politics after the overthrow of president morsi. hen former republican rick santorum and donald trump speaking at the leadership >> this week on "q and a," washington post reporter nikita stewart discusses her recent front-page profile of washington see -- washington, d.c. businessman gerald washington. >> nikita stewart, as a reporter for the washington post, on july 13, you wrote a huge fees, front-page, on a man named

jeffrey thompson. why? our local businessman at the center of major federal investigation and no one really knew who we was. so i basically told my editor i want to write the definitive profile of jeffrey thompson. when people want to know about him, they want -- i want them to refer back to this article. >> what we want to know about him? >> right now, he is the center of d.c. politics and some folks say he is actually at the center of d.c. all addiction basically falling apart. for years, behind-the-scenes, he had been giving to candidates. he had several contracts coming huge contracts with the city, one worth $22 million year. and no one really knew who he things came to light the011 over problems with current mayors. -- the current mayors campaign

in 2010. >> we have one former city councilmember, the son of ron brown, the former head of the committee, and we have marion barry who was in and out of prison and all that stuff you -- all of that stuff. is this a more corrupt town than any other? >> i don't think so. i have been covering politics for a long time. i actually covered politics in new jersey before i came to the district of columbia. so i don't think any more corrupt than any other place. but the interesting thing about d.c., remember, it is not a state. it is a city and of the council and the mayor still have functions that are very much like both city and state. so i think there's more room for

scrutinizing them and it is very have threewhen you out of 13 councilmembers getting into some very serious legal trouble in the span of two years. >> i was assigned to cover the day-to-day of the int campaign and that was the current merit the time and he was the main opponent who was chairman at the time. the normals campaign. in fenti'srcity an

downfall. he had a job in the administration, which was odd. the next thing you knew, he was fired. then he was calling and saying do you want to talk? next thing you knew, he disclosed serious corruption about being paid during the fenti onto disparage the campaign trail. then there is a federal investigation where they learned that there was something much bigger going on which they called the shadow campaign and that was a parallel operation to the gray campaign that was done in secret that was not reported as it was 600 50,000 --

$650,000. which is nothing to sneeze at. supposedly, jeffrey thompson was the sole donator. he has not been indicted. he has not been charged. there have been several people around him who have been charged. but this is a very long investigation. his attorney is brendan sullivan, who is a very good attorney, and he is known for being able to get delays and he prosecutorsayed the ' ability to look at some evidence they had retrieved from on jeffrey thompson's homes and offices more than a year ago. he represented ollie north and said, "what am i, a potted

plant?" stevens,epresented ted but the attorney general throughout his conviction. inis a $1000 in our lawyer the stampede >> yes, he he is and jeffrey thompson can afford -- he is a $1000 an town.ttorney in this >> yes, he is and jeffrey thompson can afford it her. thatu say in your article vincent gray's attorney is bob bennett. >> yes. the interesting thing about bennett is that vincent gray's daughter is a very good attorney and she is kind of like a, i guess, one could call her a protége of bennett. so they have a relationship that he has had with vincent gray. when gray ran into this issue, he retained mr. bennett.

>> let's catch everybody up on this. i know this is a d.c. thing. but i if this book before show some video, how much does the american taxpayer have to do with the district attorney of columbia? >> this is the nation's capital. you should also be interested because despite the fact that you see the city and they give it as a separate from the , thisl and capitol hill is a city that is still governed by congress. taxpayers have a say in that. that is something that the district of columbia has a struggled with. mayor vincent gray has made that to of his main platforms

finally get the city some representation on the hell. >> are they balancing their budget? >> the city is balancing its budget. -- >> vincent gray vincent gray is to be the chairman of the city council. how many people live in the district? 70,000 and itd continues to go up. he wasas interview -- here for an interview in 2006. politicsilosophy about the district of columbia should be the political leader and to make sure my employees are right public servants.

