Here's a story to watch. A prominent Washington, D.C. businessman pleaded guilty Monday to making more than $2 million in illegal contributions to federal and local political campaigns, including the 2010 D.C. mayor's race and Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 presidential run.<\/p>
Prosecutors say Jeffrey E. Thompson, an accountant and health care entrepreneur, used his businesses to bankroll a secret $400,000-plus get-out-the-vote campaign for then-D.C. Councilman Vincent Gray. Thompson also cut other checks to pay Gray's campaign workers, help fund a union election campaign and underwrite home improvements for a \"close personal friend\" of the mayor, they alleged.<\/p>