DC Attorney General threatens legal action if city attorneys don't surrender documents in ex-deputy mayor sexual harassment probe

WASHINGTON — D.C.'s attorney general has threatened legal action against the Mayor's Office of Legal Counsel (MOLC) if it does not turn over all documents regarding an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against former Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio.

In a letter dated June 14, DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb told city lawyers that not submitting all the documents regarding the investigation will “impede” his office from conducting a thorough investigation. He warned that he would pursue other means to obtain the information through the legal process.

“I am formally requesting that the MOLC provide the Office of Attorney General (“OAG”) immediately with all materials in the MOLC’s possession related to its investigation of the Falcicchio matter, including the Sexual Harassment Officer’s (SHO) investigative file, source materials and its Summary of Finding and Conclusions. This includes, but is not limited to, any electronically stored information (“ESI”),” Schwalb said in the letter.

The request follows a criminal referral from Inspector General Daniel Lucas, based on an independent investigation by the law firm Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP concerning potential violations of criminal law per the request of the DC Council.

The Council had previously mandated the  Office of the Inspector General (OIG)  to conduct an independent investigation into the MOLC’s handling of the sexual harassment complaints, prompted by public concerns over the impartiality of Mayor Bowser’s administration investigating such serious allegations against a former high-ranking official. 

 The investigation was made possible by the Sexual Harassment Investigation Review Emergency Act., which directed the OIG to review prior investigations by the MOLC's Sexual Harassment Officer, identify any issues beyond the scope of those investigations, and recommend improvements for the government's sexual harassment complaint and investigation process. The OIG was also required to deliver the independent counsel’s report to the Mayor and the Council.

On Wednesday, the Council will hold its first public roundtable to oversee the Falcicchio investigation and discuss the findings and conclusions presented in the OIG's independent report, the execution of the contract and its deliverables, and recommendations for improving the sexual harassment process for District employees.

Stay with WUSA9 with more updates as the story develops.

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