D.C. politicos have mounted comebacks after getting caught taking bribes, embezzling money meant for needy kids, using public office to line the pockets of private clients, and, of course, smoking crack. In a town like this, maybe a sexual harassment scandal isn’t enough to qualify someone for a permanent exile.
At least, that’s what John Falcicchio is hoping. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s former right-hand man has slowly but surely started working his way back into the D.C. mix in recent months, half a dozen sources around the Wilson Building and the city’s real estate community tell Loose Lips.
Two sources, who requested anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic, say that Falcicchio has started taking meetings with prominent business leaders aligned with Bowser’s Green Team, with an eye toward establishing himself as a consultant of some kind. LL’s sources say Falcicchio is generally targeting big-name developers for these overtures, befitting his experience as Bowser’s deputy mayor for planning and economic development before two different sexual harassment allegations forced his resignation in March 2023.
It’s not clear how Falcicchio’s pitch has been received thus far, or who, exactly, he’s meeting with as he’s trying to drum up business (though he surely would have no shortage of options, considering his long history of wooing big donors in the real estate industry for Bowser and former Mayor Adrian Fenty before her). One source with Green Team ties speculated that hiring Falcicchio would be “more to return the favor for him, at this point,” rather than a serious bid to work with him, considering how toxic his reputation remains to some after three separate investigations substantiated accusations that he sexually harassed multiple women in the city government.
But he is, undeniably, rubbing elbows with all the same power players he used to run with before the scandal broke—City Paper contributor Tom Sherwood noticed Falcicchio listed among the attendees at the International Council of Shopping Centers’ Las Vegas conference this week, describing his employment with a firm in the “real estate services” industry. (D.C. officials, including Falcicchio himself, have used the ICSC conference as a key networking hub to woo major retailers to the District for years, and Bowser led a delegation there once more starting Sunday, May 19.) Sherwood also reported that Falcicchio attended the Masters golf tournament last month. Though his purpose in Augusta was unclear, it does not seem coincidental that several other prominent figures in D.C. politics were floating around the tournament too—LL and Sherwood found evidence that parking magnate Rusty Lindner, former Ward 4 Councilmember and Washington Gas lobbyist Brandon Todd, and former Bowser official turned top restaurant lobbyist Shawn Townsend also attended.
Despite the allegations of harassment against him, Falcicchio could be a powerful ally for any private company, given his intimate knowledge of the District’s inner workings. During his tenure with Bowser, he was broadly seen as the most powerful person within the government other than the mayor herself, so who better to help a developer navigate a tricky permitting process or resolve a dispute with a city agency? He consolidated so much power within the government that his absence has been felt deeply by Bowser’s team, LL’s Wilson Building sources say.
Falcicchio did not respond to a request for comment, nor has he ever commented on the scandal publicly since his resignation.
In many ways, Falcicchio’s return to the scene mirrors the recent renaissance for former Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans. Like Falcicchio, Evans was pressured to resign due to his various scandals, but he was never charged with a crime or otherwise delegitimized in the eyes of many longtime politicos. Falcicchio’s alleged misdeeds may be much more serious, but he has similarly avoided trouble with the law since his ouster. Evans needed four years to work his way back into the government’s good graces, recently winning an appointment to the city’s arts commission and a gig as a city contractor—maybe Falcicchio can pull off a comeback after just a year in the wilderness. (Evans himself tells LL that he’s also heard that Falcicchio has been making the rounds around town, but he has yet to run into the man once known as “Johnny Business.”)
At the very least, it seems Falcicchio has maintained close social ties with the Green Team, a close-knit, insular circle of business bigwigs, lobbyists, and government officials that has stuck together since the earliest days of Fenty’s rise. A trio of Wilson Building sources say they spotted Falcicchio in Instagram stories pictured alongside several Green Teamers at a wedding in Florida back in December. LL has yet to get his hands on the photos, but some say they spotted top lobbyist-slash-club owner Vinoda Basnayake in them, too.
Another Wilson Building source says that Falcicchio sent Christmas cards to a pair of “Green Team old-timers” this year. Both were women, though the source declined to identify them in more detail; the source added that both were surprised to receive the cards, but still felt obliged to reply.
