FBI agents arrested a Democrat serving on Cincinnati's city council Thursday for accepting bribes in exchange for votes, marking the third arrest on the council this year.
City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld faces federal corruption charges, and federal attorneys said more charges stemming from bribery relating to development projects are coming. Sittenfeld is set to make an appearance in federal court Thursday afternoon.
Sittenfeld was considered a favorite in the 2021 mayoral race, according to Cincinnati.com, having announced his candidacy for the Cincinnati mayoralty last July. Rising to the city council in 2011, Sittenfeld was the youngest person ever to serve in that position at 27 years of age.
It is not the councilman's first brush with controversy. Last year, Sittenfeld was involved in the "Gang of Five" scandal, which saw the release of secret text messages between five city council members maneuvering behind the scenes to influence city politics. The text messages involved accusations that a vice mayor had used his dying wife as a political prop, discussions of undermining the city's mayor, and coordination regarding the firing of the city manager.
Sittenfeld's ambitions took him as far as a U.S. Senate run in 2016, but after a poor showing he focused on city politics. He is also the brother of Curtis Sittenfeld, who wrote an alternative history of Hillary Clinton where she does not marry Bill Clinton.