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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Good afternoon sweet readers! LL’s wife has told him in no uncertain terms that he cannot cheer for Tom Brady‘s Patriots because of Brady’s high level of skeeviness. But cheer for the Giants? Arrg. Maybe they’ll just cancel the Super Bowl. News time:

Rich Man Talk: Do you ever wish you were rich enough to be able to say whatever you want? Welcome to the world of Don Peebles, the mega-developer who delivered a big kiss off to Mayor Vince Gray and Council Chairman Kwame “Fully Loaded” Brown in today’s Washington Times. “Disgusted with the District’s political scandals and with what he calls “mediocre and self-serving leadership” among the city’s “entrenched” political community, Mr. Peebles told The Washington Times on Saturday that he thinks a couple of hundred-thousand dollars to back a recall effort against Mr. Gray and Mr. Brown would put them in ‘deep trouble.'” Peebles, you may recall, did some serious flirting with a mayoral run in 2010 before backing Gray. (The two have a shared friend, former Gray campaign chair Lorraine Green.) Peebles dropped a $100,000 to try and convince Ward 8 residents that former Mayor Adrian Fenty did not care for black people. LL asked Gray for a reaction this morning to Peebles’ trash talk. Hizonner had no comment, then almost gave LL an off-the-record comment before laughing and thinking better of it. LL’s question for the rest of you: Why didn’t Peebles take his recall threats to the Post? Wouldn’t that have stirred things up more? UPDATE: A Peebles spokesman calls to say that the Times got it wrong and the Peebles is only contemplating a recall effort against the mayor, not Chairman Brown.

AFTER THE JUMP:  Housinggate Rolls On; Gandhi Makes it Rain; Taxi Troubles…

Housinggate Rolls On: The Post must have had awards season on its minds when it ran this story about Gray asking the inspector general to investigate the shenanigans at the Department of Housing and Community Development that the paper thoroughly detailed on Monday. It’s not enough to do a good investigative piece, you have to show your work had an impact. The problem with today’s Post story is that it’s missing a key detail: namely that the Gray administration, specifically DHCD Director John Hall, asked for an IG investigation late last week, before the Post investigation ran. At least that’s according to Gray’s spokesman and the copies of Hall’s letter that was sent to reporters yesterday. The timing is important because Councilmembers Michael Brown and Jim Graham have been angling to appear on top of this story, with Brown issuing a Saturday news release saying he’s asked for an IG investigation. The Post‘s story led to this DCist piece suggesting the mayor is a Sally-come-lately when it fact, his administration was first on the draw.

Money, Money, Money: D.C. government ended fiscal year 2011 with an extra $240 million. DCFPI explains what it all means, and why undoing a recent income tax increase should be a no-go.

In Other News:

  • A lot, and LL means, a lot, of D.C. cabbies crowded the 4th floor of the Wilson Building yesterday to express their displeasure.
  • Pepco, always wanting more.
  • If you can’t get press from your undergrad’s paper, who can you get press from? Eh, Ward 4 challenger Max Skolnik?
  • Ward 8 challenger Darrell Gaston: Vote for me.

Gray sked: 8:15 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.: Community Justice 2012: 2nd International Conference of Community Courts; 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.: Matthews Memorial Terrace Apartments Grand Opening; 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: “Blacks in Wax”/Black History Month Announcement; 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.: D.C. Diplomatic and International Institution Sustainability Pledge Signing.

Council sked: Historic Preservation Review Board Nominees at 2 p.m. Community Schools initiative at 4:30