Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington D.C.’s 88-year-old congressional delegate, claims to sit on multiple boards at prestigious institutions, but investigations reveal she hasn’t been active with them in years. Some of these positions no longer even exist according to a report by Luke Goldstein and Dan Boguslaw.
According to her latest financial disclosure, Norton lists positions on roughly half a dozen boards. However, when contacted, three organizations reported no recent contact with her, while two confirmed their boards had been dissolved years ago.
These revelations follow a troubling NBC4 report that obtained a police document detailing how scammers posing as HVAC repairmen defrauded Norton of $4,400 for services never performed. The report also noted that Norton has a caretaker with power of attorney who reported the fraud.
Norton, once a prominent civil rights leader who participated in the 1963 March on Washington, now appears to have outdated information on her ethics forms, suggesting her staff may be resubmitting portions automatically without updates.
Goldstein and Boguslaw observed that the boards Norton lists include the executive committee of the Yale Law School Association, the board of trustees for Antioch College, the lawyers committee for civil rights, and advisory boards at Georgetown’s Women’s Law & Public Policy Fellowship Program, American University’s Women and Politics Institute, and the Sewall Belmont House.
Repeated inquiries to these organizations yielded concerning responses. Norton was a founding member of Georgetown’s Women’s Law & Public Policy Fellowship Program and regularly hosted fellows for Capitol Hill lunches. However, according to a spokesperson, she hasn’t done so since 2019.
American University’s response was even more revealing: “The Women & Politics Institute no longer has an advisory board,” they wrote, per Goldstein and Boguslaw’s report.
Similarly, representatives for the Sewall-Belmont House explained that ownership transferred to the National Park Service in 2016, and the Park Service has no record of an advisory board or Norton’s current involvement with the site.
Two congressional sources confirmed Norton is largely absent from committee meetings and planning sessions. During the Trump administration’s deployment of trfcioops to Washington D.C., Norton was nearly invisible except for a generic condemnation statement.
Republican-led hearings on D.C. crime and public safety should have been Norton’s opportunity to defend her constituents, but she struggled through a prepared statement. Sources close to city council reported her “halting” performance immediately sparked discussions about organizing efforts to push her toward retirement.
Two city council members have since announced primary challenges: Robert White, the current at-large council member, and Brooke Pinto, the Ward 2 council member.
Despite these challenges, Norton has told reporters she intends to run for re-election at age 90, though her staff maintains she hasn’t decided.
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