For better or worse, the defining moment of Marion Barry’s storied political career was an FBI bust that revealed the D.C. mayor smoking crack in a hotel room in 1990.

“Bitch set me up,” Barry said of the woman who was a part of the sting.

Barry, who also was a tireless supporter for generations of black people, died Sunday.

He was 78.

The FBI sting cost Barry six months in prison but it didn’t end his political career. The son of a sharecropper was elected to a fourth term as mayor in 1994 and then served three terms on the D.C. Council from 2004-15.

His civil rights achievements were overshadowed by the surveillance video showing him smoking crack.

Click here to see the video.

D.C.’s former Mayor Marion Barry, currently a city council member, has had his share of brushes with federal law enforcement. As you recall in 1990 he was busted in an FBI sting smoking crack in a D.C. hotel room. In 2005, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges relating to failure to file and pay taxes. His legal indiscretions go on and on. The Washington Post editorial talks about his latest indiscretion. The editorial sums it up best with the headline: “Marion Barry, Still Embarrassing D.C.” — Allan Lengel

The Not-So Honorable Marion Barry/gov photo

WASHINGTON — WHAT IS SO distressing about D.C. Council member Marion Barry’s latest escapade is not his belief that he can live outside the law. That’s old news. What’s distressing is that he seems to be correct in his assessment.

How else to explain the apparent indifference of police and other officials to the fact of Mr. Barry tooling around town in a car not properly registered? That Mr. Barry is allowed to continuously embarrass the people he was elected to serve erodes the city’s credibility and ability to manage itself.

The most recent instance of Mr. Barry (D-Ward 8) discrediting his office involves, as The Post’s Tim Craig disclosed, his use of a car that has “inactive” D.C. tags and that was not registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles. It’s against the law for anyone to operate a vehicle not properly registered, and violators face a fine of up to $1,000 or up to 30 days in jail.

To read more click here.

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• Why Mike Garcia Should Be the Next FBI Director (Security DeBrief)

Ex-D.C. Mayor Marion Barry

WASHINGTON — Trouble is a constant companion of Ex-D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, who is now a city council member.

Now the latest.

An independent report conducted by attorney William Bennett on behalf of the D.C. City Council has accused Barry of public corruption. The report says Barry  secured a $15,000 contract for an ex-girlfriend and then took a cut, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

“Barry obtained a contract for Donna Watts-Brighthaupt after lending her money to help pay her bills, according to a report delivered to the council by Washington lawyer Robert S. Bennett,” the Post reported. “To get some of his money back, Barry at one point delivered a city check to Watts-Brighthaupt, drove her to a bank and waited in the car until she came back with the cash.”

The paper said the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office has been looking at the matter and will review the report. Barry has denied wrongdoing.

To read more click here.

It’s sad how this guy cannot steer clear of the law. As  Roseanne Rosannadanna on Saturday Night Live used to say “It’s always somethin. If it’s not one thing it’s another”.

Roseanne Rossandanna’s Quote Applies Here. “It’s always somethin. If it’s not one thing it’s another”.

By Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors and FBI agents have opened a wide-ranging investigation into whether former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry broke federal laws by lavishing contracts on a girlfriend and on a host of questionable nonprofit groups, The Examiner has learned.

Barry, 73, was arrested by U.S. Park Police earlier this month on stalking charges after a confrontation with estranged girlfriend Donna Watts-Brighthaupt.

It later emerged that Barry had given Watts-Brighthaupt a $5,000-per-month city contract shortly after they began dating. The Watts-Brighthaupt scandal led to further revelations that Barry had steered even more taxpayer dollars into dubious nonprofit groups operating in his stricken Ward 8.

For Full Story

Councilman Marion Barry

Here’s a guy who just can’t avoid the arm of the law. You’d think at this stage of his life he would have figured it out.

By Tim Craig and Jenna Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writers
WASHINGTON — D.C. Council member Marion Barry found himself mired in more political, legal and personal drama yesterday after his arrest late Saturday on charges that he was stalking a female companion.

Barry’s latest run-in with the law centers on his relationship with political consultant Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, who alleges that he continues to approach her even though they split up a few months ago.

Barry, Watts-Brighthaupt and police gave conflicting accounts of how the former mayor ended up in police custody Saturday night after attending several Fourth of July functions.

For Full Story

OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST

• Milwaukee U.S. Atty. Office Wants Judge Removed From Case (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• The Downward Spiral of the Man Who Shot the Holocaust Museum Guard (Washington Post)
• N.J. Cop Shoots Man Who Tries to Run Him Over (Newark Star-Ledger)

Councilman Marion Barry

This man clearly has nine lives. Once again, he dodges jail time. The legend lives on.

By Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post Staff Writer
WASHINGTON –– A federal judge extended D.C. Council member Marion Barry’s probation for two more years, ruling that the former mayor violated the terms of his probation by failing to file tax returns in a timely manner.

In an 18-page opinion, U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson rejected a request by prosecutors to have Barry placed on home detention.

Prosecutors originally asked Robinson to revoke Barry’s probation and send him to jail because he had failed to file his 2007 tax returns in a timely manner. He also had not filed tax returns on time in eight of the past nine years, prosecutors said.

But at a hearing last month, they backed off that request after learning that local jails did not have proper facilities or staffing to care for someone with his ailments. Barry, 72, is recovering from a kidney transplant.

For Full Story

Councilman Marion Barry

By Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors today backed off their request that D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) should be sent to jail for violating his  probation on tax offenses.

Instead, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Zeno said, Barry should be confined at his home for 30 days and a judge should extend his probation for two more years.

The change of heart came during a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson, who is weighing a request by prosecutors to revoke Barry’s probation. Robinson did not rule today but said she would issue a written order in the future.

Barry’s attorney, Frederick D. Cooke Jr., said the former mayor should be released from his probation for a 2005 tax conviction. At worst, Cooke said, his probation should be extended another year.

After the hearing, Barry said he was not surprised prosecutors withdrew their request for jail time.

“They can read the tea leaves,” the former mayor said, apparently referring to tough questions that Robinson asked prosecutors during the hearing. Probation officials also stopped short of recommending jail time for Barry. They said the judge should extend Barry’s probation for two more years.

For Full Story