Photo by Adam Fagen

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson says in a press release that the Council next week will vote on whether to formally reprimand Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) for his role in a 2008 deal to find a new contractor for the D.C. Lottery.

The Board of Government Accountability and Ethics issued a report earlier this month following its investigation of Graham’s role in the lottery contract, and found that there was “substantial evidence” that Graham used his influence to secure the contract for a bidder who agreed to back out of the competition for a separate contract to develop land owned by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Graham sat on the WMATA board at the time, and that development contract eventually went to a different firm.

Although the ethics board’s report was damning, it was also carried no weight to punish Graham. The board decided that as Graham’s activities happened prior to the passage of the ethics law that empowered the board, it was unable to issue any sanctions.

Graham’s lawyer slammed the board at the time, accusing it of not letting his client contest any of the allegations at hand. A Washington Post editorial then called on Graham to resign, but he told his constituents he has no plans to do so.

However, the Council is equipped to punish its own and Mendelson, after a few weeks of silence, is finally responding. The Council will meet Monday to vote on a resolution that would formally reprimand Graham, and potentially strip him of his oversight of the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration. Jurisdiction over ABRA would be returned to the Consumer and Regulatory Affairs Committee, which is chaired by Vincent Orange (D-At Large).

“Councilmember Graham’s actions constitute a clear violation” of Council rules, the reprimand resolution reads. “The Council finds, from two years of controversy, the three investigations, and widespread public comments, that Councilmember Graham’s actions have adversely affected the confidence of the public in the integrity of the District government.”

The last member of the D.C. Council to be formally reprimanded was Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), who was sanctioned in 2010 following an investigation that concluded he took a cut of a city contract awarded to his then-girlfriend.

Mendelson plans to introduce the resolution later today.

Update, 10:50 a.m.: In a phone interview, Graham says his lawyers are currently seeking an injunction and restraining order against the ethics board. “What the board did was it found it could not issue sanctions without violating my constitutional rights,” he says. “And then, of course, they went on to issue its punishing findings. All of that was done without the hearing that’s guaranteed to me.”