i think that corruption happens and it happens because people lose sight of what they are in it for. sometimes they are following the money. sometimes they are following the power. they need to stay focused. >> has he ever been accused of being corrupt? >> yes. campaign, mayor took followed vintage of stories that i had written about administration, possibly favoring friends of adrian fenty. here, you saw television as that presented it away. vincent gray's slogan was, character, integrity, leadership . that character and integrity does for direct shots at the administration at the time. that was accused of being

corrupt. >> but he was never indicted question mark >> no, there were never any investigations other than a d.c. counsel investigation. itwas ironically led from -- was led by other council members. , whot's show vincent gray beat adrian fenty, and what your question mark -- in what year? >> 2002. the polls show that cindy was going to lose -- the polls show that adrian fenty was going to lose. mayor ine youngest bc history -- and washington d.c. history. he was the exact opposite. he was a friendly error, much

he was more friendly and much older. >> he was already mayor when this was recorded. this was not the campaign that we intended to run, tom. people that weny got into this for the right reason. i probably could have stayed on as council chair or done nothing. i get out there to be involved in this because i love the district of columbia. i am a native washingtonian. i am a product of the schools of this area. i am a product of the district of columbia. i got into this for the right reasons. , but you were not yourself looking at this from outside, what would you think? widget think that the administration is corrupt?

i have distinguished between the campaign and the administration. there is something about our administration that you want to put your finger on, i wouldn't -- and i would invite you to do that. >> talking about the situa -- >> what does that have to do with campaign versus governing? >> i am looking at this mirror -- at this mayor. >> many people will have that question. i know who i am. i get up everyday and look in the mirror, and see someone that i respect. >> this has been going on for a couple of years. where are we in the investigation? >> we have seen five people indicted. campaign temphe -- pleaded guilty.

>> renny against gray and criticized him a lot and was being paid? >> he was definitely being paid. there is proof. the -- he is phone a phony candidate? then we have seen three other -- oneplead guilty to person waited guilty to her role in the shadow campaign. the other two people have affiliations with companies. they admitted that they were owners. we have not gotten into that part yet. what the federal investigators thated in this probe

jeffrey thompson was allegedly -- he had this entire network of bit he tapped to give to campaigns. allegedly, it was just his money. we are not talking about $2000. we are talking about thousands and thousands of dollars. we are talking about federal elections. we are talking about elections outside the city. he had a long reach. >> jeffrey thompson has what kind of business? .> he had an accounting firm the other business was a managed care firm. where residents who cannot afford or do not qualify for

-- they or medicare use are in the city program to get healthcare. he managed the care for those residents. we're talking about 100,000 customers. how much money did jeffrey thompson get from the district ?f columbia o >> the d.c. charter contract alone was $322 million. >> one- time? >> no, per year. we are talking about a company that he bought in 2000 for $4 million. and at that time, the company made about $26 million year. so this is a person who really built the company up.

some may believe that it was through corrupt means, but other folks say that he was very savvy, very smart. this is basically a circle of he would get the money from the city and then he would give to his charities and to his family and to his friends. somehow, that money would circle around back around to the candidate who would become councilmembers and then they would approve this contract. >> in your article, there's is a lot of photography. here's a picture of thompson says mother and son. and wes wes i have dorothy height. rights and acivil women's rights icon. if you ask anyone, they would show you that dorothy height was

just an incredible woman. and jeffrey thompson met her when he was a young accountant. she became a client. after he began making money and sawng a lot of money, he her organization, the national council of negro women, of which he was president for decades, she founded a group that he really wanted to help and give to and what is astounding is that the national council of negro women, the organization had the only black-owned building on pennsylvania avenue. and jeffrey thompson was instrument oh and helping to buy that building. instrumental in helping to buy the building. the article took a lot of research and i was able to look up lots of things.

so many c-span records things that are important to the public and you recorded her memorial service here in and -- her memorial service. ad jeffrey thompson retells story. >> again, he has not been charged with anything. has there been a grand jury? >> there is. i should say that one of the reasons we feel so comfortable writing about him in many court , the court documents unindictedamed and co-conspirator and it is the description of jefferson. >> did you try asking whether he is the one? did you talk to the lawyer? [laughter] >> of course come i talked to brandon sullivan. -- of course, i talked to

brendan sullivan. he is known for not talking to the media and not allowing his clients talk to the media until the case is completed and he sticks with that script. and i respect that. >> here is jeffrey thompson at the funeral. [video clip] >> when he came to buy the contract on the building, i was in a meeting with my partners at my accounting firm and i received an urgent call from dr. nine i told my cemetery that i would call her back. she insisted on speaking with me. she said, mr. thompson, you must come now. now. i dropped everything, got in a cab and went to see her. when i wanted her office, it was like the windows that are for sale a cousin a certain gentleman on his shoulder she climbed to achieve success and for whom she

had opened -- she many doors dared to walk away from this mission. so what will you do? we must get this deal completed, she said. i said, give me a few minutes to reflect. before i left her office, she said, mr. thompson, see what you can do. >> have you ever met him? >> i have met jeffrey thompson. >> did you talk to him ever about all of this? >> i certainly tried. way before i started researching him --ticle, i ran into he was walking in and i actually said oh, mr. thompson come i am nikita stewart. i've been calling you. you never returned any of my calls. you think we can talk now? our member he said -- no.

>> how this he? >> 58 years old. >> where is he from? savanna. he moved here with his father and of the siblings before he moved here -- he comes from a very large family -- and to have .is siblings had passed away his mother was very upset, according to several of her family members, and she just needed to get away. and she decided to come to d.c. to stay with relatives. and then the rest of her family followed her a few years later. >> how old was he when he came to the united states? >> he was only 19 is old. he had an education in jamaica. but nothing that would really transfer to the united states. so he had to basically start from scratch your and he earned

a ged and then he went to the university of the district of columbia. >> was a first person he met in politics -- >> who was the first person he met in politics that paid off and had a successful relationship with a politician? >> he had a relationship with several people along the way. i'm not sure i can pinpoint the first person. he had a relationship with alexis herman, who ended up the secretary of labor under president clinton. that was a big connection for him because it opened up the world and the white house. he attended the state dinner for nelson mandela. >> were they dating? >> yes, they were. so he ran in those circles. and then he was very helpful to delegate eleanor holmes norton, colbert, and i

think that is the way the rest of the country seizure. here, we see her as a nonvoting delegate was always trying to get to d.c. the right to vote. in 1990, when she was first running for the seat, she ran into text trouble and she turned to jeffrey thompson ford vice. in donnautlined brazil's autobiography. it's interesting to see how this man, who everyone -- when this story broke two years ago, people were like who is jeffrey thompson? i've never heard of him. especially a lot of the local mainstream media. but i can remember seeing his photo in a lot of the black weeklies basically documenting his charities. this jeffrey thompson person.

i knew he had city contracts. but i don't think people understood what a behind-the- scenes player he was, starting from years ago, both locally and in the federal government. >> i want to run a 2.5-minute piece that we found on "the washington post" website are new. what is the origin? that is new. >> you know, the story used a lot of new technology that we are trying at "the washington post," and maybe technologies the wrong word. if you go to our website and you read my story in a different applet than what you will see , they wantedories to try this video, simpler -- similar to what "frontline was quoted. >> is this the first television you have done? >> no. >> from its television have you done in the past? >> just local television.

in 2008, i was assigned to the inauguration of president obama. time, president-elect obama. i made a few television appearances than because i was one of the main reporters. >> so people would know, this was four pages, which in a newspaper devoted to this on sunday, july 14, how can people find it want to read your whole story? washingtonposted.com and write in jeffrey thompson or you can look for it -- there is a bookmark menu at the top of the page. if you put on that, my story will appear. >> the school recap everything we have talked about. we will look at this video and it is about 2.5 minutes. [video clip] ago, they are a

june fenti and vincent gray faced each other in d.c.'s recent thestreet. -- fenty raised $5 million to hold onto estate. benson gray raised only $1.2 million. shortly after he took office in brown, who also had run for mayor, said he was paid and promised a job in return for fenty in the papers. they also discovered a shadow campaign. more than $653,000 was spent and never reported on grey's behalf. man wasy, just one behind that money. jeffrey thompson.

