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Submission of supplemental information to Office of Campaign Finance in Investigation 03-04, the matter of Mayor Anthony A. Williams and Vincent Mark J. Policy
December 18, 2003

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DCWatch
1327 Girard Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009-4915
202-234-6982, fax 202-234-6982
http://www.dcwatch.com

December 18, 2003

Ms. Cecily E. Collier-Montgomery
Director
Office of Campaign Finance
2000 14th Street, NW, Suite 420
Washington, DC 20009

Re: Investigation 03-04

Dear Ms. Collier-Montgomery:

This is in response to your letter of December 3, 2003, requesting any additional information that I may have about this investigation.

List of individuals who can provide additional information

Mr. Tom Lindenfeld, LSG Strategies, 2120 L Street, NW, Suite 305, Washington, DC 20037. 202-638-7661 x420, work; 202-669-7970, cell; 202-244-8784, home.

In addition to being the plaintiff in the litigation, Mr. Lindenfeld attended and participated in the mediation session and subsequent hallway conversation during which Mr. Policy stated that he was providing his legal services pro bono; he also attended deposition sessions for Mayor Anthony Williams and two expert witnesses at which the issue of pro bono services was raised. He has notes of those meetings and sessions.

Ms. Sherri L. Wyatt, counsel to Mr. Lindenfeld, 1217 12th Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20005. 202-216-9850, work; 202-251-4103, cell.

Ms. Wyatt was also present at all of the meetings mentioned above. She believes that the confidentiality normally associated with mediation sessions was breached when Mr. Policy discussed the issue with her again in the hallway after the session. Subsequently, when Mr. Policy filed a motion to recover attorney fees, she was concerned that Mr. Policy may have been perpetrating a fraud on the court by filing a motion asking for fees that he was not charging.

Ms. Diane Simmons Williams, 2475 Virginia Avenue, NW, Apt. 829, Washington, DC 20037.

Ms. Simmons Williams attended the mediation session at which Mr. Policy said that he was providing pro bono legal services and confirmed that the Williams’s were not paying for Mr. Policy’s representation. She said, "We couldn’t pay for it. We don’t have that kind of money." She also expressed shock when informed of how much Mr. Lindenfeld’s legal bills were.

Judge Alperin.

Judge Alperin is a retired Superior Court who presided at the July 31, 2003, mediation session in question.

Mayor Anthony Williams, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005. 202-727-2980, work.

During his deposition on October 13, 2003, Mayor Williams said, in response to questions from Sherri Wyatt, that he was paying Mr. Policy, but he could not provide any details. He did not know the amount of his bill to date, Mr. Policy’s hourly billing rate, the amount that he had paid, or if any payments had been made.

Mr. Robert Krasne and Ms. Margaret Keeley, Williams and Connolly, 725 12th Street, NW, Washington, DC. 202-434-5000, work.

Mr. Krasne and Ms. Keeley were Mayor Williams’s attorneys of record prior to his engaging Mr. Policy in February 2003. They stopped representing Mr. Williams when he indicated that he would not be paying for their services in this lawsuit.

Mr. Douglas Patton and Mr. Damien Stewart, Holland and Knight, 2100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. 202-955-3000, work.

Both attorneys are representing the Committee to Re-Elect Tony Williams, which is also a party in this litigation. Mr. Stewart attended the mediation session and is an eyewitness to Mr. Policy’s statements regarding pro bono legal services to the mayor. After Mr. Policy made his statement and Ms. Simmons Williams responded, Mr. Stuart was asked whether Holland and Knight was charging the Committee for its services and replied that it was.

Mr. Vincent Mark Policy, Greenstein, DeLorme and Luchs, 1620 L Street, NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20036. 202-452-1400, work.

During a discussion initiated by Judge Alperin regarding reasons to settle, Mr. Lindenfeld raised the cost of the litigation and how much it was costing him. At that point, Mr. Policy responded, "I am doing this for free," and his statement was corroborated by Ms. Simmons Williams.

The mediation session

The court ordered mediation session was held on July 31, 2003, at 9:00 a.m. Present at that session were Sherri Wyatt, Tom Lindenfeld, Vincent Mark Policy, Diane Simmons Williams, and Damien Stuart. Judge Alperin presided. The issue of payment arose in Judge Alperin’s discussion of reasons to settle the litigation at that stage and at that time.

Possible proofs of payments to Mr. Policy

Since this matter has come to light, Mr. Policy has stated that he is, in fact, "billing the Mayor." In order to establish that his financial relationship with Mayor Williams conforms to the normal and ordinary practices of Greenstein, DeLorme, and Luchs, Mr. Policy should be able to inform OCF about his normal hourly billing rate, the number of hours he and his associates have devoted to this case, and the normal billing and collection practices of the firm, including its policies with regard to nonpayment and to extending credit to clients. With regard to the matter of payments by the Mayor, Mr. Policy should be able to provide a retainer agreement with Mayor Williams dated on or about February 13, 2003; evidence of an escrow account having been established; billing records; and evidence of payment such as canceled checks.

Two expert witnesses who testified in the case for Mayor Williams were Tom King and Ron Ferchot, both of whom testified that their hourly rates of $400 and $250, respectively, were being paid by Mr. Policy. Mr. Policy should also be able to provide evidence that the costs associated with these witnesses were billed to and paid by his client.

DC Bar Rules

DC Bar rules and regulations require that attorneys make true and factual representations in all court-ordered proceedings, including mediation sessions, letters to opposing counsel, and court motions. Failure to do so makes an attorney subject to sanctions for unprofessional conduct. This creates a heavy presumption that Mr. Policy’s statements, letter to Ms. Wyatt, and court motion, all of which indicate that he was representing Mayor Williams on a pro bono basis, should be believed unless clear, convincing, and incontrovertible evidence is provided by Mr. Policy that his statements were false.

Lobbying Activities by Mr. Policy

In your letter of December 2, 2003, you indicate that Mr. Policy has lobbied the Mayor on Bill 15-133. In addition, Mr. Policy and his firm have lobbied the Mayor and the City Council on behalf of their clients on a wide range of matters, including among others AOBA’s support for the Mayor’s efforts to abolish the Rental Housing Commission, AOBA’s efforts to dismantle rent control, AOBA’s opposition to the DC Water and Sewer Authority’s attempts to meter and bill for ground water discharges.

Federal Election Commission Rules and Regulations

In reviewing this matter, the OCF may wish to use a long-standing practice of the Board of Elections and Ethics, namely, to look at how the Federal Election Commission handles similar matters that come before it. With regard to legal and accounting services that may be provided to a candidate and/or a campaign, the FEC enforces the following policy:

"Businesses, including corporations, may support candidates in yet another way. If the business employs individuals who perform legal or accounting services, the business may provide unlimited free services to a political committee as long as certain qualifications are met:

First, the firm may provide services to a candidate committee or PAC only for the purpose of helping the committee comply with the Federal campaign finance law."

Attachments

I am enclosing two attachments:

1. Mary Lee Malcolm, "Under Fire . . . Again: New Ethics Questions Raised Involving Mayor’s Lobbyist Personal Lawyer," The Common Denominator, December 1, 2003, pp. 3, 6.

2. Testimony presented by G. Thomas Borger before the City Council on December 11, 2003, along with Mr. Policy and others, on Bill 14-717 and Bill 14-813, as an example of the kinds of lobbying activities in which Mr. Policy is engaged.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide this information. If there is anything else that I can provide, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
Dorothy A. Brizill

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