County Executive Urged To Resign, Drop Out Of Congressional Race

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — The Maryland Republican Party on Thursday urged Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski (D) to resign and drop out of his Congressional District 2 race.

The GOP cited reports of what they called “corruption allegations.”

“Johnny Olszewski has no business continuing to serve as Baltimore County Executive, let alone continue his campaign for Congress,” Maryland Republican Party Chair Nicole Beus Harris said in a press release. “Washington DC has enough corruption, the last thing we need is another crooked Democrat Congressman handing out government funds to his friends and supporters.”

Republicans pointed to Baltimore Sun and Baltimore Brew reports that Olszewski’s administration made significant payments to the county executive’s friend and real estate team.

The Baltimore Sun reported that Olszewski’s administration secretly paid over $83,000 to former firefighter Philip Tirabassi, brother of the county executive’s friend John Tirabassi. Philip Tirabassi had requested to transfer retirement credits for his city service time to his county pension, The Sun said. Olszewski told The Sun they made the payment after Philip Tirabassi threatened to sue for breach of contract, though officials warned the payment could break state and local laws.

The Sun additionally reported that John Tirabassi sold the county $4 million worth of dump trucks through his employer, Peterbilt of Baltimore. Olszewski told The Sun he didn’t know about the purchases.

The Baltimore Brew reported that the Tirabassi family also handled Olszewski’s “purchase and sale of property in St. Helena and the acquisition of land for his new residence overlooking the Chesapeake Bay at Millers Island.”

The Brew first reported that a county attorney was terminated after questioning the retirement case payout to Philip Tirabassi.

“If he refuses to do the honorable thing and drop out, we will be working every day between now and November to expose his corruption to voters, and defeat him at the ballot box,” Harris said.

Olszewski is running to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D). Olszewski was seen as the favorite to defeat challenger Kimberly Klacik (R) before these developments.

“Thank you for your leadership,” Klacik commented on the Facebook post with the Republicans’ press release.

Olszewski’s campaign manager, Asa Leventhal, said the GOP is trying to distract voters.

“The Maryland Republican Party continues to desperately grasp at straws to find any reason to distract voters from candidates like Kim Klacik, who back the extreme policies of Donald Trump — a convicted felon,” Leventhal told Patch in a Friday email. “County Executive Olszewski’s administration has been the most open and transparent in Baltimore County’s history. Johnny O will continue discussing the issues that matter most to Marylanders — defending reproductive freedom, lowering costs for middle class families, and protecting Medicare and Social Security for our senior citizens.”

Patch contacted the county executive’s government spokesperson to ask if he intends to resign. We haven’t received a reply. We will update this story if they respond.