who moved immigrant to the united states in the 1970s, thompson earned his ged come away to college and built a small empire. an accounting firm and he owned d.c. charters health plan, which had $22 million in revenues, the largest city contract owned by single he also rubbed elbows with the likes of oprah winfrey and dorothy height. should --l industry federal investigators allege that contributions doubled by thompson actually came from him or his firm. date, five people have pled guilty. one of gray's campaign aides pled guilty to destroying evidence that showed payments to send him on brown. another aide like guilty to lying to investigators about

lying -- for lying about those payments. harris pled guilty. toers pled guilty misdemeanor campaign violations. >> where was that actually taped? >> that was in the wilson building, at city hall in they don't call it city hall here. they call it wasn't building code -- they call it the wilson building. it is a beautiful facility and we decided it would be a good for the story. >> how long did it take you to do? >> two hours. [laughter] >> québec to the mayor. as he sits in the job -- go back to the mayor. as he sits in the

job right now, all of 2011 and all of 2012, has he been charged with anything? >> he has not been charged and no evidence has emerged in any court documents saying that the mayor was aware at all of the or that he hadwn any awareness of the shadow campaign. >> i think i read in your campaign -- in your piece that the shadow campaign offices were next are two vincent mayor -- vincent gray for mayor posters. >> yes. shadowain what a campaign is and how it works and why jeffrey thompson is in this mix. explain,akes a lot to but i will do my best. basically, you have a campaign going on, a regular campaign you see. then you had another set of folks who were in an office campaignt to the great

-- to the vincent gray campaign. there were so many things going on, several workers complaining about the other workers because they felt they were getting paid more and there was a lot of confusion as to who is paying them, etc. it wasn't until a year later that folks started putting things together when federal investors began asking questions and they realized, wait a minute, the folks who were next door to my we can find any record of them in the campaign finance records that we see. so how did those get paid and who is in charge of them? to that is how it went back allegedly jeffrey thompson. >> how did he allegedly raises money, the $650,000 that was in the shadow campaign? >> it was his, according to court documents they described him, but don't name him. >> in the district of columbia,

has ever been a republican mayor? >> no. mix of the investigation, the u.s. attorney's black. >> yes, he is. >> can you tell us anything about him? maron makes and -- ron chen is tough here in he takes his time. the public may know him best with this kind of -- i don't want to call it phone tapping situation with reporters. he is a little in that mix here i. but locally, he has made corruption, especially government corruption and corruption in politics, that is something that he is trying to eliminate, not only in d.c., but in other jurisdictions here in

-- other jurisdictions. >> how many people has he indicted or copy nuclear whatever it is in this ross is has been going on since 2011? >> in this particular investigation, there have been five people. but if you expand it into looking into the other council you've had several agencies that he looked at locally. you have federal agencies that he looked at. the numbers are actually much rater. i couldn't even sit here and to tell you how many people have guiltynvicted or pled during his tenure. the number is quite high and he is very serious about this public corruption. >> michael brown is the son of

ron brown who is secretary of commerce. he died flying over bosnia some years ago. what did michael brown do that got him indicted. >> it is an awful situation because it was a bribery case. and it was a sting operation. this occurred after the council members were already being scrutinized for corruption. a sting office set up operation were guys who were contract operators who said that can you help us get this contract and now we have video of him accepting cash. around here, it is a redskins bug. the dollar bills were all all

that then placed into the month led up and waste into the mug. admitsguilty plea, he that, years ago, in 2007, he from jeffrey000 thompson. as a personalit loan to his campaign. it is obvious the the federal investigators are sending some kind of message in michael brown's plea because that isn't even anything that he pled guilty to. they just threw that into that folks know we know it has been going on all these years. >> what do you suspect -- i know this is a tough question -- but

what do you suspect with jeffrey thompson? will he be indicted? >> yes. chris what is the timetable? -- >> what is the timetable? >> i wish i could show you. after my store, there was another story written by my colleagues. jeffrey thompson has signed a waiver. he has waived his rights to the thiste of limitations and can be five years or six years. now the federal investigators have more time to investigate. so there is no telling how long this will last year in our belief is that the thinking of the u.s. attorneys offices that once they charge jeffrey thompson, they have to be ready to go to trial.

