Marion Barry has maintained that the investigation is improper and he did not break any laws. (AP)
Posted on 03/03/2010 8:35:11 AM PST by COBOL2Java
Marion Barry has maintained that the investigation is improper and he did not break any laws. (AP)
The D.C. Council has unanimously voted to censure Councilmember Marion Barry and send his case to the U.S. Attorney's Office for possible criminal prosecution. The Council also voted 12-0 to refer the matter to the Office of Campaign Finance, remove Barry as chair of the Housing Committee, and remove him from the Finance Committee.
In a third vote, the council voted to restrict earmarks in the future.
Tuesday's special session marked the first time the D.C. Council took action against another councilmember.
Barry is accused of giving his former girlfriend a government contract and then accepting a kickback.
Barry - who recused himself from the votes - said the independent report by former federal prosecutor Bob Bennett was "inflammatory, accusatory and draws conclusions without fact."
"The Bennett report reduces Marion Barry to a Southeast hustler," Barry told the Council.
Prior to the vote, the former D.C. mayor spoke for 16 minutes to plead his case.
"After 31 years of being squeaky clean, why would I do this for a few thousand dollars?" Barry said. "I have a long history of great integrity. This Council knows my character."
He told the Council he should not be censured and said he was being "singled out unfairly."
"If you do this, you ignored justice. You ignored fairness," Barry said.
Upon learning he lost his chairmanship, Barry told the Council he was a victim of a double standard because D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham did not lose his chairmanship after the D.C. taxi bribery scandal.
While Barry spoke during breaks between the votes, most of the council members glanced at their BlackBerrys or read the paper, WTOP's Mark Segraves reports via Twitter.
WTOP's Mark Segraves contributed to this report.
Barry and Rangel oughta be sharing a jail cell.
“The bitch set me”
Up-must learn to proof read.
In 1990, the FBI busted Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry for crack cocaine. Today, the 68-year-old self-proclaimed "mayor for life" is back in politics, serving on the D.C. City Council. ...
In January 1990 Barry's political reign came to an abrupt halt when he was caught on video in an FBI sting operation smoking crack cocaine with a woman at the Vista Hotel. The incident -- played over and over on cable television -- produced what is perhaps the most memorable quote of Barry's long career: "The bitch set me up."
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/02/CNN25.tan.barry/index.html
_______________________________________________
An Example Waiting to Be Made
February 17, 2009
Should Marion Barry go to jail for failing -- yet again -- to file his tax returns?
His last stint in the clink didn't seem to have much of an impact on the former mayor. As recently as 2005, he tested positive for marijuana and cocaine use. And in 2002, U.S. Park Police said they found crack cocaine and pot in Barry's Jaguar.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/16/AR2009021601376.html
These are actual quotes taken from Mayor Marion Barry, of Washington, D.C.
“The contagious people of Washington have stood firm against diversity during this long period of increment weather.” — M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC
“I promise you a police car on every sidewalk.” — M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC
“If you take out the killings, Washington actually has a very very low crime rate.” — M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC
“First, it was not a strip bar, it was an erotic club. And second, what can I say? I’m a night owl.” — M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC
“Bitch set me up.” — M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC
“I am clearly more popular than Reagan. I am in my third term. Where’s Reagan? Gone after two! Defeated by George Bush and Michael Dukakis no less.” — M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC
“The laws in this city are clearly racist. All laws are racist. The law of gravity is racist.” — M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC
“I am making this trip to Africa because Washington is an international city, just like Tokyo, Nigeria or Israel. As mayor, I am an international symbol. Can you deny that to Africa?” — M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC
“People have criticized me because my security detail is larger than the president’s. But you must ask yourself: are there more people who want to kill me than who want to kill the president? I can assure you there are.” — M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC
“The brave men who died in Vietnam, more than 100% of which were black, were the ultimate sacrifice.” — M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC
“I read a funny story about how the Republicans freed the slaves. The Republicans are the ones who created slavery by law in the 1600’s. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and he was not a Republican.” — M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC
“What right does Congress have to go around making laws just because they deem it necessary?” — M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC
“People blame me because these water mains break, but I ask you, if the water mains didn’t break, would it be my responsibility to fix them then? WOULD IT!?!” — M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC
“I am a great mayor; I am an upstanding Christian man; I am an intelligent man; I am a deeply educated man; I am a humble man.” — M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC
"In 1990, the FBI busted Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry for crack cocaine."
Marion Barry math!
"Where my PIE at, foo'?"
“After 31 years of being squeaky clean”—Marion Barry
Lol! Doesn’t quite add up, does it.
_________________
“In January 1990 Barry’s political reign came to an abrupt halt when he was caught on video in an FBI sting operation smoking crack cocaine with a woman at the Vista Hotel. The incident — played over and over on cable television — produced what is perhaps the most memorable quote of Barry’s long career: “The bitch set me up.”
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/02/CNN25.tan.barry/index.html
_______________________________________________
“Should Marion Barry go to jail for failing — yet again — to file his tax returns?
His last stint in the clink didn’t seem to have much of an impact on the former mayor. As recently as 2005, he tested positive for marijuana and cocaine use. And in 2002, U.S. Park Police said they found crack cocaine and pot in Barry’s Jaguar.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/16/AR2009021601376.html
He should run for mayor; he’s got the requisite integrity for the job.
The only reason that the D.C. Council is doing this is to payback Berry for opposing the homosexual mafia.
Yep just like the coke snorting Barack Hussein Soetoro Obama, we know Barry's character.
“D.C. Mayor Marion Barry was arrested on charges of possession of cocaine last night at the downtown Vista International Hotel after a fast-moving undercover investigation by the FBI and D.C. police that began several weeks ago, according to law enforcement officials and sources familiar with the arrest.
Sources said that the mayor, who was arrested shortly after 8 p.m., smoked crack cocaine in the hotel room. The sources said the mayor was with a longtime female friend of the mayor who agreed to work with federal authorities.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/tours/scandal/barry.htm
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