Suspicions grow as permission from Baltimore mayor Catherine Pugh trails

BALTIMORE – Baltimore viewers are accustomed to seeing images of the mayor of mayor Catherine Pugh, who is besieged, approaching her three-story home and disappearing inside. He later insists that his health is too fragile for him to think clearly enough to make decisions about the future.

But after a month of paid leave from his $ 185,000 job as the city's No. 1 leader, his lawyer's enigmatic comments about the mayor's open retirement at his home in the city are straining the credulity of some taxpayers from Baltimore. The scandal is not going away, leaving it politically vulnerable and deeply isolated.

"I think she's in a tough place and she's hiding at home to try to save face," said Rachel Richardson, a city dweller, Wednesday morning during a break in cleaning the streets of bustling downtown Baltimore. "I really know that I can not believe what I hear anymore."

Although the first-term Democratic mayor still has supporters with a wait-and-see attitude, many citizens who were willing to give Pugh the benefit of the doubt now perceive with suspicion his leave for an indefinite period. Steven Silverman, his main lawyer, is fully aware of this, as calls for his resignation accumulate.

"It's very difficult when someone is not able to think clearly and feel physically able to make major decisions like this.I know where his heart is: is a sensitive person, she cares deeply about the city despite what some people think right now, "said Silverman recently after returning from Pugh, where he reportedly discussed his" options ".

Some ask why Pugh is not hospitalized if she is so sick that she can not think "lucidly," as Silverman said last week. Silverman said the suffering mayor was suffering from pneumonia followed by bronchitis and that he was "extremely emotionally upset".

Some legislators lose patience with his silence while his leave for an indefinite period drags on. Senator Jill Carter, a Baltimore Democrat who sponsored a reform bill denouncing an alleged "aggression" by Pugh and other members of the board of directors. a medical system from Maryland, says that Silverman should produce some sort of documentation from the mayor's doctor.

"I imagine that she is suffering a lot, which has only exacerbated her health problems, we have to take Mr. Silverman on the word, because he is an officer of justice," he said. Carter said. But "at the very least, he should produce a statement from a doctor regarding his medical, mental and physical diagnosis".

Within the political class of the city and the state, a series of Pugh's resignation demands is transformed into an emphatic chant after the searches of his offices, his homes and many other places last week by teams of FBI agents and the IRS. Republican Governor Larry Hogan said that Mr. Pugh was not "fit to lead," joining so many Democrats who urgently called for his resignation.

The scope of their investigation is not yet clear, but federal criminal investigators have vigorously joined state and city investigations on obscure arrangements that have yielded Pugh about $ 800,000 over years, selling in bulk to customers its obscure self-published children's book, including a hospital network. helped supervise as a state senator and major health service providers with commercial activities before the city.

An affidavit of the search warrant is under seal and Pugh has not been charged with anything. But suspicions do not fail to think that she could have benefited from access and influence, or perhaps use her sales of "Healthy Holly" children's books for some sort of makeshift fund. One of his homes that was raided by federal agents does not have a traditional mortgage, suggesting that the purchase, a week after being sworn in as mayor, could have been a cash transaction.

The federal raids created a dark image that many Baltimore officials have attempted to disseminate. With a declining population and tax base, one of the country's highest violent crime rates and a federally supervised police service, Maryland's largest city needs more outside investment and the trust of his officials.

No one can guess whether Pugh has lost his grip or not, but she does not seem to be able to do much to save her political career. With its tattered alliances, political analysts say that Pugh's biggest currency of exchange with criminal investigators seems to be his refusal to resign. Only a conviction can force his eviction.

John Bullock, Baltimore City Council member and former professor of political science at Towson University, said he clearly understands that Pugh is in a "tricky situation," but feels that he's "a bit of an exaggeration." at this point "to say it in class. leave is entirely related to health.

"I do not know what kind of drug or anything that would put her at a point where she would not be lucid, I understand the stress that comes with it, but even though we're talking about legal issues, I guess She is not mentally incompetent and is always able to answer legal questions and stand trial should this happen, "Bullock said in a phone interview.

During his long political career, Pugh has long had a reputation for being a hard worker, spending long days at the office. She often started her day as mayor with a jog before dawn and has always looked good even at the age of 70. She said that she usually sleeps only a few hours a night.

Council member Ryan Dorsey revealed that it was "widely mumbled" at City Hall that Pugh had been acting erratically for a while. He said he heard about "mood swings and behavior".

"It turns out that it's her legal representative who says what a lot of people close to her seem to be saying for quite some time," Dorsey said.

He stated that he had had no interaction with Pugh in recent weeks, but it is perfectly clear that she will not return to City Hall, leaving the mayor by interim, Bernard "Jack" Young, at the end of his term.

"It's not welcome from anyone in the city government and not the city's population," Dorsey said. "And everything indicates that she's going to jail."

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