and brendan sullivan is, like, bring it on. that to be ready. apparently, you don't want to mess with brendan sullivan. >> how is a guy like dancing great paying for bob bennett? >> the mayor makes $200,000 a year. -- het gray was a career used to work at the department of health for the city. he was the director of the department of health under mayor sherman pratt many years ago. i'm sure he has so many saved up. vincentu suspect that gray will be indicted, the mayor? >> i don't think i have any comment on that. i am really not sure. you asked me one day and i think

the federal investigators are going to do something. and you and -- and you asked me the next day and i say maybe not. it is one of the situation where, in my story, i point to a meeting that he and jeffrey --mpson had for one of jesse one of jeffrey thompson's friends told the one thing about the meeting and a friend of the mayor's another thing happened. said/shell be a he said situation. i don't know what kind of evidence the u.s. attorney's office has, if any, that mayor is wasas aware at th happening on his behalf. >> i want to throw him into the mix because he has been unrelenting saturday after saturday after saturday. here's colbert cain. [video clip] debate that took place where brown slipped --

with just lambasted fenty some very scurrilous comments. thatd not the time suleiman brown was being paid to behave that way. i saw him do the same thing the next night at another debate. christ did you think that all of these people thought they could get away with this? >> yes. >> and where they? water the pressure points, including "the post? >> i was saying this two years ago. many things that folks are being charged with i believe, based on my reporting, that many of these things are going on in the past. the technology caught up with people. i was able to build the salon brown story -- the suleiman on round story.

i just documented all the times that he had received calls from members of grace campaign. you could show when they first started talking to him, the days of the debate. >> remind people what so him on brown's role is all this. cracks to them on brown was a minor mayoral candidate. back in the day, he was very likely. -- very lively. his main thing at the debate was to beat up fenty. that said "gon gray, program, though any color nty. just don't go fem very distraught at some of the things that's with him on brown was saying about him. washat suleiman brown

saying about him. you can see the patterns. it is very to do that. let's remember, 10 years ago or 15 years ago, you would have to go through campaign finance reports by hand to figure out the patterns var. with jeffrey thompson, the washington city paper has done a all ofob of documenting the money from the network. not that all of that money was corrupt here in but you can ofinitely see the pattern how many employees were giving and how many of his relatives are giving. and showing that they were easily bundled all on the same date. cracks can you explain to the outside world how marion barry continues to be in public office? >> he is very charming. >> he has been in may or four times, may -- four times, in prison six months here in -- six months.

but since, he has not paid his taxes and was picked up for speeding. he wastrouble where making sure that one of his girlfriends got some money from the government. how does i keep on rolling? >> marion barry knows the law. he recently went ahead and told the d.c. counsel -- now the d.c. counsel has an ethics board because of everything that occurred in the last two years conflicts ofw the interest, etc., of council members and he told the ethics board, hey, there are these contractors. i took some money from them can it was a gift. it did not influence what i have done, but i thought i should report it. and right now, the counselors try to decide what they will do about marion barry and the situation. >> they have already voted 12-0 to take his committees away from

him? question yes. cracks or can they do to him now? -- >> yes. >> what can they do to him now? >> the lead attorney's office is very busy right now. >> he actually reported? that is why i think the marion barry's begins, ok, yes, this is what i did. i did it. you're not going to uncover something and he will be upfront with you. he will show you what the deal is. >> is he 78? >> yes. quested somebody give him a kidney? -- >> did somebody give him a kidney? >> yes. article all in my the connections that jeffrey thomas had good one time, he

gave a contract to a woman who had given marion barry a kidney. marion berry has had a lot of health problems through the years. that he is still herevery much u will be very much longer time. jeremyse explain how and -- how jeffrey thompson contributed to all of these campaigns? you call him the governor the district. >> yes, the governor of the district of convio, then in that he apparently gave himself. he calls himself the governor. i think you are trying to get me to start earlier with mayor anthony williams. >> two mayors, three mayors ago. >> yes. here and the city for eight years. he was actually a friend of jeffrey thompson. and jeffrey thompson, to mary:

at the time was mayor, was on the search committee for a chief financial officer of the city and he tapped his friend anthony willens for the job. williams for the job. >> basically, you have asked how he worked. he worked very hands-on. if he was going to give to you, he wanted to see you. he wanted to shake your hand. he wasn't just going to write a check and let that be the end of it. he also wanted to show you that he could raise a great deal of the money for you. so one of the things that i wrote about in my story is, when he would have these fundraisers getis office, he would checks from each employee and he would look at the checks.

