FACT Calls for Investigation into Mayor Bowser for Accepting Illegal Gifts Including Trips to Doha, the Masters, and Mar-a-Lago

Evidence shows that the Mayor of DC and her staff have taken several prominent trips without disclosing information to the public 

Washington, D.C.— June 3, 2025 — Today, the non-partisan ethics watchdog, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), filed a complaint requesting the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability investigate and take appropriate action against Muriel Bowser, Mayor of Washington, D.C., to determine if she accepted illegal gifts of travel and hospitality regarding several of her recent prominent trips. Despite public inquiries, the mayor’s office has either ignored questions or provided false information about her travels.

In 2023, Mayor Bowser and four of her staffers traveled to Doha for the UN Climate Conference in Dubai. No record showed who funded the trip (except a three-night $3,500 taxpayer-paid hotel stay in Dubai from Bowser’s Chief of Staff). When the press questioned this, the mayor’s office initially said the trip was paid for by the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber later 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.

Then in February of 2025, the mayor’s office sent a letter to Qatar because it was Qatar who actually paid for their trip. The letter requested an expense breakdown, labeled the payments as an “in-kind donation”, and sought a retroactive donation agreement - despite the trip occurring years earlier. Shockingly, it wasn’t until a March 2025 FOIA request that it was publicly revealed Qatar had paid over $61,930 for the 2023 trip the mayor’s office now claims was a donation. As of May 2025, the District still lacks a record of Qatar’s payment.

In addition to their Qatar excursion, the Mayor has taken a handful of other trips which have gone unreported - including to the Masters Golf Tournament, Las Vegas, Miami, and Mar-a-Lago.

“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. 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. 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.” said Kendra Arnold, Executive Director of FACT.

A full copy of the complaint can be found HERE.

FACT is a nonprofit organization promoting accountability, ethics, and transparency in government and civic arenas. For more on FACT, visit: http://www.factdc.org