Court filings outline steering of D.C. lottery deal

Sep 16, 2011, 10:06 am (15 comments)

Washington, D.C. Lottery

In recorded conversation, official suggests ousting winner of bidding

Documents filed in federal court Thursday portray in vivid detail the efforts of a number of D.C. officials, including then-Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray and Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi, to manipulate the outcome of the competitively bid, multimillion-dollar D.C. Lottery contract.

The documents, supported by transcripts of tape-recorded conversations, were filed in response to efforts by the city to resist deposition subpoenas served on now-Mayor Gray and council members Jack Evans and Jim Graham in a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by a former lottery procurement officer.

The officer oversaw the competitive bidding on the lottery in 2008 and was fired after he complained to Mr. Gandhi's Office of Integrity and Oversight and the D.C. inspector general that officials had sought to influence the outcome of the $38 million lottery award.

"Jim Graham is on a personal vendetta here," Angell Jacobs, a supervisor, said to the procurement officer, Eric Payne, according to a transcript of a taped conversation filed in U.S. District Court. "For Gray and Graham, this is all personal. This is about their friends, or who is not their friends for Graham."

The contract was awarded in 2008 to Greek gambling giant Intralot and a local company led by D.C. businessman Warren C. Williams Jr.Mr. Gray, Mr. Graham and Mr. Evans opposed Mr. Williams' involvement and sought to have him removed, according to court papers.

"Can't we just get rid of Williams?" asked Mr. Evans, a lawyer, at an April 2008 meeting attended by Mr. Gandhi, his general counsel David Tseng and then-Lottery Director Jay Young, the court documents state. After being informed by the procurement officer that such measures were not "legally permissible," Mr. Evans replied, "Why not?" the documents state, to which Mr. Gandhi added, "Yeah, why not?"

Mr. Gandhi's office said Thursday that it does not comment on pending litigation.

In an email to The Washington Times, Mr. Graham said it would be inappropriate to answer questions that are the subject of the subpoena.

"I am unable to comment on these allegations. The lawyer for the D.C. Council has advised me against it since this is a matter of pending litigation," he wrote.

In May 2008, the court documents state, Mr. Payne met with Mr. Gray, Mr. Gandhi and others to discuss modifying or canceling the contract award, which Mr. Payne felt "was inappropriate and constituted efforts to unduly influence the contract selection process."

Immediately after the meeting, the court documents state, Mr. Gray and Mr. Gandhi met privately, after which Mr. Gandhi, in the presence of Ms. Jacobs, now chief of staff to Mr. Gandhi, and others "repeatedly cajoled" Mr. Payne to cancel the proposed lottery contract and reopen the process.

The court documents state that a complaint by Mr. Payne prompted an undue influence/fraud investigation by the inspector general later that year. Special Agent Johnnie Bright, a former FBI supervisor, was assigned to the case, the documents state, and told Mr. Payne that she had encountered inappropriate conduct in the District, and assured him she "would not allow these incidents to be swept under the rug."

Reached at her home recently, Ms. Bright referred questions back to the inspector general, who through a spokesman declined to comment.

As The Times has reported, the contract eventually was rejected by Mr. Gray and his council colleagues and rebid, with Intralot winning the second award as a sole bidder in 2009. Informed that the contract would not be approved by the council without a local partner, Intralot entered into an agreement with Maryland businessman Emmanuel S. Bailey, who assumed a 51 percent share of the lottery profits through a subcontracting arrangement with Intralot.

That partnership took place months after a private meeting with Mr. Gray in his office with Mr. Bailey and Intralot lobbyist Kevin P. Chavous.

David P. Gragan, former chief procurement officer for the District, and former Attorney General Peter J. Nickles called for a new inspector general investigation of the final contract approval in 2010 but, as The Times recently reported, it went nowhere. Mr. Evans recently spoke with Inspector General Charles J. Willoughby and was assured the inspector general was acting on the request.

The inspector general has the authority to refer evidence of criminal violations to the U.S. Department of Justice.

While the second round of bidding was fraught with irregularities, according to Mr. Gragan and Mr. Nickles, the first round was mired in political rivalries and efforts by D.C. officials to influence a competitive process governed by District procurement law, the court documents filed Thursday state.

At one point, the documents state, Mr. Graham told Mr. Payne to contact Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Dottie Love Wade, who informed the officer she had lottery experience. Later, the original Intralot partnership complained to the procurement officer that Ms. Wade offered Mr. Graham's support if she received a "stay at home job, a car and other perks," which the company reportedly denied, the documents state.

