Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington, D.C.’s longest-serving delegate in Congress, was scammed out of thousands of dollars by people who claimed to be part of a cleaning crew, according to police.
Suspects entered the 88-year-old Democrat’s home Thursday and charged more than $4,000 to her credit card for work they did not perform, NBC4 first reported.
A D.C. police report obtained by the outlet claimed that Norton is in the “early stages of dementia,” which her office denied.
“The medical diagnosis included in the police report was based on an assumption the reporting officer was unqualified to make,” Norton’s office pushed back in a statement.
Norton’s longtime aide, Jacqueline Pelt, reported the incident to the police, Politico reported.
“The Congresswoman is safe and the fraudulent charges have been reported to the police and her bank,” Norton’s office added in the statement. “She thanks MPD and Capitol Police for their quick response.”
Norton, the oldest member of the House, has held her seat since 1991 and has indicated that she plans to seek reelection next year.
“I say that my seniority is what is very important, and I am not going to step aside,” Norton responded when she was asked whether she planned to extend her political career into her 90s.
Donna Brazile, the former interim chair of the Democratic National Committee and Norton’s campaign manager in 1990 before going on to serve as her chief of staff, called for her former boss to step aside last month.
“I’ve known my dear friend Eleanor for 44 years, since I came to Washington after graduating from college,” Brazile wrote in an op-ed for the Washington Post last month. “She is no longer the dynamo she once was, at a time when D.C. needs the kind of energetic representation in Congress she provided for decades.”
Brazile added that it was in Norton’s “best interest” not to run for reelection.
D.C. Councilmember Robert White, one of two council members who have announced he is running for Norton’s seat, said he was “deeply upset” about the incident in a statement.
“As her former staffer and someone who studied and learned alongside Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, I am deeply upset about her being defrauded by cruel people claiming to be performing work in her home,” White said.
A video last month sparked concern when Norton struggled to walk away from a podium unaided.
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