As part of his efforts to control political damage from Sulaimongate, Mayor Vince Gray has asked both his attorney general and the D.C. Council to investigate claims his campaign aides gave payments to failed mayoral candidate Sulaimon Brown and improperly promised him a city job.

Council Chairman Kwame “Fully Loaded” Brown has, in turn, asked the independent Office of Inspector General to investigate on the council’s behalf.

It’s worth noting that Gray is, or at least was, a huge fan of Inspector General Charles Willoughby.During a brief hearing on Willoughby’s re-appointment in the summer of 2008, Gray joined several councilmembers in lavishing praise on the IG and his office.

“I have found them very easy to work with,” said Gray, adding that he had “quite a nice dialogue” with IG staff when they invited him to a staff conference.

Gray lauded Willoughby’s “competence” and “professionalism” before saying calling then-Mayor Adrian Fenty‘s decision to reappointment Willoughby “very, very prudent.”

Of course, none of this is to suggest Willoughby won’t do a professional job investigating Brown’s claims; LL just wonders if Gray will have such nice things to say after the investigation.