(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Did the anti-Trump DC mayor break the law by accepting gifts and free travel from a foreign government? A watchdog group just filed an ethics complaint on this matter.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust filed a complaint Tuesday with the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability after Mayor Muriel Bowser failed to properly disclose who funded her 2023 trip to Doha. Bowser attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference that April.
In April 2025, WJLA-TV began scrutinizing Bowser’s foreign trips and found “shoddy record-keeping” around her travel. For instance, no DC records showed who financed her Doha trip.
Bowser’s office told WJLA-TV that the DC Chamber of Commerce had paid. When that entity denied funding the trip, the mayor’s office then pointed to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. This latter entity did not confirm ever paying for such a trip.
However, WJLA-TV later obtained a letter, through an open records request, showing that Qatar had paid for the trip as an “in-kind donation.” The so-called donation totaled $61,930, according to the outlet.
DC law requires donation agreements between private entities and the government. Bowser’s office allegedly only requested such an agreement in February 2025, nearly two years after the 2023 trip.
Because the DC government never actually entered into a donation agreement, the Qatar trip could be considered a personal gift to Bowser. That raises ethical, and possibly legal, concerns, since government officials are prohibited from accepting such gifts.
In a press statement, FACT executive director Kendra Arnold scolded Bowser’s refusal to come clean about the foreign trip.
“The basic standard for elected officials is honest transparency–which means following all disclosure laws and willingly answering the public’s questions,” Arnold wrote. “The Mayor’s unwillingness to provide basic information about numerous high-profile trips is unacceptable.”
Arnold noted that Qatar may not be an isolated case, since the mayor has not disclosed who paid for her travels to President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate or the Augusta National.
“The ethics rules exist to protect against corruption and when they are ignored, the public’s trust erodes. I urge the Board to investigate and enforce the law without delay,” Arnold added.
