WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is scrutinizing a trip that Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser took to Qatar, but the mayor is not a target of the investigation, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Friday.

The probe into a trip Bowser took with staff in 2023 is focused on a lobbyist tied to the Democratic mayor, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation.

The New York Times reported Thursday that federal prosecutors in Washington had opened a corruption investigation into Bowser and were looking into potential violations of bribery or campaign finance laws related to the trip.

But Washington’s top federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, said in a statement Friday that the mayor is “not under investigation, nor is she the target of any investigation.” A spokesperson for Pirro declined to further comment.

Asked about the investigation at a press conference Friday, Bowser said she had not been contacted by any federal officials and had not received any subpoenas, nor a target letter.

“I have checked our lawyers, and we have a regular kind of chain of who talks to who and we have not been contacted, not related to me or to anybody else as I’m aware,” Bowser said.

The trip in question included a stop in Doha, where the mayor met with international leaders on the issues of infrastructure, sports and education. She also promoted Washington as a destination for investment and tourism. Qatar donated $60,000 to help cover the cost of the trip for the mayor and members of her party.

Bowser told reporters Friday that it was “a business trip, a publicly noticed trip to promote Washington, D.C., in Qatar.”

“That’s what we did and we don’t have any bones about saying it,” she said. The mayor credited the trip with helping the city to keep two of its professional sports teams in the downtown area.

The scrutiny of the trip comes a time when the mayor is deciding whether to seek a fourth term.

It also comes at a critical moment when the city is responding to a government shutdown that has impacted businesses and a federal workforce as well as a continuing deployment of National Guard troops on the street through at least February 2026.

The New York Times reported Thursday evening that the Department of Justice is investigating D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser over a foreign trip she took that was at least partially paid for by Qatar, but a report from Axios later disputed the New York Times report.

Axios first reported a senior Trump administration official says Bowser’s “name was mentioned in something,” but that she is not under federal investigation. Axios says the unnamed official blamed the rumor of the investigation on a disgruntled fired FBI agent.

A Trump administration official later told News4 Investigative Reporter Ted Oberg that Bowser is not the target of a federal investigation.

The mayor’s office said Bowser did not have anything to say about the Times report Thursday night but will be taking questions Friday at an event already on her calendar.

Bowser went to Dubai in late 2023 with four executive staff members for a United Nations conference on climate change, the Times reported.

The investigation started after the mayor’s office incorrectly told reporters the Chamber of Conference paid for the trip.

Her office told News4 that after the trip they became aware of a “staff error,” which led to the lack of a standard donation agreement for travel expenses. That paperwork has since been correctly submitted, Bowser’s office said. They said they have a letter from Qatar confirming they paid tens of thousands of dollars for the trip for Bowser and her staffers.

It’s not unusual for outside organizations or governments to pay for such trips, but it appears the mayor’s office didn’t handle the reporting properly in the beginning.

D.C. Code requires city officials to file proper reporting paperwork for gifts and donations such as a trip.

The mayor’s office said they heard about an investigation when the Times called Thursday afternoon for comment.

“We have checked with our lawyers, and the District has not been notified of any investigation,” the mayor’s office said in a statement. “This was a business trip; DC representatives regularly travel to promote Washington as a destination for investment and growth.”

“In some cases, economic development funds are used for the business travel; in other cases, the host or organizer cover the expenses,” the statement said. “All proper paperwork for this standard donation is on file.”

Bowser previously has been asked about who paid for a trip to the Masters golf tournament – questions that have never fully been answered.

The investigation comes after the federal takeover of D.C. — and looming threat of another one — and as Bowser considers running for a fourth term.

Bowser was scheduled to attend a gala Thursday night where she was to receive an award for her work in the redevelopment of the RFK Stadium site.

“It’s like Vienna in 1914,” said James Carville in his unmistakable drawl. “It’s like the opening of The Guns of August.” Barbara Tuchman’s classic account of the first days of World War I opens with the funeral of King Edward VII, which, for all its pomp and circumstance—nine kings arrive, followed by “five heirs apparent, forty more imperial or royal highnesses, seven queens,” and a “scattering of special ambassadors”—marks the start of a steep descent into war.

Near Carville stood two police officers, guarding a metal detector erected outside the expansive basement ballroom of The Ritz-Carlton in Washington, DC. There, a few hundred of the people who once ran the town gathered on Monday to mourn the passing of one of their own.

The memorial was for Robert Barnett, the famed Washington lawyer, power broker, and confidant of presidents who negotiated blockbuster book deals for superstar clients, including the Clintons, the Bushes, and the Obamas. The invitation-only service, held on a sunny November morning and attended by a dizzying collection of Washington’s boldface names, was a fitting tribute to Barnett, who died in September at the age of 79. Nearly 700 people packed into the ballroom, filling every seat, to hear speeches from his many clients: Bill and Hillary Clinton, Bob Woodward, and James Patterson, to name a few.

Barnett was once labeled “the kingpin of Washington book deals” by The New York Times, but his influence extended far beyond the capital. He negotiated contracts for politicians, television stars, writers, royals, and celebrities, but also acted as a trusted counselor to many; Hillary Clinton wrote in her 2003 memoir—for which Barnett secured her an $8 million advance—that he was the first to suggest to her that Bill might have indeed had an affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Washington has changed a lot since Barnett made his fame there. Donald Trump twice stormed into office with a pledge to drain the swamp, which manifested not in a departure from grubby DC corruption, but certainly a humbling of the establishment insiders who ruled the capital for decades. In Trump’s Washington, many of the powerful in the room at The Ritz felt more powerless than ever. They loathe what he’s done to the East Wing. There is nothing they can do about it.