DC City Council member to resign over ethics violations

City Council member Jack Evans (D), Washington’s longest-serving lawmaker, will resign on Jan. 17, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The announcement was made by Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D). The council was scheduled to vote Jan. 21 on whether to expel him from the governing body because of ethics violations.

Evans, who was first elected in 1991, was initially scheduled to publicly plead his case Tuesday as to why the council shouldn’t expel him.

But five minutes before those proceedings, Mendelson said he had received Evans’s letter of resignation, according to the Post.

In the letter, Evans didn’t mention his ethics violations.

In a letter to the council, Evans says he will leave office Jan 17th. @kojoshow

— Tom Sherwood (@tomsherwood) January 7, 2020

Mendelson called Evans’s move the “right decision,” saying it was an important step “in restoring the integrity of this institution and the trust of the public.”

The council’s investigation into Evans that began last year found that he violated ethics rules when he used his position on the council to help companies that paid him six figures for consulting services.

The Post reported that federal prosecutors are also investigating Evans, but that the nature of that probe is unclear.

A special election will be held to fill Evans’ seat for the remainder of his term. Six candidates have filed to run in June’s Democratic primary.

Updated at 2:23 p.m.