Lacy Clay Is Likely Public Official No. 1 in St. Louis Bribery Scandal, P-D Reports

The scandal that rocked St. Louis last year, bringing down three members of the Board of Aldermen, may have ensnared two more civic leaders.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, using details in a newly released search warrant, says that former U.S. Representative Lacy Clay (D-St. Louis) and Alderman Brandon Bosley also played roles in the bribery scandal that sent former Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed and former aldermen Jeffrey Boyd and John Collins-Muhammad to prison for taking bribes from a local businessman.

One person who met with the unnamed businessman (later revealed to be Mohammed Almuttan) has been identified only as Public Official Number One. The meeting in June 2020 was to discuss sending government contracts Almuttan's way. Collins-Muhammad arranged the meeting and Public Official No. 1 left the meeting with a  $10,000 bribe for his assistance that was later returned.

The Post-Dispatch now says that clues in a recently unsealed search warrant reveal that Public Official Number One could be Clay, 66. The former congressman-turned-lobbyist served in that role for 20 years and is the son of the late U.S. Representative William Clay Sr., a civil rights legend who parlayed protests into a long career in Washington.

Clay denies any involvement with Almuttan or the bribery scandal. His name does not appear in the search warrant or any other material related to the FBI investigation.

But the Post-Dispatch builds a compelling circumstantial case, pointing out that Clay was in St. Louis for the June 18, 2020, meeting, according to his own Facebook.

Clay also has a long-running relationship with Collins-Muhammad, who sponsored a resolution honoring Clay after Cori Bush defeated him in 2020. Clay also donated $500 to Collins-Muhammad's reelection campaign.

Other details about Public Official Number One indicate that the official was connected to a city project that also involved the federal government. The Post points out that Clay was a key player in locating the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in his district.

In court filings, federal prosecutors allege Public Official Number One left his meeting with Almuttan with $10,000 in cash in an envelope, but later returned it.

During the meeting between Almuttan, Collins-Muhammad and Public Official Number One, the public official mentions that public places have "cameras and shit." After returning with the cash, the official asks instead for two checks for $5,000 each, made out to a political action committee. Those checks were never cashed.

But Almuttan and Collins-Muhammad dropped off the checks in person, which gave further clues, according to the Post-Dispatch. Identifying information seemed to point to the checks being left with Darryl Piggee, Clay's former chief of staff and treasurer of Clay's PAC.

The Post-Dispatch reached Piggee for comment, and he seemed to defend Public Official No. 1: "Whoever the guy was, I don't know if he's ever been in trouble for anything like that."

The Post-Dispatch also shared evidence indicating that Alderman Brandon Bosley, 35, might have been involved in the bribery scandal, linking him to the unnamed politician who asked Almuttan for $2,000 in order to write a letter supporting a tax abatement. The money was allegedly given to an assistant.

Bosley also denies accepting cash from Almuttan. "I never took nothing from him, never had any hand-to-hand exchange, nor hand-to hand-with assistants of mine," Bosley told the Post-Dispatch. "Period, point blank. That's a flat-out lie."

The Post-Dispatch reports that Bosley wrote a letter supporting the tax abatement for Almuttan within five days of the initial meeting.

Bosley is having a rough week. Yesterday, KSDK reported that police believe he should be charged with filing a false report.

In December, Bosley recorded himself on Facebook Live saying that a woman attempted to carjack him. He got out of his car with his gun and pointed it in the woman's face while asking if she needed help. The woman was lying on the ground in subzero temperatures, and Bosley said she had been hit by another car.

According to KSDK, surveillance footage shows a dark SUV hitting the woman and the SUV was identified as belonging to Bosley.  Police initially arrested the woman for carjacking, but released her a week later.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has said there is not enough evidence to press charges against Bosley, KSDK reports.

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