Recently, The Times also reported on an email exchange between members of the Intralot team and lawyer A. Scott Bolden, who represents Mr. Williams, in which Mr. Graham allegedly offered to support Mr. Williams' contract award with Intralot if he would agree to withdraw from an unrelated Metro contract award he had won with a company aligned with former Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, the main nemesis of Mr. Gray.

"This is complete bs and we are getting very close to corruption, bid rigging and other inappropriate conduct and I am not going to be a part of it," Mr. Bolden advised his clients, according to the widely distributed emails obtained by The Times.

Mr. Gray and Mr. Evans, who has vowed to hold hearings on the lottery contract and an online poker proposal, did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Bolden, in a statement, said: "Mr. Payne's affidavit speaks for itself and it speak volumes in connection to the D.C. Council's inappropriate involvement in the original D.C. Lottery procurement process. This sworn testimony now confirms my client's worst fears."

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Washington Times

Comments

jarasan's avatarjarasan

I know of what I write,  I told you so.  They are corrupt to the bone this is only the surface.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

LOL, never stand between a Democrat and a pile of money that he wants to steal. That's when the long knives come out and it's every man for himself.

It was my wont to call this "Democrats Gone Wild" but nowadays it's just Democrat Standard Operating Procedure. 

DC can even corrupt Gandhi, LOL.

sully16's avatarsully16

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Sep 16, 2011

LOL, never stand between a Democrat and a pile of money that he wants to steal. That's when the long knives come out and it's every man for himself.

It was my wont to call this "Democrats Gone Wild" but nowadays it's just Democrat Standard Operating Procedure. 

DC can even corrupt Gandhi, LOL.

LOL , They ruin everything they touch.

temptustoo's avatartemptustoo

  Wonder who is getting rich off the Illinois lottery deal....     Everyone knows Illinois is almost as corrupt as New York.........

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by temptustoo on Sep 17, 2011

  Wonder who is getting rich off the Illinois lottery deal....     Everyone knows Illinois is almost as corrupt as New York.........

Almost as corrupt?

I bet Illinois could teach NY a few things about corruption.

The Illinois guys get caught more though, so I don't know if the NY guys would listen.

Like that old line about Illinois Governors all serving two terms - one in office and one in prison.

louise black

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Sep 16, 2011

LOL, never stand between a Democrat and a pile of money that he wants to steal. That's when the long knives come out and it's every man for himself.

It was my wont to call this "Democrats Gone Wild" but nowadays it's just Democrat Standard Operating Procedure. 

DC can even corrupt Gandhi, LOL.

Cussing Face I just be d@@@!! you people never lear n that it's not the Democrats that holding everything up it's  your precious Republicans and Tea Potters. They can't get over a Black man being in the White House,yes the WHITE HOUSE!! As Mitch McConial said "We going to make him a one term President. That's yet to be seen.You never speak of those corrupt Republicans. All this gangster bull came about when a Black man took office. When will White American haters accept the fact Black Americans are here to stay. We are not going nowhere ,you can cut all the social programs you want. We survive slavery.No No

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by louise black on Sep 21, 2011

Cussing Face I just be d@@@!! you people never lear n that it's not the Democrats that holding everything up it's  your precious Republicans and Tea Potters. They can't get over a Black man being in the White House,yes the WHITE HOUSE!! As Mitch McConial said "We going to make him a one term President. That's yet to be seen.You never speak of those corrupt Republicans. All this gangster bull came about when a Black man took office. When will White American haters accept the fact Black Americans are here to stay. We are not going nowhere ,you can cut all the social programs you want. We survive slavery.No No

Weezy, Weezy, Weezy, calm down, you're going to have a coronary.

You always like to turn every conversation into a racial thing when it's not.

This is about politics, not race.

Everyone knows Democrats are the biggest crooks, nobody cares what color they are, crooks are crooks, stop living in the past.

And the fact of the matter is the Democrats have never had a real black man run for office anyway. If you want to vote for a black man then you should vote in the Republican primary for Herman Cain. He's a real black man, descended from American slaves. Obama is what Webster's Dictionary describes as a Mulatto - half white and half black - and he has no connection whatsoever to Americans slaves. And he's been a total disaster as President. We just had our first ever period of ZERO job growth in our history. And that's after he's been at the helm for 3 years - you can't blame this one on Bush. This recession is Obama's baby and he wants to make it worse.

Republicans ended slavery Weezy, Lincoln was a Republican. All the slaveholders in the south were Democrats. It's time you woke up and stopped believing all the lies the Democrats have been telling you all your life.

Or are you willing to sellout your pride and dignity and self-respect for food stamps? Too many good people suffered under slavery for you to sell out their legacy for 30 pieces of silver, Weezy. Don't do it. Do what they only prayed they could do someday - stand on your own two feet.

louise black

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Sep 21, 2011

Weezy, Weezy, Weezy, calm down, you're going to have a coronary.

