Former Prince George’s County Del. Tawanna Gaines is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on a federal wire fraud charge, adding to an already-long list of Maryland lawmakers 鈥� largely Democrats 鈥� who have been convicted, charged or reprimanded for corruption or other ethical issues in recent years.
Gaines, who had represented District 22 since 2001, is charged with using an undisclosed PayPal account to accept donations to her campaign finance committee, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office for the District of Maryland. Those funds were not recorded on her campaign finance reports.
Federal prosecutors say Gaines defrauded her campaign and its contributors of approximately $22,000 over a period of at least three years.
Gaines is not alone. The arraignment adds her to the growing list of politicians in the state who have either committed crimes or ethical violations.
Oguzhan Dincer, associate professor and director of the Institute for Corruption Studies at Illinois State University, told Capital 草莓传媒 Service that when it comes to 鈥渓egal corruption鈥� 鈥� unethical acts without actual criminality 鈥� 鈥淢aryland is very corrupt,鈥� and it is 鈥渜uite alarming.鈥�
The campaign treasurer listed on Gaines鈥� candidate committee registration page is Anitra Trona Gaines Edmond. An archived image from TawannaGaines.org (a site that has since been taken down) shows a photo of the then-delegate with a woman named Anitra Edmond, with a caption saying that she is Gaines鈥� daughter.
Efforts to reach Edmond via email and social media were not returned. Capital 草莓传媒 Service was unable to reach Gaines herself 鈥� a phone number listed on her campaign finance page was disconnected, and a Hotmail email address bounced back. An attorney for Gaines mentioned in media reports did not respond to requests for comment.
The former delegate鈥檚 arraignment is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.
Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones, D-Baltimore County, released a statement earlier, saying that Gaines had resigned Friday.
鈥淎s elected officials, we have an obligation to uphold the public trust, both in office and in our campaigns,鈥� Jones said in the statement. 鈥淲e cannot sacrifice that trust for personal gain for ourselves or our family members.鈥�
Alexandra Hughes, Jones鈥� chief of staff, told Capital 草莓传媒 Service via email that she isn鈥檛 aware of specific plans for ethics bills in the 2020 Maryland legislative session, pointing to the 鈥渃omprehensive鈥� ethics reform legislation passed in 2017.
鈥淥bviously, there are laws on the books to prevent what Delegate Gaines did 鈥� which is how she was charged,鈥� Hughes added.
Jake Weissmann, chief of staff for Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller Jr. 鈥� a Democrat serving District 27 (Prince George’s, Charles and Calvert counties) 鈥� declined to comment via email.
Arinze Ifekauche, spokesman for the Maryland Democratic Party, also declined to comment via email, deferring to Jones鈥� statement.
The Maryland Republican Party, too, did not respond to requests for comment.
Joanne Antoine, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, told Capital 草莓传媒 Service that Gaines鈥� resignation 鈥渟ends a message鈥� that these types of actions 鈥渨on鈥檛 be accepted.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 no question that the public鈥檚 trust was lost when an elected official abuses their power,鈥� Antoine said.
Sen. Paul Pinsky, a Democrat serving Prince George鈥檚 County, said he was 鈥渢aken aback鈥� when the news broke about his fellow District 22 lawmaker. When he found out that it had to do with fundraising, Pinsky said, 鈥淚 was even more shocked, because that鈥檚 never been a high priority of hers.鈥�
Asked about possible legislation to combat corruption during the next session in response to the charges against Gaines, the state senator said, 鈥淧ersonally, I鈥檇 like to get private funding out of elections totally,鈥� but added that he doesn鈥檛 鈥渒now what the details are鈥� or 鈥渋f it鈥檚 something that鈥檚 correctable.鈥�
This instance of public corruption in the General Assembly is nothing new. Gaines is the third Democratic delegate from Prince George鈥檚 County alone to be charged or convicted since 2018.
Former Del. Will Campos was sentenced to 54 months in prison in May 2018 for conspiracy and bribery. Another former delegate, Michael Vaughn, was sentenced to four years in prison in September 2018 for a bribery conspiracy.
Also last year, now-former state Sen. Nathaniel Oaks, a Baltimore Democrat, was sentenced to 42 months in prison for wire fraud.
Lawmakers have also been officially reprimanded in the General Assembly for ethical issues in recent years.
Del. Jay Jalisi, D-Baltimore County, was reprimanded by the legislature earlier this year for what an ethics report referred to as an 鈥渙ngoing pattern of bullying and abusive workplace behavior.鈥�
Del. Mary Ann Lisanti, D-Harford, was censured this year in connection with allegations that she used a racial slur to describe an area of Prince George鈥檚 County.
Last year, Del. Curt Anderson, D-Baltimore, was stripped of his leadership positions after he was ordered to undergo sexual harassment training in connection with allegations against him, according to The Baltimore Sun.
In 2017, former Del. Dan Morhaim, a Baltimore County Democrat and physician, was reprimanded for advocating for medical marijuana policies without disclosing his financial ties to a company seeking a license, as reported by The Sun.
Dincer, who studies corruption across the country through an annual survey, told Capital 草莓传媒 Service that the survey is sent to approximately 1,000 political reporters 鈥� with an average response rate of about 30% 鈥� asking them to rate their state鈥檚 branches of government on a scale of 1 to 5 for both illegal corruption and legal corruption, the latter of which he described as when a 鈥減olitician forgets about working for the greater good.鈥�
Dincer said his findings indicate that when it comes to illegal corruption, such as bribery and fraud, Maryland is 鈥渒ind of in the middle of the road鈥� among other states. When it comes to legal corruption, however, he said the state is 鈥渧ery corrupt.鈥�
He cautioned that in terms of illegal corruption, 鈥淚 wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that Maryland is really getting bad鈥� when compared with other states.
Referring to the state鈥檚 鈥渟trict鈥� campaign finance laws, Antoine of Common Cause said that when comparing Maryland with other states in terms of corruption, 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say it鈥檚 an outlier.鈥�
Matthew Crenson, professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins University鈥檚 Department of Political Science, told Capital 草莓传媒 Service that he considers Maryland to be more corrupt than other states, referring to 鈥渁 lot of episodes of corruption 鈥� going back to the 1970s, not just in the state legislature.鈥�
He added that bribery is a 鈥渃ommon thread that seems to run through a lot of these cases.鈥�
Other Maryland officials with ties to corruption include former Vice President and Maryland Gov. Spiro Agnew; former Gov. Marvin Mandel; former Del. Tiffany Alston, D-Prince George鈥檚; former state Sen. Tommie Broadwater Jr.; former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon; and former Prince George鈥檚 County Executive Jack Johnson.
Annapolis lobbyists Bruce Bereano and Gerard Evans returned to their careers after serving prison time, according to Maryland Matters.
Former state Sen. Ulysses Currie, D-Prince George鈥檚, was acquitted of all corruption charges against him in 2011, according to The Washington Post.
Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh has been linked to self-dealing in the sale of children鈥檚 books; she has not been charged with any crime.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of money floating around,鈥� Crenson said. 鈥淢aryland is a rich state compared to others.鈥�
