D.C. CFO Natwar Gandhi. Photo by DCCA.

It’s one thing when claims of corruption and shady dealing in the District government are limited to the local press. But it’s a whole other thing when they make it into the pages of one of the country’s most widely read newspapers.

Today the New York Times reports on the District’s long-troubled Internet gambling program, which the D.C. Council voted to repeal last week. While the Gray Lady’s article doesn’t say anything that hasn’t already been said locally, it amplifies a homegrown scandal tenfold by highlighting the controversy over how the first-of-its-kind Internet gambling program came to be. The heart of the article:

To some, the episode has revealed not a glittering promise of gambling’s future, but an unsavory stew of political grudges and pay-to-play business dealings. It has cast a further shadow over a city government already embroiled in multiple federal investigations, one of which resulted in a council member pleading guilty last month to theft of public funds.

“If you’ve been around long enough, you look at some things and they just smell,” said Ann Loikow, a retired federal attorney and civic activist. “There’s just enough stuff that’s not right, and this is that case — on steroids.”

The article looks back on the 2008-2009 bidding for the D.C. lottery contract, and doesn’t paint a particularly good picture of either D.C. CFO Natwar Gandhi or Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), whose alleged acts at the time of the bidding have recently been the focus of repeated editorials in the Post. Gandhi’s reputation has taken a severe hit in recent weeks, and the Gray Lady’s focus on his role in the lottery contract and the subsequent Internet gambling program won’t likely help his chances at landing yet another term as the city’s chief bean-counter.