Bowser herself even admitted to exchanging pleasantries with Falcicchio when the pair “ran into” each other at the Masters.
“I was watching golf, thousands of people were there and John walked by my path,” Bowser said during a May 10 press conference. “He spoke to me and spoke to the people that were next to me and then he kept walking … It was a surprise.”
Meanwhile, a source in the city’s real estate community says Falcicchio was spotted at a D.C. Building Industry Association event in late January. The group, which lobbies on behalf of the city’s large developers, was holding an evening of networking at the Ridge Club, located on the penthouse level of the brand-new City Ridge development in upper Northwest. LL hears Falcicchio didn’t find a very friendly reception, however, and was stuck standing a bit awkwardly in the back. Nevertheless, this source says he’s continued showing up to industry events throughout the first half of 2024.
Falcicchio’s attendance at ICSC would seem to follow that pattern. One source mused to LL that the conference would be a good place for him to go drum up business with potential clients outside of D.C.; Falcicchio already has plenty of relationships among the conference’s regulars after years of throwing lavish Vegas parties to woo retailers. (The mayor’s office insisted to Sherwood last week, however, that Falcicchio was in no way associated with D.C.’s delegation to the convention, which is set to include several councilmembers and a pack of administration officials.)
In registering for the conference, Falcicchio listed his title as “principal” at the firm “LGH,” but there isn’t much evidence of any such company registered in D.C. The closest thing LL could track down is a limited liability company dubbed “475K LGH,” with Falcicchio listed as its principal organizer. That firm lists a unit at 475 K St. NW as its corporate address, which is Falcicchio’s Mount Vernon Triangle condo; he used the same address in registering for the conference. (Amusingly, the unit is currently listed for rent for the low, low price of $2,650 a month. LL can only imagine the surprise of one of Falcicchio’s future tenants should they ever happen to google their landlord.)
It’s an open question how successful Falcicchio’s redemption tour will be moving forward. The accusations against him are undeniably disturbing—one woman told the Washington Post that Falcicchio tried to kiss her, masturbated in front of her, and sent her a variety of explicit messages, while another told LL that he pulled his pants down and asked for sex in exchange for help winning city contracts—but memories inevitably fade as time goes by. March 2023 may have only been 15 months ago, but time moves fast in the hectic world of D.C. politics.
That’s why some around the District political scene are so keen to see someone, anyone, pursue some accountability for Falcicchio, or at least develop a fuller accounting of his actions. At least four women have accused Falcicchio of sexual misconduct publicly—two who reported the claims to the city and two who detailed allegations to the media—and the Council-ordered independent investigation into his actions suggests that he harassed at least one other government employee.
LL reported last summer that both federal investigators and Attorney General Brian Schwalb’s office were weighing criminal charges against Falcicchio, but no one has prosecuted him so far. The Office of the Inspector General’s report did not make any referrals to other agencies for a criminal investigation either, despite many rumors that it might—the closest the report came was noting that one of Falcicchio’s accusers “explicitly suggested possible criminal behavior” on his part, and arguing that the city could’ve involved law enforcement agencies in discussions about that. There was also speculation that Falcicchio and the city could face civil litigation, after his first two accusers hired Katz Banks Kumin, a prominent law firm that handles major sexual harassment suits. But they instead chose a confidential settlement with the city, in order to protect the identities of the accusers.
Several women also alleged that Falcicchio mixed romantic pursuits with city business, though none of the various investigations into the matter were able to substantiate that, to the disbelief of the attorneys for his first two accusers. The OIG report itself has, overall, come as a letdown for anyone hoping for a more detailed accounting of the Bowser administration’s handling of the scandal, as it generally absolves the mayor of blame amid roadblocks in probing some of these questions more deeply.
Fundamentally, most of Falcicchio’s critics aren’t looking for him to be tossed in jail forever—that’s more familiar ground for Bowser herself—but he has yet to even publicly apologize. Other than giving up his powerful gig in city government (misleading the public for several days about the circumstances of his departure in the process), Falcicchio has endured basically no meaningful consequences for his actions. Now he’s trying to get back in the game anyway.
LL has to wonder: Why should anyone let him?