Baltimore mayor resigns following federal raids over book scandal
(Reuters) - Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, whose home and offices were raided by federal law enforcement last week amid questions over her financial dealings, abruptly resigned on Thursday.
Pugh, a Democrat and former state lawmaker, apologized in a statement read by her lawyer for harming the city’s image.
“I am confident that I have left the city in capable hands for the duration of the term to which I was elected,” Pugh, 69, said in her resignation letter. City Council President Bernard “Jack” Young becomes acting mayor.
Pugh’s statement and formal resignation letter were read by her attorney, Steve Silverman, at a news conference outside his office in Baltimore. Pugh, who has been on medical leave and cloistered at her home since April 1, did not attend.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service searched Pugh’s home and offices on April 25 following a string of investigative stories in the Baltimore Sun newspaper beginning in mid-March about her financial dealings.
The newspaper reported that Pugh had been paid at least $500,000 by the University of Maryland Medical System, where she sat on the board, for her self-published children’s books about a character named “Healthy Holly.”
Pugh, who initially defended the book deal, apologized at a March 28 press conference, calling the arrangement a “regrettable mistake.” At the time she was suffering from pneumonia and took medical leave two days later.
Young, who has served as acting mayor during Pugh’s month-long absence, said in a separate statement that he learned only on Thursday afternoon that she was stepping down.
“I believe this action is in the best interest of Baltimore,” Young said. Although I understand that this ordeal has caused real pain for many Baltimoreans, I promise that we will emerge from it more committed than ever to building a stronger Baltimore.”
Pugh was elected to a four-year term as mayor in 2016, after gaining prominence as a state lawmaker during protests over the 2015 death of a 25-year-old black man, Freddie Gray, in police custody.
Following the law enforcement raids, 14 of the 15 members of the Baltimore City Council urged Pugh to resign. Young did not sign the letter. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, also called for her to quit.
Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Lisa Shumaker
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