The Jig Is Up For Crooked Dem Mayor As Feds Raid Home, City Hall Offices

The walls are closing in on one of the most corrupt mayors in America who also happens to be a Democrat…

In a stunning development, federal agents raided the home and offices of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh on Thursday as the scandal-plagued politician’s woes continue to mount over her alleged chicanery involving bulk sales of her self-published series of children’s books and kickbacks.

Pugh has been on an indefinite leave of absence for alleged health reasons and has faced numerous calls for her resignation although she continues to collect her paycheck.

On Thursday morning, things just got real for Mayor Pugh.

Via The Associated Press, “Searches by FBI, IRS add to Baltimore mayor’s mounting woes”:

Federal agents raided the homes and City Hall offices of Baltimore’s embattled mayor on Thursday amid dramatically widening investigations to determine whether she used bulk sales of her self-published children’s books to disguise kickbacks.

The multiple early-morning searches pushed the latest political scandal for Maryland’s largest city to a crescendo after weeks of uncertainty and mounting pressure for Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh to step down. The politically isolated first-term mayor, who has long been an avid runner, slipped out of sight April 1, citing deteriorating health, just as the governor called on the state prosecutor to investigate allegations of “self-dealing” by the embattled Democrat.

Gov. Larry Hogan joined calls for her immediate resignation after news broke of the Thursday morning raids, as agents with the FBI and the IRS criminal division carried boxes of evidence out of her City Hall suite. Agents also scoured her two Baltimore homes, the home of an aide and a nonprofit organization she once led.

As for Pugh? There are conflicting reports as to her whereabouts leading to speculation that she has gone on the lam.

According to the Washington Times, “Baltimore mayor whereabouts unknown as FBI, IRS raid her office, home”:

Since April 1, Ms. Pugh has been on a self-imposed, paid leave of absence “to recover from pneumonia.” She has denied any wrongdoing related to her financial dealings, and legal analysts noted that Thursday’s raids did not mean Ms. Pugh has been charged with any crimes.

But her absence has fed questions and rumors about her location. News anchor Rick Ritter for Baltimore’s CBS-TV affiliate WJZ said on Twitter that she had fled the state.

Pugh spokesman James Bentley told The Washington Times on Thursday that he did not know where Ms. Pugh was and would not comment “on speculation about the mayor’s whereabouts.”

Meanwhile, the Mayor’s Office of Public Affairs did not respond to phone calls or emails. A quick survey of its news websites revealed that no updates had been posted since April 1.

In a statement, Ms. Pugh’s attorney, Mr. Silverman, pushed back on the idea his office had been “raided” and said federal agents served a subpoena to collect her original financial records related to her children’s book work.

“We will continue to defend the Mayor, who is entitled to the presumption of innocence,” Mr. Silverman said.

His office told The Times they had no further comments to offer.

The city that was famously portrayed in HBO’s gritty crime series The Wire is every bit as much a sewer of incompetence and political corruption in real life and Pugh has been a major reason as her priorities have catered to those who are race-obsessed social justice warriors at the expense of productive citizens who are fleeing the city in droves.

Among Pugh’s priorities have been the use of taxpayer money to fund the defense of illegal immigrants, banning styrofoam containers, getting rid of civil war monuments and authorizing city resources to send 60 busloads of student activists to last year’s David Hogg lead anti-Second Amendment rally in D.C.

Now just when it looked like she had become a serious player in Democrat machine politics, she is fighting for her survival.

Sometimes life comes at you fast.