Washington, D.C.’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, is mired in yet another controversy with the Trump administration after the New York Times reported she’s being investigated by the Department of Justice for corruption. However, an Axios report late Thursday evening claimed the mayor is not under investigation after all.  

The purported investigation centers on a 2023 trip Ms. Bowser took to the Middle East. 

“Federal prosecutors have opened a corruption investigation into Mayor Muriel E. Bowser of Washington, examining a foreign trip she took with members of her staff that was paid for by Qatar,” the Times reports in a three-byline article. 

The Times reports that the investigation, which it said is being handled by the U.S. attorney’s office at Washington, is reportedly facing serious obstacles caused by frequent turnover within the justice department. This includes the recent firing of the FBI agent heading the probe, according to the Times. That agent, who was not identified, was dismissed for having a role in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s “Arctic Frost” investigation into President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Axios said an unnamed Trump administration official “blamed the rumor of the investigation on a disgruntled fired FBI agent.” It wasn’t clear from the Axios report if this “disgruntled” fired FBI agent is the same fired agent who had been handling the probe of the Middle East trip.

Ms. Bowser’s trip to Qatar has been the subject of much unwanted attention.  

An April investigation by WJLA-TV in Washington found that Qatari officials paid $61,930 for Ms. Bowser and her staff to travel to Doha just prior to an important UN conference. The mayor’s chief of staff, Lindsey Parker, did not submit and approve the donation on her travel expense forms, as required by city rules.

WJLA reported that Ms. Parker accompanied Ms. Bowser on the Middle East trip. 

At first, a representative for Ms. Bowser told WJLA reporter Scott Taylor that the trip was covered by the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, a claim the chamber denied. Her office then clarified that the trip was paid for by a nonpartisan group, the U.S. Conference of Mayors. But that group paid $43,600 for only a portion of the trip. All told, Ms. Bowser’s trip to the Middle East cost more than $105,000, according to WJLA.

It was not immediately clear whether Ms. Bowser’s office provided anything in exchange for the free travel. In a statement Thursday night, the Ms. Bowser’s office said it had not been notified of any investigation.

“This was a business trip; DC representatives regularly travel to promote Washington as a destination for investment and growth,” the office said. “This regular work has helped bring investment, infrastructure, new business, new grocery stores, growth, and jobs to the District. In some cases, economic development funds are used for the business travel; in other cases, the host or organizer cover the expenses. All proper paperwork for this standard donation is on file.”

News of the justice department’s possible investigation into Ms. Bowser is the latest development in a long-strained relationship between the city and the Trump administration. In August, Mr. Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington and took control of the Metropolitan Police Department, deploying FBI agents and National Guard troops to maintain “law and order.”

Ms. Bowser opposes the presence of troops in the district, calling the deployments “authoritarian.” Unlike her counterparts in Los Angeles, Chicago, and other big cities where Mr. Trump has sent or is intending to send troops, Ms. Bowser has less authority because the District of Columbia is controlled by the federal government and is not a state.

Mr. Trump himself came under fire in May for accepting a luxury Boeing 747 jetliner from the Qatari royal family, considered one of the biggest foreign gifts ever given to the U.S. government.