WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH); Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC); Ranking Member of the Government Operations subcommittee, sent a letter to Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform asking her to join their request in seeking transcribed interviews as part of the Committee’s ongoing examination of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Board’s ethics investigation into then-WMATA Board Chair and District of Columbia Councilmember Jack Evans.
Excerpts from the letter:
“On Sept. 10, 2019, we wrote to Committee Democrats requesting that they schedule transcribed interviews with several individuals involved in the WMATA Board’s ethics investigation into Evans. We received no response to our request. On Sept. 16, 2019, we asked Democrats to invite Evans, then a sitting D.C. Councilmember, to testify at a Committee hearing about D.C. statehood. Democrats denied this request. At the hearing, we made a motion to subpoena Evans for testimony. Democrats rejected this motion."
“At a recent hearing, you asserted that “it is not up to [you]" to obtain witness testimony from people with knowledge of Evans’s ethical transgressions. We respectfully disagree. As the Chairwoman of the Committee with jurisdiction over interstate compacts and D.C., you have an obligation to investigate credible allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse at WMATA. Furthermore, fully understanding Evans’s disturbing ethical transgressions as the WMATA Board Chair and a D.C. Councilmember is a necessary precondition to the Committee considering legislation related to DC statehood."
Full text of the letter can be found here.
Background:
* On March 11, 2019, the WMATA Board ethics committee opened an investigation into the conduct of then-WMATA Board Chair Jack Evans during his time in office for exploiting his position for personal gain.
* On July 16, 2019, Ranking Members Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows sent a letter to WMATA Board of Directors Chair Paul Smedburg requesting all documents relating to the WMATA Board ethics committee’s investigation into former WMATA Board Chair Jack Evans.
* On Sept. 10, 2019, Ranking Members Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows sent a letter to then-Chairman Elijah Cummings and Chairman Gerry Connolly requesting transcribed interviews relating to WMATA’s ethics investigation into Evans. The letter enclosed a memorandum providing an interim update about WMATA’s handling of the Evans investigation.
* On Sept. 13, 2019, then-Chairman Elijah Cummings and Chairman Gerry Connolly sent a letter to the Inspector General of WMATA requesting a review of the circumstances surrounding the WMATA Board ethics committee investigation into Jack Evans’s compliance with the WMATA Code of Ethics and Compact.
* On Sept. 16, 2019, Ranking Members Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows sent a letter to then-Chairman Elijah Cummings urging him to invite DC Councilmember Jack Evans to testify on September 19 at the Committee’s hearing about DC statehood.
* On Sept. 17, 2019, Ranking Members Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows sent a letter to then-Chairman Elijah Cummings and Chairman Gerry Connolly asking to reconsider their decision to deny the request for Inspector General of WMATA to testify before the committee.
* On Sept. 19, 2019, Committee Democrats blocked a Republican motion to subpoena DC Councilmember Jack Evans to testify at the Committee’s hearing about DC statehood. Following the vote to block the subpoena, all Republican members of the Committee sent a letter to then-Chairman Elijah Cummings exercising their right to hear testimony from additional witnesses, including DC Councilmember Jack Evans.
