Baltimore's own watchdog is dragging Mayor Brandon Scott into court. The city's Office of Inspector General filed suit Tuesday, alleging that Scott's administration has blocked investigators from accessing records tied to potential fraud, financial waste, and abuse of public funds.

The target of the investigation: the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, known as MONSE, a program Scott created in 2020 to reduce gun violence through community organizing. A December report by the Office of Personnel Services and Benefits already found that excessive overtime and other missteps at MONSE cost Maryland taxpayers millions of dollars.

Inspector General Isabel Cumming wants to know where the money went. The mayor, it appears, would rather she not find out.

A "Stunning About Face"

According to the lawsuit, the Scott administration cooperated with Cumming's office until 2025, when the city "took a stunning about face" during her current investigation. Instead of handing over the requested records, the administration released heavily redacted pages and claimed that state law invalidates inspector general requests.

The lawsuit frames this plainly. Scott is hampering officials' "ability to adequately investigate complaints of fraud, financial waste, and abuse in City government." The filing goes further:

"The City's position disregards the plain language of the City Charter and the independence enshrined upon the [inspector general's office] through the will of the people, denying [her] direct access to information critical to carrying out the duties and responsibilities of the office."

That's not a minor bureaucratic squabble. That's an elected official using legal technicalities to stonewall the very office voters empowered to hold him accountable.

Scott's Defense: "The State Law Is Clear"

The mayor's position hasn't budged. Earlier in February, Scott told Fox45 that "the state law is clear" and that "the actions that we took complied with the state law."

His office offered a similar line to the Daily Caller News:

"As we have noted from the beginning, the Mayor remains committed to transparency and to an [inspector general's office] that is both effective and complies with the law."

Committed to transparency. While redacting documents. During a fraud investigation. Into his own program.

Scott's office also said it remains "eager for the Law Department to work with" Cumming "to outline renewed protocols that ensure the Inspector General's work proceeds uninterrupted, while complying with state law." Translation: the mayor wants to set the rules for his own investigation.

When "Complying With the Law" Means Hiding Behind It

There's a familiar pattern in urban Democratic governance. A mayor launches a splashy program, usually with lofty language about community investment. Taxpayer money flows. Oversight lags behind spending. And when someone finally asks to see the books, the administration discovers a sudden, urgent respect for procedural technicalities.

Scott isn't claiming the records don't exist. He isn't arguing that MONSE operated flawlessly. He's arguing that the inspector general doesn't have the legal standing to look. That's not transparency. That's a firewall.

The inspector general's office exists precisely for moments like this. Baltimore voters created the position to serve as an independent check on the city government. When the person being investigated gets to decide what the investigator can see, the independence is gone. What remains is theater.

Maryland Legislators Step In

The situation has drawn attention in Annapolis. Maryland legislators introduced a bill on Tuesday that would explicitly make Cumming's requests not subject to the state law that Scott's office has invoked as a shield. The bill's details, including sponsors and committee assignments, remain unclear, but the timing is notable. Lawmakers apparently saw the same problem the inspector general did: a mayor using a legal gray area to block accountability.

If the bill passes, it removes Scott's only stated justification for withholding documents. Which raises an obvious question: what happens when he runs out of excuses?

Millions Gone, Answers Pending

The December report already established the baseline. Millions of taxpayer dollars lost to excessive overtime and operational failures at MONSE. That alone would justify aggressive oversight in any competently governed city. Instead, Baltimore's mayor responded to a finding of waste by making it harder to investigate the waste.

This is a city that perennially struggles with violent crime, crumbling infrastructure, and population loss. Every dollar squandered on overtime fraud or mismanaged anti-violence programs is a dollar that didn't fix a street, staff a precinct, or keep a school open. The people who pay for MONSE with their taxes deserve to know whether it delivered anything beyond paychecks for insiders.

Brandon Scott built MONSE. His administration ran it. When auditors found millions in waste, his response wasn't to open the doors wider. It was to redact the pages and call a lawyer.

The inspector general is now asking a court to do what the mayor wouldn't: let the public see what their money bought.