Jordan, Meadows urge Cummings to invite DC Councilmember Jack Evans to testify at DC statehood hearing

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, sent a letter to Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) urging him to invite DC Councilmember Jack Evans to testify on September 19 at the Committee’s hearing about DC statehood. Evans, a long-time DC Councilmember and former Chairman of the Council’s Finance Committee, is accused of using his official position for personal gain.

“Under H.R. 51, the proposed legislation to provide a pathway for DC to become a state, DC’s current legislative officials would be elevated to corresponding positions in a state government. In other words, H.R. 51, if signed into law, would elevate Evans to the position of state legislator. In light of allegations that Evans exploited his official position with the DC government to engage in self-dealing for personal financial gain, Members must fully understand the nature and extent of Evans’s action to properly assess and consider H.R. 51.”

• On July 16th, 2019, Ranking Members Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows sent a letter to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Board of Directors Chair Paul Smedburg requesting all documents about the ethics committee’s investigation into former WMATA Board Chair Jack Evans.
• On September 10th, 2019, Ranking Members Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows sent a letter to Chairmen Elijah Cummings and Gerry Connolly requesting transcribed interviews relating to WMATA’s ethics investigation into Evans. The letter enclosed a memorandum providing an interim update about WMATA’s handling of the Evans investigation.
• On September 13th, 2019, Chairmen Cummings and Connolly sent a letter to the Inspector General of WMATA requesting a review of the circumstances surrounding the investigation conducted on behalf of the Ethics Committee of the WMATA Board of Directors into Chairman Jack Evans’s compliance with the WMATA Code of Ethics and Compact.

Full text of the letter can be found here.