Ex-congresswoman betrayed those who needed her most

Even for a public weary of political scandals, some corruption cases still have the power to shock.

Former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, a Democrat who represented parts of Central Florida in Congress for 24 years, was found guilty by a federal jury last week on 18 counts of conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and tax charges following a trial in her hometown of Jacksonville. But it’s the story behind the offenses, rather than their sheer number, that is most appalling.

Brown exploited her clout as a member of Congress to help solicit $800,000 in donations for a sham charity called “One Door for Education.” Donors were assured the money would pay for college scholarships, school computers and other good causes. But it was mostly a slush fund for Brown, her Chief of Staff Elias “Ronnie” Simmons, and the charity’s founder, Carla Wiley, a former girlfriend of Simmons’. They raided the pot to pay for parties, vacations, shopping sprees and tickets, according to evidence presented by prosecutors. Only $1,200 went to scholarships. Simmons and Wiley pleaded guilty and testified against Brown in her trial.

For Brown, whose gerrymandered congressional district took in African-American neighborhoods from Jacksonville to metro Orlando, this was a particular betrayal of the lower-income constituents she always claimed to champion. As Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco pointedly said following the trial’s guilty verdict, Brown “shamefully deprived needy children of hundreds of thousands of dollars that could have helped with their education and improved their opportunities for advancement.”

Brown issued a statement through her lawyer insisting she was innocent, and that she would seek a new trial. She vowed to “continue to fight to clear my name and restore my reputation.” Good luck with that.

This was not the first time in her political career that Brown’s conduct raised suspicion.

During her fourth term in Congress, Brown was the subject of a investigation by the U.S. House ethics committee into her dealings with a West African businessman, Foutanga Dit Babani Sissoko, who had pleaded guilty to trying to bribe U.S. Customs officials in Miami. Brown, who appealed for leniency on Sissoko’s behalf, stayed in his luxury condominium in Miami. Her daughter accepted a luxury car from an associate of Sissoko.

The ethics committee ending up closing its inquiry after it couldn’t compel key witnesses to testify. It concluded that Brown’s actions and associations demonstrated, at the least, poor judgment and created substantial concerns regarding both the appearance of impropriety and the reputation of the House of Representatives. Brown declared herself vindicated.

Brown, 70, might still be serving in the U.S. House if the Florida Supreme Court hadn’t redrawn her district in 2015 when it upheld a lower court’s recommendation for a new congressional map. She likened the redistricting to slavery, arguing it diluted the power of African-American voters. But when she ran in her newly configured district, she lost in the primary to another African-American Democrat, state Sen. Al Lawson of Tallahassee, who also went on to win in the general election.

Even so, Brown’s legacy is mixed. She leveraged her seniority and her position on the House Appropriations Committee to steer tens of millions of federal dollars to projects in her district. She worked closely and effectively with another former U.S. House member from a neighboring district, Winter Park Republican John Mica, to secure funding for SunRail, Lynx and other transportation priorities in Central Florida. She took justifiable pride in her office’s constituent service.

But Blanco’s stinging words may be impossible to erase from her record: “Former Congresswoman Corrine Brown violated the public trust, the honor of her position, and the integrity of the American system of government when she abused one of the most powerful positions in the nation for her own personal gain.”

She’ll have plenty of time to reflect on her actions. While a sentencing date has not been set for Brown, she faces decades in federal prison.