Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's former spokesman, a longtime confidant who helped establish the administration's public message, has been subpoenaed in the state prosecutor's widening probe of City Hall, The Sun learned yesterday.
Anthony W. McCarthy served as a top aide and communications director to Dixon starting in January 2007 and left the office several months later after facing an unrelated investigation, which resulted in no charges being filed.
"We will fully cooperate with whatever it is they want," said McCarthy's lawyer, A. Dwight Pettit. "I have no idea what they want or what they're looking for."
McCarthy's was the latest in a series of new subpoenas served on current and former Dixon employees this week after investigators raided the mayor's home Tuesday - a seven-hour search that refocused public attention on the years-old probe.
That investigation, which began after a series of articles detailed spending irregularities at City Hall, appears to be wide-ranging, including attempts to look into possible gifts to the mayor. State prosecutors have been seeking Dixon's fur coats, for instance.
State prosecutors have declined to comment on the investigation. Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for Dixon, also declined to comment. According to her schedule, Dixon left town yesterday to attend a U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Miami.
The Sun reported in 2006 that, as City Council president, Dixon voted on contracts that benefited her sister's employer, Utech. The paper also reported that Dixon's former campaign chairman, Dale G. Clark, was paid $500,000 over five years to perform computer work for the city without a contract. Clark and Utech founder Mildred Boyer have pleaded guilty to tax charges stemming from the inquiry and have agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
At least nine subpoenas were served this week on current and former city employees - many of whom worked with Dixon when she was president of the City Council - and those individuals are expected to testify before a grand jury next week.
McCarthy, who refused to comment, served as Dixon's chief of staff for nine months in 1999 and 2000 when she was president of the council. When Dixon became mayor, McCarthy was brought in to oversee communications and is largely credited with softening her image.
He abruptly left the position in November 2007 after revelations that he was being investigated by Baltimore County police. No charges were filed. McCarthy maintained his innocence, but he did not return to his former position in the mayor's office.
