WASHINGTON -- While it's been known since June that a campaign aide stole a "substantial" amount of money from the re-election coffers of District of Columbia Councilmember Michael A. Brown (I-At-Large), it's now know just how much was missing: more than $110,000.
Brown filed an updated campaign finance report late Monday night just before a midnight D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics deadline with $113,950 listed as "unexplained expenditures" made by former campaign treasurer Hakim Sutton, according to The Washington Post.
Brown fired Sutton after the discovery of the missing funds. Sutton, whose home was searched by the Metropolitan Police Department in June, has not been charged with a crime. An investigation continues into the missing campaign funds, which Brown has said he hopes to recover.
Brown, the son of former Democratic National Committee chairman and Clinton administration Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, now finds himself with about $18,000 in his campaign fund with the November elections just a few weeks away.
Although Brown comes from a family with deep Democratic roots, he is running as an Independent for one of the two non-majority party At-Large seats on the D.C. Council.
Brown is facing a feisty challenge from a relatively unknown candidate, David Grosso. But considering Brown's limited re-election funds, Grosso has a better shot at outflanking the incumbent, who was first elected to the council in 2008.
In a statement released late Monday night, Brown said:
"I am glad to finally be able to show publicly that despite the crime committed against the campaign, we continue to gain momentum and we have nearly outraised the entire At-Large field combined," said Michael Brown. "Since discovering the theft, we have rebuilt the campaign's fundraising operation from scratch and I am proud of the results."
"To my supporters and contributors: I am deeply sorry that this happened and that it occurred under my leadership," said Michael Brown. "Since personally taking control of the campaign finances as Treasurer, I have righted the ship. We have followed all of the recommendations of the Office of Campaign Finance in their preliminary report and are fully up-to-date in all filings. We will continue to raise more money than our opponents and we have lots of cash on hand. As always, I look forward to discussing my record and plans on the issues that matter to District residents like jobs and housing."
Brown, who recently survived a ballot signature challenge, appeared at Tuesday afternoon press conference at the John A. Wilson Building but cut it short following tough questions from reporters.
This post was updated to reflect new information from Brown's Tuesday afternoon press conference.