Colorado Springs city councilman calls on mayor to address allegations of lying to FBI during hoax interviews

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Colorado Springs City Councilman Dave Donelson is now openly calling on Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade to address allegations that he lied during the hate crime hoax FBI investigation.

This all goes back to 2023 when a video of a burning cross was put in front of a 'Yemi for Mayor' sign with a racial slur.

Just recently, federal court documents revealed that Mobolade had been in frequent contact with one of the men accused of creating that video; presumably to influence last year's mayoral run-off election.

The story really heated up recently when the conservative media outlet, The Daily Wire, cited an anonymous FBI source, claiming that the mayor lied to agents investigating the alleged hoax; claims that KRDO13 is still trying to verify.

"I would ask the mayor to come forward and answer questions about whether or not he lied to the FBI, which is what's alleged in that report," Councilman Dave Donelson said on Monday.

The story he's referring to was published by the Daily Wire on November 21st. It levels new allegations that the mayor lied to the FBI, when asked if he was ever in contact with Derrick Bernard; the lead suspect in the hate crime hoax investigation.

According to the federal indictment, Bernard was in contact with Mobolade a total of five times prior to and after the video surfaced of a cross burning in front of a 'Yemi for Mayor' campaign sign, defaced with the "n" word.

The mayor's Deputy Chief-of-Staff responded to Councilman Donelson's recent demand for transparency saying, "We're certainly are aware of and are disappointed by the unfounded and unsourced allegations by the Daily Wire article. We're mindful and respectful that this is an ongoing investigation and so we do not anticipate any further comments, to be respectful of that investigation," Ryan Trujillo said.

Donelson followed that by saying, "I'm not asking about the investigation. I'm asking about if he met with the FBI twice, denied contact, then the DOJ interviewed him and he said he doesn't remember. That's my question."

Last week, a Mobolade spokeswomen issued issued the following statement:

"That incident during my campaign led to a very traumatic time for my family, my campaign team, and our community. My knowledge and interaction with Bernard was as a local media personality, and I was not aware at the time that he was suspected of this crime. I appreciate local and federal law enforcement's work in pursuing justice and sending a message that we will not tolerate such reprehensible behavior."

A city council spokesperson provided KRDO13 the following statement on Tuesday:

"Although Councilman Donelson has spoken publicly about this topic, he is doing so on his own behalf. City Council as a body will not be releasing a statement or commenting on it. City Council is focused on working together with Mayor Yemi and his administration to help the people of Colorado Springs have a wonderful holiday season."

The FBI provided KRDO13 the following statement on Tuesday:

"The FBI can’t speak about an open case outside the courtroom; we will decline to comment. I appreciate that you did your due diligence and asked."

The DOJ provided KRDO13 the following statement on Tuesday:

Thank you for the inquiry.  We have no comment.

Again, KRDO13 has not been able to independently verify the claims in The Daily Wire article, but if you would like to read it yourself, click here.