Mayor Sheila Dixon defended herself Wednesday against allegations that she accepted bribes from a former boyfriend, accusing state prosecutors of improperly leaking documents about her to the media.

“What really bothers me is I can’t talk about any of this, because it’s under investigation, but certain media people are getting information through the prosecutor’s office,” Dixon said. “That really bothers me, because there’s a process. I think that’s more disturbing than anything.”

Deputy State Prosecutor Thomas McDonough refused to comment.

Baltimore City Solicitor George Nilson said “incomplete information” about Dixon’s activities are being circulated in the media.

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Witnesses testified before a grand jury this week in connection with allegations of “bribery, perjury and misconduct in office.” The allegations are contained in a November affidavit filed by prosecutors seeking a search warrant of the offices of Doracon Contracting Inc., an East Baltimore company owned by Dixon’s former boyfriend, Ronald Lipscomb.

Dixon argued she was being tried unfairly by the media.

Her stern comments came after several media outlets, including The Examiner, reported prosecutors were looking into allegations that she misused gift cards intended for needy families.

Investigators are trying to determine whether Dixon solicited about $3,000 in gift cards and used them for her own benefit or gave them to city staffers, a source said. On Wednesday, sources said the use of the gift cards is now focused on an administrative assistant who may have used some of the cards during a difficult divorce.

“I’m not even going to comment on gift cards,” Dixon said. “What I’m not going to do is allow the media to be a judge or jury.”

Prosecutors are also investigating Dixon’s six-month relationship with Lipscomb. Dixon said she dated Lipscomb and exchanged gifts between late 2003 and early 2004. At the same time, she did not recuse herself from votes that benefited his companies, prosecutors said.

Lipscomb allegedly gave Dixon a $2,000 gift certificate to a furrier and paid for several out-of-town trips they took together while she was City Council president.

Dixon’s attorney, Dale Kelberman, said Dixon did not need to recuse herself from those votes, because Lipscomb was a subcontractor on the projects, not a general contractor.

“There are a whole list of companies that I have been recusing myself from since I was under federal investigation,” Dixon said. “Despite my relationship with Ron Lipscomb — who’s a great person — it was a personal relationship, but there’s a process. I wasn’t the mayor then. There’s a process Baltimore Development Corporation and housing goes through. That was under the O’Malley administration.”

Dixon said she continues to receive “overwhelming support from a lot of people in the city.”

“I’m going to survive this,” she said.

More city leaders came to Dixon’s defense Wednesday, questioning whether prosecutors are targeting the city’s first black female mayor.

“Obviously she’s not part of the old boy network, and when you’re part of the old boy network these types of things tend to disappear,” Del. Curt Anderson said.

City Councilman Robert Curran said Dixon’s votes on Doracon projects were backed by both the Board of Estimates and other lawmakers.

“Those bills passed either unanimously or with very token opposition,” he said. “It wasn’t like there was any heavy-handed arm-twisting at all. Those bills passed on their own merits. I’m on record voting for them all too.”

Dixon said she’s remaining focused on fixing the city’s ills, including a violent weekend filled with homicides.

“We have five incidents that happened this weekend that disturbed me more than anything,” she said. “... I would love to have a timely resolution to it, because this is really clouding a lot of good work that’s going on.”

lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com