The Cincinnati Enquirer reports several boxes from Cincinnati Council Member Charlie Winburn's City Hall office are now in the hands of the FBI.
after a Winburn staffer moved them to the basement of the building last week.
Winburn responded by reading a prepared statement during Thursday's City Council meeting.
"I have the utmost confidence in my staff and I am committed to complete transparency and accountability as I personally seek to get to the bottom of everything that has happened," Winburn said.
Winburn said the boxes were mostly filled with old newspapers and what he called "desk clutter."
He suggested politics is behind the seizure and the call to the FBI.
"No one understands in my office why a simple call could not have been made to me or my staff by the City Solicitor," Winburn said. "Rather than impose on the time of the taxpayers and the Cincinnati Police Department to take possession of the boxes."
The Enquirer has at the Metropolitan Sewer District. Some of that spending was directed toward two people associated with Council Member Winburn.
To date, the FBI has never confirmed such an investigation.
