In the wake of federal raids at the homes and City Hall offices of embattled Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, one report asserted she has skipped town.
The first-term Democratic mayor slipped out of sight April 1, citing deteriorating health, just as Gov. Larry Hogan called on the state prosecutor to investigate allegations of "self-dealing." She has not been heard from since.
But after the Thursday morning raids, Hogan joined calls for her immediate resignation.
Meanwhile, CBS affiliate WJZ reported Pugh was at her home when the raid began — and has since left the state.
According to the Associated Press, Pugh's main spokesman, James Bentley, said he had not spoken with her and does not even know where she is.
But Pugh's lawyer, Steve Silverman, said he met with her Thursday afternoon to discuss "options" after the court-authorized searches by federal agents. He said a way forward "will be up to her," but did not offer more specifics, AP reported.
Silverman also said Pugh is "physically still ill" from a bout of pneumonia and "emotionally extremely distraught" following the searches by FBI and IRS agents.
For years, Pugh, 69, had negotiated lucrative deals to sell her "Healthy Holly" books to customers. She sold $500,000 worth of the illustrated paperbacks to the University of Maryland Medical System, on whose board she sat for nearly 20 years, AP reported. She also made $300,000 in bulk sales to other customers including two major health carriers that did business with the city, the news agency reported.
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