No doubt about it, Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming made a mistake by posting that AI-generated image of a cigar-smoking, liquor-swilling Mayor Brandon Scott.

But Senate President Bill Ferguson’s extraordinarily harsh rebuke of her was the sound the city’s political establishment gleefully seizing on it and closing ranks.

Though she apologized for the post and quickly took it down, Scott’s chief of staff formally accused her of posting “vile” and “racist” material in a complaint to the city’s ethics board. The post was a link to a video produced by Black videographer Hannibal Darby (“Hannibal is Hungry”), who produces videos skewering politicians across the country.

Ferguson (D, Baltimore City) posted on the social media site X that Cumming’s public apology was “fine for personal redemption,” but was “not sufficient professionally under the circumstances.”

He didn’t elaborate on what would be “sufficient professionally,” but the implication was unmistakable that it should include some kind of action by the OIG Advisory Board, which reviews the IG’s performance and has the power to remove her.

Ferguson claimed that Cumming’s post was an “attack” on the mayor that demonstrated why legislation allowing IG’s to have access to data must be carefully crafted to “limit the potential damage” from “personal vendettas” that can “cause people to make bad choices.”

• May 6 City Hall Hearing: At 1 p.m. on May 6, a City Council committee will hold a public hearing on whether to allow voters in November to determine whether the inspector general can regain access to city records denied by the Scott administration. The hearing is expected to draw a large crowd.

His ridiculous insinuation that one social media misstep raised concerns that Cumming may allow her emotions to override her professional judgment when it comes to adherence to the law and the conduct of investigations reflected more on his own judgment than hers.

It was a cheap shot beneath the dignity of his office.

When referring to personal vendettas, why didn’t Ferguson point out that it was Mayor Scott’s vendetta against the IG that precipitated a life-or-death battle over the effectiveness of her office? Ferguson apparently has a case of selective outrage.

Another Pretext

I first wondered if Ferguson had taken sides when he blamed the lawsuit filed by Cumming and her advisory board for hindering the legislature’s ability to pass a bill that preserved the access by local inspectors general to public records in the waning days of this year’s legislative session.

It sounded like victim blaming, given that the suit was a last-ditch attempt to reverse decisions by the city solicitor’s office that “foreclosed, cut off, shut down any enforcement or enforceability option on the part of the inspector general to pursue its subpoenas and to advance its investigatory responsibilities,” in the words of the judge presiding over the case.

In my opinion, two things were abundantly clear before Cumming’s social media post.

The first is that the entire run-up to the city solicitor’s decision to instruct city agencies to deny the OIG access to records deemed confidential under the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) – beginning with the alleged discovery of “unfettered” access by the OIG to law department records – was a pretext.

It was the cover story for the decision to shut down the OIG before it uncovered information embarrassing to the mayor. The timing indicates the decision was related to an investigation of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) and its SideStep program.

Secondly, it was clear that Scott was pulling out all the political stops in his effort to eviscerate the OIG.

That was evident from how quickly the rest of the City Council, including President Zeke Cohen, distanced themselves from a bill proposed by Councilman Mark Conway to put a measure on the November ballot making the IG a co-custodian of records under the MPIA. Scott certainly has Ferguson in his corner.

The Mayor’s Strategy

The attacks on Cumming’s ethics and character are intended to divert attention from Scott’s goal of neutralizing the OIG’s ability to investigate fraud, waste and abuse within his administration.

City residents will be the losers if Cumming’s post continues to be a distraction.

It is sad to see the president of the Maryland Senate sell a bit of his soul to try to keep the attention on Cumming and off the mayor’s attempts to diminish her watchdog office’s power.

“City residents will be the losers if Cumming’s post continues to be a distraction.”

Finally, a word about the hand-wringing in some quarters over Cumming’s high political profile.

It would be ideal if IGs could stay in the background like judges and prosecutors, but unlike for judges and prosecutors, the structural independence of IGs in Maryland is not built into the law.

Cumming, like Kelly Madigan when she was Baltimore County’s inspector general, chose to appeal to the public to block efforts to destroy the effectiveness of her office rather than sit quietly by and let it happen.

They did the right thing. But their actions thrust them into the ugly worlds of city and county politics and came at a personal and professional cost.

Madigan moved on after being undercut by County Executive Kathy Klausmeier, and Cumming is now being dragged through the mud.

Maybe a little more appreciation of what inspector generals do, and a little less focus on one isolated mistake, is in order, especially knowing that Scott will survive a satirical video but the future of the OIG is far less certain.

• David A. Plymyer retired as Anne Arundel County Attorney after 31 years in the county law office. He can be reached at dplymyer@comcast.net and Twitter @dplymyer.•