Mayor’s office condemns IG’s ‘deeply inappropriate,’ ‘racist’ online post

A top aide to Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott condemned a social media post from Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming in a letter to two city oversight boards Tuesday, asking them to review Cumming’s “politically-charged conduct” online.

The post on Cumming’s personal Facebook account late Monday included an AI-generated image of the mayor chomping on a cigar, clutching a glass of brown liquor and holding a fistful of luxury shopping bags. It escalated a simmering dispute between Scott and Cumming over access to city records.

Cumming is suing the administration in hopes of forcing Scott and his team to hand over records related to his flagship violence prevention initiative.

Now, the Scott administration is asking for a review of Cumming’s online activity, arguing it raises questions about her independence.

J.D. Merrill, Scott’s chief of staff, sent a letter to the Baltimore City Board of Ethics — for which Cumming serves as ex officio director — and the advisory board that oversees the inspector general to request an investigation.

Cumming’s post, which has since been removed, linked to a video by YouTuber Hannibal Is Hungry that relies heavily on clips from Baltimore-based Fox 45 and shares misinformation about Baltimore’s budget.

Behind the rendering of Scott, the AI image included a Louis Vuitton suitcase overflowing with stacks of cash and jewelry. “Exposed,” proclaimed a headline beneath the mayor’s image.

“A friend send me this very interesting video from YouTube - ties many things together,” Cumming wrote.

In the letter, Merrill characterized the post as “deeply inappropriate, misleading, damaging, and racist” and called it the latest example of the inspector general’s problematic social media activity.

“It is impossible to ignore the collective evidence of her concerning behavior, which has included the utilization of official government accounts to elevate political messaging outside the scope of her office,” Merrill wrote.

Cumming said she didn’t initially realize the image was AI-generated, but deleted her post after someone alerted her.

“It seemed like it was a nice summary,” she said, acknowledging she didn’t watch the whole video. “I took it down. If I do something wrong, I’ll fix it.”

Scott and Cumming have been publicly sparring since early this year. In January, City Solicitor Ebony Thompson announced she was terminating Cumming’s “unfettered” access to city legal records, which she found to violate attorney-client and work-product privileges.

Weeks later, the administration further curtailed Cumming’s direct access to a broader collection of files, citing legal advice from the state that said Cumming was subject to restrictions in the Maryland Public Information Act.

Cumming and two members of her advisory board sued Scott, asking a court to enforce a subpoena demanding records related to the mayor’s violence intervention program. The case is still pending, but retired Baltimore Circuit Associate Judge Pamela J. White rejected the administration’s efforts to have Cumming’s attorneys disqualified Friday.

During a hearing, White indicated her thoughts on the case, calling the administration’s position “concerning.” City officials “cut off, foreclosed, shut down” Cumming’s ability to investigate, she said.

Merrill’s letter noted the ongoing legal dispute, arguing there is no place for the “vile, racist and caricatural content like what IG Cumming shared on her social media.”

“Promoting this type of content to the public we serve raises serious questions on IG Cumming’s ability to bring fairness and objectivity to the essential work of the OIG,” Merrill wrote.

Merrill’s letter included images of other posts by Cumming that he argued were “elevating racially-charged content.”

In one, Cumming retweeted a post quoting Nick Shirley, a conservative influencer who caused a firestorm last year when he visited day cares in Minnesota in an attempt to prove they were fraudulently accepting funds. The probe prompted a freeze on federal child care funding to the state.

In the retweeted post, Shirley is quoted as saying, “People are scared to be called Islamophobic and racist, which has nothing to do with what’s going on. Fraud is fraud.” A video from Fox News is included.

Cumming reposted the tweet and wrote, “FRAUD IS FRAUD,” adding a fist emoji.

Cumming told The Banner she supported Shirley as a “fraud fighter,” but removed the post.

“If things become political, I try to remove them, because I’m not a political person,” she said. “And fighting fraud should not be political in any way.”