You always like to turn every conversation into a racial thing when it's not.

This is about politics, not race.

Everyone knows Democrats are the biggest crooks, nobody cares what color they are, crooks are crooks, stop living in the past.

And the fact of the matter is the Democrats have never had a real black man run for office anyway. If you want to vote for a black man then you should vote in the Republican primary for Herman Cain. He's a real black man, descended from American slaves. Obama is what Webster's Dictionary describes as a Mulatto - half white and half black - and he has no connection whatsoever to Americans slaves. And he's been a total disaster as President. We just had our first ever period of ZERO job growth in our history. And that's after he's been at the helm for 3 years - you can't blame this one on Bush. This recession is Obama's baby and he wants to make it worse.

Republicans ended slavery Weezy, Lincoln was a Republican. All the slaveholders in the south were Democrats. It's time you woke up and stopped believing all the lies the Democrats have been telling you all your life.

Or are you willing to sellout your pride and dignity and self-respect for food stamps? Too many good people suffered under slavery for you to sell out their legacy for 30 pieces of silver, Weezy. Don't do it. Do what they only prayed they could do someday - stand on your own two feet.

Big Grin AngelRdgrnr I think by now you know, you  are one of my favorite LPM , I know that you know, I know the history of Civil Rights when it came to Black American. The only thing wrong with this picture is that the Dems and GOP switch places after the Civil Rights movement.It was something like the Southern Strategy. There have never been as much disrespect for the  office as now! That's a fact!!Red Devil

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by louise black on Sep 23, 2011

Big Grin AngelRdgrnr I think by now you know, you  are one of my favorite LPM , I know that you know, I know the history of Civil Rights when it came to Black American. The only thing wrong with this picture is that the Dems and GOP switch places after the Civil Rights movement.It was something like the Southern Strategy. There have never been as much disrespect for the  office as now! That's a fact!!Red Devil

"...Dems and GOP switch places..."

Well now, I know that you know you're one of my favorites too now, Louise.

And I'm glad to hear that you're going to "switch places" as you say, and become a Republican.

Herman Cain will be happy to receive your full, unbridled support and if elected will return respect and dignity to the office of the President.

jarasan's avatarjarasan

I love Herman Cain! Mr. Cain rocks the 999!

Drum Guitar

jarasan's avatarjarasan

Quote: Originally posted by louise black on Sep 23, 2011

Big Grin AngelRdgrnr I think by now you know, you  are one of my favorite LPM , I know that you know, I know the history of Civil Rights when it came to Black American. The only thing wrong with this picture is that the Dems and GOP switch places after the Civil Rights movement.It was something like the Southern Strategy. There have never been as much disrespect for the  office as now! That's a fact!!Red Devil

You're kidding right?  Let me remind you about respect for the office before BO.

gwandbunny

jarasan's avatarjarasan

Quote: Originally posted by louise black on Sep 23, 2011

Big Grin AngelRdgrnr I think by now you know, you  are one of my favorite LPM , I know that you know, I know the history of Civil Rights when it came to Black American. The only thing wrong with this picture is that the Dems and GOP switch places after the Civil Rights movement.It was something like the Southern Strategy. There have never been as much disrespect for the  office as now! That's a fact!!Red Devil

The Democrats are still massah, and you just can't open your eyes or mind wide enough to understand you are still being duped by the Democrat massa.  The Democrats haven't changed at all, you are being used.  The Repubs are still trying to set the Democrats' remaining slaves free.  No party has switched places,  the remaining slaves stayed with their owners and can easily just walk away.  Just walk away, set yourself free,  be all you can be.

The thirteenth amendment from Wiki:

The Thirteenth Amendmentto the United States Constitution officially abolished and continues to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, passed by the House on January 31, 1865, and adopted on December 6, 1865. On December 18, Secretary of State William H. Seward, in a proclamation, declared it to have been adopted. It was the first of the Reconstruction Amendments.

President Lincoln was concerned that the Emancipation Proclamation, which outlawed slavery in the ten Confederate states still in rebellion in 1863, would be seen as a temporary war measure, since it was based on his war powers and did not abolish slavery in the border states or any other areas where slavery was still technically legal.[1]

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by jarasan on Sep 25, 2011

I love Herman Cain! Mr. Cain rocks the 999!

Drum Guitar

Yes We Cain!  Thumbs Up

tiggs95's avatartiggs95

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Oct 5, 2011

Yes We Cain!  Thumbs Up

Cain is Able...Get it..From the Bible dummy..tiggs has to explain everything...

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