Mayor Gray: Thompson never asked me for anything

Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray said on Friday that the money a contractor donated to his campaign to help him win office in 2010 was not in exchange for anything. Gray said Jeffery Thompson, the businessman who reportedly contributed $650,000 in illicit funds to a “shadow campaign,” never asked him for return favors after helping him defeat incumbent Adrian Fenty. “There was no quid pro quo,” the mayor said, adding Thompson “never asked me for anything.”

Mayor Gray said, “When checks were given to me I turned them over to the campaign.” Gray said he wished he could have been in office more and he “did the best job I could of trying to run a campaign in a short period of time.” Gray is following the advice of his attorney and not revealing more information. Three D.C. Councilmembers have called for the mayor’s resignation.