Battenfeld: Is Mayor Wu trying to cover up a #MeToo scandal in City Hall?
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has a big “#Me Too” problem in her administration, and simply whitewashing the investigation into one of her top aides doesn’t cut it.
Turns out Wu’s biggest problem in her re-election campaign may not be bike lanes.
In corporate America, Wu’s Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion, Segun Idowu, would probably have already been fired for allegations reported Monday by the Boston Globe that he inappropriately propositioned another City Hall employee, Marwa Khudaynazar.
But in Wutopia, Idowu has survived for now. The question is for how long.
Whatever happened to, “I believe the woman,” Mayor Wu?
Wu has chosen instead to believe Idowu, the up-and-coming member of her Cabinet who now will probably be the subject of an embarrassing lawsuit in the middle of a reelection campaign.
Is she going to stand by him or believe a woman who says she was inappropriately harassed?
This scandal exploding all around Wu is less about whether Idowu propositioned another city employee but more about whether the mayor tried to tamp down the investigation to prevent it from hurting her campaign.
Police have refused to release body camera footage from the officers who arrested Khudaynazar and her boyfriend, Chulan Huang, who works for Idowu, citing laws that keep confidential domestic violence evidence. Khudaynazar has also requested the body cam footage and has been denied so far, according to the Globe report.
Idowu is now not talking. The fact that he has hired prominent defense attorney Jeffrey Robbins, who also represents the Herald, is not a good sign for Wu.
Robbins, in a blustery email, said city officials did interview Idowu as part of their investigation “and no finding of any improper, unethical or inappropriate conduct on his part was made, because he engaged in none.”
But that’s not the issue. The problem is that the investigators never asked Khudaynazar, who worked in the police accountability office, about Idowu’s alleged advances, she told the Globe.
The city’s internal review of course “found no violations of laws or city workforce policies by any other city employees” besides Khudaynazar and Huang.
Both of the city workers were fired after being arrested for a domestic altercation that got out of hand when police showed up and Khudaynazar allegedly struck an officer.
The reason given for their firing is because they allegedly invoked their jobs at City Hall when they were being arrested, which Khudaynazar told the Globe was a misunderstanding.
Idowu’s alleged advances are what caused the domestic altercation, according to Khudaynazar’s side of the story. Both she and Huang have pleaded not guilty.
The question is whether Idowu’s alleged advances constitute a breach of the city’s anti-harassment policy. But the real potential problem for Wu is whether she is conveniently brushing the scandal under the carpet to protect her number one position in the polls.
Wu’s campaign opponent, Josh Kraft, said given the allegations by Khudaynazar and texts made public in the Globe “her claim that a thorough investigation ‘found no violations of laws or city workforce policies by any other city employees’ is simply not true. Clearly there was nothing thorough about the investigation, and that statement raises serious questions about Mayor Wu’s judgement and credibility in this matter.”
