O’Malley under investigation for governor’s mansion furniture sale

Former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-Md.), a Democratic presidential contender, is being investigated for purchasing discounted furniture from the governor’s mansion shortly before leaving office, according to the Baltimore Sun.

The probe by the Anne Arundel County state’s attorney comes after the Sun discovered that O’Malley and his wife paid $9,638 for furniture that originally cost taxpayers $62,000. The furniture is now in the former governor’s half-million dollar home in Baltimore.

{mosads}The discount was authorized after O’Malley’s aides classified the furniture as “junk.”

His presidential campaign and Maryland Democrats are pushing back against the investigation, accusing the prosecutor of pursuing the case for political reasons.

“This is a bogus political attack that the Maryland Republicans have tried to make stick, and it’s sad that they’re wasting taxpayer resources on it,” O’Malley campaign spokeswoman Haley Morris told the Sun.

The Republican prosecutor, Wes Adams, declined to speak about the probe, saying it was against office policy to comment on “any matter under investigation.”