WASHINGTON - The D.C. Council agreed Friday to bring in high-profile Washington attorney Robert S. Bennett to probe the contract awarded to Councilman Marion Barry's former companion.

Eleven D.C. Council members met Friday behind a locked door to discuss the ethics issues. Reporters hoping to gain access to the meeting under the city's open meeting law were asked to leave. When they protested, Doxie McCoy, a spokeswoman for Council Chairman Vincent Gray, summoned the police and threatened to have the media forcibly removed.

Robert S. Bennett

Bennett is a former prosecutor and was President Clinton's personal attorney. He is a partner in the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom.

Bennett will examine the $5,000-a-month contract awarded to Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, who has described herself as a former companion of the former four-term mayor.

Both Barry and Watts-Brighthaupt maintain she was qualified for the job -- studying poverty solutions in Ward 8.

"I think when Mr. Bennett finishes his work, he will find that Miss Donna Watts Brighthaupt exceeds the qualifications for that [and find] no connection between our personal relationship and business -- I didn’t supervise her," Barry said in a news conference after the private council meeting. "He also will find that the work product is more than adequate to meet the $15,000 that she got paid." 

Also on the table was whether ethics regulations should be put in place for the Council. According to a statement released by Council Chairman Vincent Gray, Bennett's report may include recommendations on "rules, policies, and procedures" for identifying conflicts of interest.

Barry's decision to pay his then-girlfriend with taxpayer money has provoked fierce discussion in the community. But many council members have been hesitant to weigh in on the matter, and only began commenting Friday on the latest scandal involving the former four-term mayor. 

"I don't need something written down to tell me that I'm to behave honorably," said Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh.

"It's been very distracting, obviously, for Council Member Barry and for everybody who works for him--for the rest of us it's embarrassing," said Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham.

At-Large Councilman Kwame Brown added, "Right now, people are trying to keep their houses, trying to keep their jobs, trying to teach children to read . . . Yeah, this is a distraction."

A timeline for the review has not been released. Bennett is doing the review pro bono, Gray said.

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