and if they were sizable, he would place them in his jacket pocket. and if they were not, he would place them or give them to his secretary. and he liked to give the candidates the large checks and bundles to show what a great fundraiser he was. show you some politics of all this. we found this on the rush limbaugh website. just to show you what is talked about in the conservative radio environment to the outside world. [video clip] natural, folks. i will answer the question for you. why are all d.c. mayors corrupt? that is the question. -- are all washington, d.c. it's not my proposition. cnn did this. cnn did the story. cnn asking the question -- why are all washington mayors

corrupt? let me answer that by answering another question asked by asking another question. what party do they come from? they are all democrats. what kind of democrats are they? they are all liberal democrats. you want to know why every washington mayor is corrupt? it's because they are all liberal democrats. that's what they do. yeah, marion barry is just said itch set me up. that was in the cocaine room. >> what do you say about that? >> i also believe that there is corruption everywhere. it is in every city, in every party. i am personally independent. i registered independent when i was 18 years old.

that people in , eitherten do things pensive ory are sometimes they compromise their values or their ideals in an effort to, you know, get what they really need. what i mean by that is, you know, it happens all the time. we see it on the hill. you say you believe this one thing and this is the bill you are pushing. all of a sudden, somebody throws this rider onto the bill and you really believe in that, but you really need to get his bill passed. and to me, that is a form of corruption at a very low level -- if we wanted to find corruption -- i don't even know how we are going to define corruption. but i think that it is unfair to say that all liberal democrats are corrupt.

and i say this as a person who covered all it takes in kentucky, in new york, in new jersey. i have seen corruption in all of the parties and i have seen it among all ethnicities. not that that is what he was saying. but i have paired >> where are you from? >> i am mercy from fort hood, texas. i am a military brat. my family spent some time at fort clayton in panama. and my parents met in fort campbell in kentucky and that is where i went to high school and college. >> were college? -- what college? >> i went to bowling team -- bowling green, kentucky. >> how did you get into this business? >> my brother had a paper route when i was a kid and that was back in the days when the papers would be dropped off at the

would helpa.m. and i my brother fold them and then put the rubber bands on them. we went that fancy back in. we didn't have the bags. so that is what i did in texas. and i wasn't very good at folding. i was a little busy reading. but my brother wasn't paying me anyway. but i have always said i'm glad ,didn't do lawns otherwise i would be in the lawnmowing business. >> wordage dr. college? >> -- what did you do after college? >> i covered everything from andts to cops to city hall then i went to begin newspapers in white plains, new york and i covered politics in westchester county. then i went to "the star-ledger"

in new jersey where i covered newark city hall. cory booker.e of >> how did you get to "the post" and how long have you been there? >> a funny story i like to tell. when i was in high school, i was very much a journalism nerd and i went to a camp at northwestern university. i met several campers and one camper i always stayed in touch with you -- in touch with. he said, we should look at nikita stewart. so "the post" called me and i have been there since. >> when? >> that was in 2004. >> i only know another nikita and his name is christian. would've that name -- was rich chef.was crus

>> i was born in 1972 and my mother liked the name and here i am. didack to "the post," when jeffrey thompson story start for you? when did they say we are going to do a piece? as you know, nobody gets four pages in the newspaper. >> i joined the investigative team in december and i wrote a memo of things i wanted to pursue. the time, they decided i should pursue a story i was working on -- i want reveal it -- case action finish at and i was focused on this agency for a few months. it i wanted to -- but i wanted to pursue this jeffrey thomas story first.

