Bowser receives ethics complaint over trips to Qatar, Las Vegas, Mar-a-Lago

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks about 2026 budget

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser spoke about the city's fiscal year 2026 budget on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON - An ethics complaint was filed against D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser Tuesday morning for allegedly accepting illegal travel and hospitality gifts.

What we know:

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust filed an ethics complain, requesting the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability to investigate Bowser's trips to Doha, Qatar, for the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, and trips to Dubai, Las Vegas, Miami and Mar-a-Lago, according to a FOX News report. 

"The basic standard for elected officials is honest transparency, which means following all disclosure laws and willingly answering the public's questions. The mayor's unwillingness to provide basic information about numerous high-profile trips is unacceptable," Kendra Arnold, executive director of FACT, shared with Fox News Digital. 

Bowser and four staff members reportedly received over $60,000 from Qatar for a 2023 trip. FACT said D.C. has no expense record for the 2023 trip to Qatar, as well as trips to the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, and trips to Las Vegas, Miami and Mar-a-Lago.

"The District has no record of who paid for these trips or what public purpose they served, if there was one at all," Arnold said. "The ethics rules exist to protect against corruption, and when they are ignored, the public’s trust erodes. I urge the Board to investigate and enforce the law without delay."

DC officials cannot legally accept certain gifts, such as trips, lodging and transportation, unless they are donations to the district itself and approved before being used to carry out authorized functions. 

"Clearly Mayor Bowser’s trip to Qatar qualifies as a gift, and one that elected officials are personally prohibited from accepting. Additionally, this gift would not qualify as a donation made to the District because the donation was not recorded and approved before the donation was used. The District still does not even have a record of it," FACT concluded in the complaint.