The race to succeed D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) in Congress took a bitter turn Monday evening when a Democratic candidate posted a 67-page dossier of opposition research on one of her main rivals that included his home address and personal information about his family.
Now Robert C. White Jr., the subject of the report, has asked fellow D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto to withdraw from the race, calling the release of information about his family a “blatant violation of basic decency.”
The document was posted on Pinto’s campaign website, which says it was drawn from publicly available information and delved deep into White’s professional history and his record on the council.
The report highlighted contributions to White’s campaigns from real estate developers and noted four campaign donations from people who also gave to Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns. It also featured several sections about White’s personal and family history and finances, including information about his father, wife, his mortgage and credit card debt, and details about his brother’s criminal record and prison time, which White has been open about. “This is beyond the pale,” White said.
The document comes after weeks of back-and-forth attacks between the two candidates, who have clashed on both the council dais and the campaign trail as they seek to replace Norton, 88. The delegate is retiring after 35 years of representing D.C. as a nonvoting member on Capitol Hill.
Pinto’s campaign declined Tuesday to make her available for an interview. But she said in a statement provided by her campaign that “DC residents should know the full truth: Robert White is a hypocrite.”
“He repeatedly attacks me, my family, and our campaign despite admitting that he ‘has no ideology,’” Pinto said, referencing a past comment from White that the report highlighted. “He fought to bring the Trump hotel to DC and is swimming in conflicts of interest by taking thousands of dollars from developers who have interests in front of the Housing Committee that he Chairs and Republicans who have given hundreds of thousands to Donald Trump. Perhaps that is why he has not done a thing to address the affordable housing crisis we find ourselves in. DC deserves better.”
The deal to bring the Trump hotel to the District happened before White’s time on the council, when he was a staffer in Norton’s office. White’s campaign declined to comment on Pinto’s claim that the candidate has attacked her family.
On Tuesday morning, more than 16 hours after the report began circulating online, Pinto’s campaign uploaded a new version of the dossier that no longer included information about White’s relatives or his home address.
“Campaigns should be run between candidates who put themselves out there to share their ideas, vision, and past record. While all information is available through any public search, we have removed all mention of my opponent’s family from our site,” Pinto said in a statement released by her campaign. “Voters can see all information about Robert’s voting record on my website and decide for themselves who they want representing our city in Congress.”
Campaigns typically use opposition research memos to formulate lines of attack in competitive races and sometimes post them publicly.
The reaction to the report on White was swift.
White posted a blistering video on social media Tuesday criticizing Pinto for the release of the full document — decrying the inclusion of information about his family and home “at a time where it is increasingly common for people to show up and do harm to lawmakers and their families.” The dossier also included a since-deleted paragraph referencing a social media account the campaign said belonged to a relative of White.
In an interview Tuesday, White said the conduct from his opponent was disqualifying.
“To run down a Black family of native Washingtonians for political gain is out of bounds, and I think most people in D.C. know that,” he said. “My family, like most other families here, are not polished, not curated. We are regular folks trying to make our way. And if you don’t understand that and your judgment can be so bad that you will attack and exploit that, you can’t represent those people in any capacity.”
The dossier focused largely on White’s political history and policy stances, painting him as “soft on crime,” and highlighting his past support for shrinking police spending, removing police officers from schools and decriminalizing fare evasion on Metro.
Another section notes his opposition to the deal to bring the Washington Commanders to D.C. and unsuccessful efforts from White, who voted against the deal, to amend the terms of the agreement between the city and the football team. It also critiqued White’s stewardship of the council’s housing committee, including concerns about his oversight of the beleaguered D.C. Housing Authority.
While the dossier made note of overlap between some of White donors and donors to Trump’s campaigns, Pinto, too, has faced scrutiny for having donors who also gave to Trump and recently posted a video on social media to respond to “misperceptions and lies that my opponent has been spreading about me and my family.” Pinto said she is a lifelong Democrat raised in a family of Democrats.
The two council members are front-runners in the June Democratic primary for the delegate seat that has drawn several candidates, including Democratic National Committee official Kinney Zalesne and previous candidate Kelly Mikel Williams.
Zalesne said in a statement Tuesday that the infighting showed “exactly what people hate about political campaigns and career politicians,” and raised questions about her opponents.
“Was Pinto’s posting of White’s personal data malevolent or was it incompetent? Both answers feel disqualifying,” Zalesne said. “Can White really fight against Trump on Capitol Hill when he and his Republican donors fought to bring the Trump Hotel to DC?”
Another hopeful, former Norton staffer Trent Holbrook, called the back-and-forth between Pinto and White “disappointing, but not surprising.”
“My opponents are yet again engaged in mudslinging instead of focusing on the issues that actually matter, instead of running on qualifications for this important office, and instead of focusing on the needs of District families,” Holbrook wrote in a statement Monday.
In the meantime, Pinto and White will continue to serve alongside each other on the council during an intense budget season. White said in an interview that their relationship had thus far been collegial at work.
“This is not the Brooke Pinto I know, and it’s been sad to see this come out in a campaign,” he said. “It’s going to be harder to sit next to her and pretend to not mind, but I am going to stay focused on the work.”
Their assigned seats on the council dais are right next to each other.
Paul Schwartzman contributed to this report.
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