in the city, for further investigation or prosecution…