DC Councilmember Jack Evans under fire

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) -- New information is surfacing in the investigation into Ward 2 council member Jack Evans.

The city council will hire a law firm to conduct its own probe and issue a report of its findings.

Evans resigned his post as Metro Board Chairman one day before the FBI raided his Georgetown home.

Jack Evans was a hard man to find on Monday - although his staff indicated that he would be available at his office at some point.

The embattled councilmember has not made any public statements since the FBI searched his home last Friday.

On Monday, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said he will hire a law firm with expertise in investigations to work with an ad hoc committee of council members to look into Evans and his dealings on the council.

"Enough has come out that an investigation is warranted and at the same time enough has come out that taking these steps of removing him as chair of the committee is warranted," Mendelson said.

One day after Evans admitted that he had not been cleared by a Metro ethics investigation, the FBI raided his Georgetown home.

The agents spent a few hours inside the home before leaving with a number of items.

The warrant remains under seal, along with the evidence used by the FBI to get a Federal court judge to sign it.

The news for Evans got worse on Monday, with Chairman Phil Mendelson saying he will not even allow Evans to chair a hearing this Wednesday on the sports betting contract.

The council chair also says a full vote will be held on July 9 to remove Evans from his chairmanship of the finance committee, but Mendelson said he had not decided whether Evans will be removed from the committee entirely.

Mendelson said he felt betrayed by Evans' claim that the Metro ethics investigation had cleared him when it had not.

A memo shows that Evans failed to disclose a conflict of interest he had with a contract representing a parking company.

"Most recently what is very clear to everybody is that we were told--the members and the public were told that there was no finding of a violation by the Metro ethics committee when in fact there was and I don't think that misstatement can be minimized," Mendelson said.

The council chair also said today that the findings of the ad hoc committee's findings will be made public.