Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh's 'Healthy Holly' book sales now under state investigation
Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh is now being investigated by the state prosecutor over questions of corruption surrounding sales of her self-published children's book series, 'Healthy Holly.'
JUST IN: Health insurer Kaiser Permanente paid Baltimore Mayor Pugh more than $100,000 for "Healthy Holly" books during a time when it sought a lucrative city contract. https://t.co/eziPrQrSkA
- The Baltimore Sun (@baltimoresun) April 1, 2019
"Kaiser Permanente paid Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh more than $100,000 to buy about 20,000 copies of her 'Healthy Holly' children's books...when the company was seeking a lucrative contract to provide health benefits to city employees," according to The Baltimore Sun.
UPDATED: Kaiser Permanente, Associated Black Charities paid Baltimore Mayor Pugh almost $200K for 'Healthy Holly' books
In addition to the Kaiser payments, ABC solicited nearly $90K from multiple groups for books, most of which went to Pugh's company:https://t.co/amUpah4WUW
- Kevin Rector (@RectorSun) April 1, 2019
Mayor Pugh "will be cooperating with that investigation to the fullest extent possible," her attorney told The Baltimore Sun just now, in response to a query from a reporter about sales of Pugh's 'Healthy Holly' books to health insurer Kaiser Permanente and the nonprofit organization Associated Black Charities.
"As this matter is now being investigated by the state prosecutor's office, I am not in a position to comment," her attorney replied.
Excerpt:
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan asked the state prosecutor, who investigates public corruption, on Monday to start an investigation of books the University of Maryland Medical System bought from Pugh while she was on its board.
A retired investigator for the state prosecutor's office had also filed a written complaint with his former employer, requesting a criminal investigation.
Breaking: Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh is taking a leave of absence that begins at midnight, the city solicitor confirms. She has been engulfed in scandal over the sales of Healthy Holly children's books she self-published https://t.co/C4BfzYL8fd
- Ian Duncan (@iduncan) April 1, 2019
Pugh didn't set up this whole situation with the Healthy Holly books alone. Who else facilitated these deals? Who else has a similar scheme set up? Let's find out details all the way to the end.
- deray (@deray) April 1, 2019
Remember this story, where a Pugh aide pleaded guilty to funneling her cash through relatives, and we never found out where the money came from, and the mayor didn't say anything negative about what happened? https://t.co/PpHa7G6j2p
- Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) April 2, 2019
The brilliant reporting on this "Healthy Holly" scandal by the @baltimoresun is exactly why we need to support our local newspapers and local reporters. #RealNews https://t.co/CsHhr2PSj9
- Max Weiss (@maxthegirl) April 1, 2019
"Associated Black Charities also does business with the city. In January 2018, the city spending board gave the organization control of a $12 million youth fund under a deal that awarded the nonprofit $1.2 million for administrative costs." https://t.co/uEYdR9KRzb
- Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) April 2, 2019
Statement on Mayor Catherine Pugh taking leave of absence..cites "deteriorating" health pic.twitter.com/hOx1PZbEcV
- Jayne Miller (@jemillerwbal) April 1, 2019
It takes just 3,000 or so books to get on the WSJ best-seller list. Maybe 5,000-10,000 to be a NYT best-seller.
Mayor Pugh sold 120,000 of her books to hospitals where she served on the board / where the hospital was seeking a city contract. https://t.co/4FNbzI3RMK
- Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) April 1, 2019