By Molly Claire Goddard
3:26am PDT, Jun 5, 2025
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Washington, D.C., Mayor
Muriel Bowser is in hot water.
According to a complaint filed by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust — a nonpartisan government watchdog entity — on Tuesday, June 3, the leader of the city allegedly accepted illegal travel gifts to Doha, Qatar, Georgia, Dubai, Las Vegas, Miami and
Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago.
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The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) claims because Muriel Bowser works for the people of Washington, D.C., she violated the law by not fully disclosing how the trips were funded.
"The basic standard for elected officials is honest transparency, which means following all disclosure laws and willingly answering the public's questions. The mayor's unwillingness to provide basic information about numerous high-profile trips is unacceptable," Executive Director of FACT
Kendra Arnold said in a
statement.
"It is not simply the Qatar trip, but a troubling pattern from Mar-A-Lago to Doha to Augusta National, the District has no record of who paid for these trips or what public purpose they served, if there was one at all," she continued. "The ethics rules exist to protect against corruption and when they are ignored, the public's trust erodes. I urge the Board to investigate and enforce the law without delay."
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FACT also claims there is no record of who financially backed Muriel Bowser's trip to the Middle East.
"When questioned by the press, initially the mayor's office said the trip was paid for by the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber said that was not true. Then, the mayor's office said the trip was paid for by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. That was also false," the agency alleged. "Yet, unbelievably, it wasn't until a reporter's Freedom of Information Act request in March 2025 that this information was publicly revealed — more specifically that Qatar paid more than $61,930 for the trip the mayor's office was now attempting to retroactively describe as an 'in-kind donation.' As of May 2025, the District still does not have a record of Qatar paying for Bowser's 2023 trip."
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In the complaint, FACT also called out Muriel Bowser for violating a "fundamental ethics principle" that ensures politicians and government employees don't accept bribes and donations.
According to Washington, D.C., law, officials are not permitted to receive gifts such as trips, lodging and transportation.
"Clearly Mayor Bowser's trip to Qatar qualifies as a gift and one that elected officials are personally prohibited from accepting. Additionally, this gift would not qualify as a donation made to the District because the donation was not recorded and approved before the donation was used. The District still does not even have a record of it," FACT wrote in the complaint.
