Senior Baltimore employee under investigation sought to cut inspector general access, report shows

A new report by Baltimore City's Inspector General Isabel Cumming is the latest twist in an ongoing, often heated battle between Cumming and Mayor Brandon Scott over the fraud watchdog's access to records. 

Wednesday, the inspector general released the report, which claims a senior employee demanded her access to their records be cut off, while that employee was under active investigation. 

Scathing messages 

The unnamed senior Baltimore City employee sent messages to an information technology official in November of 2025 asking Cumming's office to be blocked from access to their information. 

"This overstep and overreach of her authority is too much, and I am very willing to take this issue on," the senior employee wrote.

Minutes later in another message, the employee demands, "Cut the access."

The inspector general said this senior employee was the subject of two investigations. 

One probe involved accusations that the employee wrote hundreds of emails that violated city policies.

Another investigation looked into allegations the senior employee created a hostile work environment.

"Those employees only agreed to meet the OIG off-site, and requested their information be held in strict confidence due to fear of retaliation," the inspector general's report states. 

In emails Cumming uncovered, that senior employee complained, "You know Isabel reads all my s*** because she thinks it's legal for her to have unfettered access. I won't even go there on her lack of integrity."

A quasi-city agency leader replied, "My Lord! You really need to talk to [city solicitor] Ebony [Thompson]. That is ILLEGAL!

The senior employee responded, "I have talked to Ebony. I said I was going to sue her in my personal capacity because I'm not scared of her a**. AT ALL."

You can read the entire inspector general report here.

Baltimore mayor responds 

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott addressed the report at an unrelated news conference Wednesday.

"When this person raised that, we did not change the access right away," the mayor stressed to reporters.  "…What this focused investigation raises to us is not about whether this person asks legitimate questions, which they absolutely did, but it goes to what we talked about before—again and again—and why we're here. The IG was misusing and abusing that access, snooping on people's emails, even looking at predetermined budget documents, including hers."

In her report, the inspector general included the screen every employee must agree to when accessing city computers—that they consent to being monitored. 

She also included the official response from the Mayor's office, which states, "…The most troubling fact is that this latest report is one of several that focuses on this senior employee in the past year, and it follows a concerning trend of retaliatory behavior you have undertaken against this senior employee after they raised legitimate concerns about overreach and abuse of authority from your office."

At the news conference, Mayor Scott said, "We're talking about whether this individual is being targeted for speaking out. We are following the law as the law exists today."

His administration has argued current law treats the inspector general just like a member of the press or public and limits the fraud watchdog to the Maryland Public Information Act. 

"Right now, this is what you get when there is no accountability that side at all," the mayor said in pointed remarks at the IG. 

IG denies mayor's allegations

In her written response, Cumming strongly refuted accusations she is improperly snooping and targeting employees.

"The OIG emphasizes that it does not conduct live or daily monitoring of employees' devices," the report stressed.

She said all records were accessed because of active investigations. 

Within weeks after the senior employee complained, the access Cumming's office depended on for years in fraud, waste, and abuse investigations was abruptly cut off as WJZ Investigates first reported in January. 

The mayor has denied the complaint was connected to the restrictions. 

Cumming declined an interview request Wednesday and told WJZ, "The new report speaks for itself."

She remains in a court battle for documents with the mayor, in which her legal team has won several key decisions. 

There is another hearing in that case scheduled for next week.