(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Friday that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is not the subject of a criminal investigation for a foreign trip, despite prior reports suggesting otherwise.
“Mayor Bowser is not under investigation, nor is she the target of any investigation,” Pirro said, responding to claims tied to Bowser’s December 2023 trip to Qatar.
The trip, which involved Bowser and four staffers attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in April 2023, has drawn scrutiny over record-keeping and funding disclosures.
Initially, Bowser said the D.C. Chamber of Commerce covered the trip, though the organization later denied the claim. She then pointed to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, before reporting confirmed that Qatar funded part of the visit.
The New York Times reported Thursday that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. was looking into potential violations of bribery or campaign finance laws, citing “people familiar with the inquiry.”
Follow-up reporting by the leftist Washington Post noted that the probe was in its early stages and led by an FBI agent later fired for his role in the lawfare against President Donald Trump.
In remarks to the media, Bowser said she was unaware of a criminal investigation.
“I have checked with our lawyers. We have a regular kind of chain of who talks to who, and we have not been contacted — not related to me or to anybody else, as I’m aware, and I have no explanation from federal officials about what happened,” she said.
Bowser’s office defended the Qatar trip as part of economic development work.
“DC representatives regularly travel to promote Washington as a destination for investment and growth,” the office said. “This regular work has helped bring investment, infrastructure, new business, new grocery stores, growth, and jobs to the District. In some cases, economic development funds are used for the business travel; in other cases, the host or organizer covers the expenses. All proper paperwork for this standard donation is on file.”