then the jeffrey thompson situation started heating up. this jeffreyo thompson profile is now. so i approached my editor about it and he was great and he said, yes, that is what you should do. and that is what i did. i think we came out with a great story. i was grateful that "oppose" " gave me- "the post clos the time to finish the story. right now, the news industry is going through a transition. it has been a transition for the last 10 years now. it's tough. i know we have limited resources. but what i presented going to jamaica, at first, they rely, i don't know.

said, you should go to jamaica. >> and why? >> i wanted to go to to jamaica because we were following the money and just to really dig deep into who jeffrey thompson really is. and i think we were able to show that. >> you have a picture here of barry thompson. he is looking down will looks like a lonely road and whose barry thompson? >> he is one of jeffrey thompson's brothers. we actually traveled to jamaica wonderfulel dufile, a photographer. he has won a number of pulitzers. and he happens to be from jamaica. he is from kingston. it was great to have someone to us from jamaica to be at my side during that time. town, we areson's

talking about a pretty rural and drivingr roads there, oh, my goodness -- post" was good enough to give us a driver. see the young kids on the bicycle. there are several other pictures . how this he? is 72.y thompson >> that is a bar scene. >> yes. there are lots of bars in jamaica. basically every other shop is a bar. beach wheretiful jeffrey thompson would go and swim as a child. we had the head of police department here a couple of

months ago. we asked her about the corruption thing can look how she -- corruption thing. look how she handled this thing. [video clip] when you are a police officer and they are elected officials -- i look at to the days when marion barry was going through his criminal issues -- it's embarrassing. this is the guy who signs your paycheck essentially. so when these things are going on, i try to keep the police department focused and we don't have time to get sucked into politics. the metropolitan police department is a shining star in the city and we have integrity. we have an incredible reputation for customer service and responsiveness and we do a great job at fighting crime. don't get distracted by that crap. stay focused on what you have to do . >> what did you think it was she said?

>> i like the way she uses "crap." [laughter] she does a great job at staying above the politics in the city. she could easily have been sucked into the fenty administration drama here and she is one of the reasons that some folks were upset with fenty at the very beginning. came into office when the city was still in majority black. you had a lot of black leaders behind the scenes pushing for things. and there are some people in the city who would believe that the police chief should be black or at least they did years ago before her. tapped her.enty crime has gone down. would beg to differ on how

successful she has really been. >> the union? >> yes. you live here. you know that the city is probably much safer than it was 10 years ago. >> it went from 400 murders to 100. >> and that happened during cathy lanier's tenure. and when mayor great took office, -- mayor grey took office, he kept her on. i think that shows how she can, kind of just stick to the police department. whatever is going on over in city hall, we are not going to get involved with it. >> one more time, we have it sells -- we have to tell folks how to see your article. >> go to washingtonpost.com and go to the governor d.c.. >> that was a july 14, 2013 story.

any other articles you are working on right now? >> nothing really other than lots of follow-ups to the jeffrey thompson story. -- of course, when there are when he is indicted, as we expect, i will be part of that coverage as well. t at you atthe maddes "the post" after this article was published? >> that is a tough one. this article was something that i had never experienced before. i received some the calls come even from people who have criticized me since i started covering this beat or since i started covering the city back were, like, this was an incredibly fair article.

and that is all i ever asked people. i just want to be fair and i want to be accurate. and i hope i achieved that. onely received, like, really hateful e-mail. it was basically from someone who felt that was tearing down a black man. let's remember that there is still a lot of racial tension in the city and that is how that person felt. but i tried to show people are complicated and i think politicians, like these special beings and the people who love politicians are these special beings, to me, they are almost not human. all i want to do is kind of humanize them to show people that there is good and bad in everyone and sometimes good people do bad things and sometimes bad people can do some good things that you may not have heard about.

so that is what i strive to show in all of my writing and recording. >> nikita stewart, we are out of time and we thank you very much for joining us. >> for a d.v.d. caller: of this program call 1-877-662-7726. for free transcripts or to give us your comments about this rogram visit us at q-and-a.org. >> next a discussion about the future of political islam in egypt. then former