WASHINGTON (AP) - Staffers for embattled District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray have sought the advice of a crisis-management expert who advised Monica Lewinsky and inspired the television drama "Scandal."

Emails obtained by The Associated Press show that the mayor's chief of staff was introduced to Judy Smith by a mutual friend and later arranged a breakfast meeting with her. A spokesman for the mayor confirmed the meeting but says Smith "has no role in the administration, paid or otherwise." Smith declined to comment.

Gray has been engulfed in scandal for the majority of his 19 months in office. Three campaign aides have pleaded guilty to federal offenses, including a longtime friend of Gray's who admitted that she helped facilitate a $650,000 "shadow campaign" to help get him elected.