A deliberative roundup of one city’s local politics. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning! IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

  • Pass It On: HTJ is Just Fine

    • Good morning sweet readers! LL went to an IKEA for the first time over the weekend. It was just like visiting Sweden, if Sweden were a giant big box store that sold $1 hotdogs. News time:

    Let Me Explain Myself, Not That I Should Have To: Attorney General Irv Nathan felt compelled to defend himself against people who “should know better” and questioned his decision to settle with Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. without extracting a confession from Thomas first. In a Post op-ed, Nathan writes, “It is not my office’s duty or responsibility to extract confessions from civil defendants, which may explain why our standard-issue office supplies do not include waterboards or torture racks. It is our duty to sue people who cheat the District or its residents and to seek appropriate recompense while leaving moral judgments or political conclusions to others, including D.C. constituents.” He goes on to list all the reasons why a confession wasn’t part of the settlement before adding that “a thoughtful observer can deduce the significance of a settlement without the need for express confessions. Where a settlement is entered into early in the litigation, before any denials have been entered or any discovery taken, for virtually the full amount of the claim, a reasonable outside observer can fairly draw the conclusion that the defendant has recognized that a publicized trial would not inure to his benefit.” But wait, Thomas says he settled because it was best for the city, not because fighting the suit would not inure to his benefit. Maybe Thomas can clear that one up in a future op-ed. Meanwhile, Georgetown Dish columnist Chuck Thies counts how many times Nathan brings up the feds’ “criminal investigation.” And Thomas sent his colleagues a letter saying it’s not nice to rush to judgement.

    AFTER THE JUMP: Who Are You, Tommy Wells?; Gray to Staff: Keep Your Mouths Shut; EHN in Fender Bender with Police…

    Who Are You Tommy Wells?: Ward 6 Councilmartyr Tommy Wells may have lost his beloved transportation committee but he did land himself a puffy profile in the Post Style section. “It’s not in my DNA to not do what’s right,” says Wells. Council Chairman Kwame “Fully Loaded” Brown makes a cameo to state, again, that he didn’t strip Wells of his committee chairmanship as punishment for Wells’ investigation into Navigatorgate, while Wells says “that the ethical scandals hovering over the council have strained relationships among the members. ‘I think it’s worse now than it’s been in my five years on the council. My colleagues have talked very badly about each other. They have said awful things about each other to me. . . . I think the council is in disarray.'”

    You Expect Me To Not Talk: Mayor Vince Gray administration’s has asked its staffers to keep quite “about revealing potential cost-saving and revenue-raising measures they discuss during a top-to-bottom performance review of city government this year,” the Post reports. “During the past two weeks, nearly 100 employees have been given the confidentiality agreements by Suzanne Peck, a former chief technology officer for the city and Metro, who is heading the One City Performance Review. … Brian K. Flowers, the mayor’s general counsel, said that if he had known about the decision to distribute the agreements, he probably would not have recommended it. … Flowers, who did not sign the agreement, quickly prepared an addendum that would clarify that the nondisclosure agreements do not supersede employees’ rights to report ‘waste, fraud, abuse and criminal activity.'”
    In Other News:

    • Updates on “Operation Adams Morgan.”
    • Congress ignoring Ward 8, says British newspaper.
    • D.C. DOH rejects 31 applications for medical marijuana dispensaries.
    • Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser had a fundraiser over the weekend. Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander did too, at the mayor’s house.
    • Act now, scofflaws: D.C. DMV ticket amnesty begins today.
    • Eleanor Holmes Norton involved in fender bender with MPD cruiser.
    • Young people to Gray: we need jobs. Gray to young people: if you didn’t get a summer job, it’s your own fault.
    • Jonetta: “The tax man doesn’t want to collect a tax.”
    • Councilmember Phil Mendelson wants pushers, punchers, and spitters to face stiffer punishment.

    Gray sked: 8:30 a.m. appearance at Association of Boxing Commissions Annual Conference. 9:30 a.m. National Marathon announcement; 11 a.m. interview with Polish TV.

    Council sked: Recess.