D.C. AG: Marion Barry isn't qualified to hold office

WASHINGTON - A high-ranking official in the nation's capital thinks D.C. Councilmember Marrion Barry isn't qualified to hold public office.

D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles, speaking on WTOP's Politics Program with Mark Plotkin, says that his personal view is that anyone who doesn't pay their taxes should not hold office.

WTOP's Mark Segraves: "Do you think if an elected official doesn't pay their taxes that should disqualify them from holding office in the District of Columbia?"

D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles: "My personal view?"

Segraves: "Sure."

Nickles: "Yes."

Segraves: "How about your legal opinion?"

Nickles: "Under the law, the Attorney General is required to pursue individuals who do not file their income tax or pay their income tax. One of the matters that are pending in the court with respect to my friend and colleague Marion Barry are District taxes."

Nickles went on to say that nobody should be above the law.

"My own personal view is that no one is above the law. We all should pay our taxes. We all should file our income tax returns," Nickles says.

WTOP's Mark Plotkin asked if Barry should have to serve some sort of time under court supervision.

"I'm going to let the court decide that," Nickles says. "That's a decision that's a very weighty decision, particularly in light of the illness of Mayor Barry."

Nickles did acknowledge that Barry's tax problems present an image problem for the city with lawmakers in Congress.

"It does trouble me that when you go up on the Hill, for example," Nickles says. "The first thing they mention is this situation with unpaid taxes."

Barry, 72, owes as much as $277,000 in taxes to the District and the federal government dating back to 1999. He has paid some of it back and has filed all his returns, including tax returns for 2008.

On April 16, federal prosecutors backed off a request to put Barry in jail or in a halfway house because he is recovering from a kidney transplant.

In a statement emailed to WTOP, Barry writes:

Peter Nickles, the District's distinguished Attorney General, should be ashamed of himself. With the multitude and magnitude of the many problems that Mayor Fenty and his Administration is facing and with 40 or 50 lawsuits against the District and many court receiverships, he should be focused on that and not attacking me personally.

As Attorney General he knows there is no difference between personal or public views. I am shocked and quite frankly surprise that Peter Nickles would stoop this low. Mr. Nickles knows that my tax situation is before the court and as a lawyer he knows that he should have no comment on it, which may or may not influence the court. He is close to violating the cannon of ethics.

As it relates to my tax situation, my 2007 and 2008 tax returns have been filed and what is owed the District and Federal government has been paid. I have agreements with the IRS and with the District Government dealing with my back taxes, penalties, and interests.

I hope Peter Nickles doesn't take my disagreements with some of the policy decisions of Mayor Adrian Fenty personally and going forward it would be more respectful.

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)