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At last, the companies behind D.C.’s failed sports betting regime are facing some consequences for the long-held allegations at the heart of the tortured deal: That they misled the District to win the lucrative contract.
Intralot and its top subcontractor on the sports betting deal, Veterans Services Corporation, have agreed to pay the city a combined $6.5 million to settle a case pursued by Attorney General Brian Schwalb over alleged violations of D.C. contracting laws. Although the two companies do not admit wrongdoing, they both promised not to repeat their practices that gave rise to Schwalb’s investigation in their other business with the city. That’s a relevant detail considering that both have won quite a bit of work from D.C. over the years.
Schwalb got the two firms to pay up after arguing that they skirted the city’s minority contracting requirements. In its application for the initial contract, Intralot promised that VSC—theoretically, a small, locally based business—would do most of the work associated with running the city-backed sports betting program. But VSC, run by political insider Emmanuel Bailey, existed mostly on paper and didn’t have the resources to perform the functions it promised, according to the attorney general’s office. Instead, Intralot provided everything to operate the city’s sports betting app via a subsidiary “in exchange for return payments from VSC,” according Schwalb’s office.
“This is a warning to any company that tries to manipulate and exploit District contracting laws, especially laws intended to build the capacity of the local businesses vital to our economy,” Schwalb wrote in a statement. “Intralot and VSC’s sports betting deal was a sham from the start—an elaborate scheme to secure a lucrative, high-profile opportunity on a sole-source basis while circumventing the District’s small business contracting laws.”
For more about the settlement, and what it reveals about the District’s flawed contracting procedures, read the full story online.
—Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)
After seven years, the two U.S. Park Police officers who shot and killed Bijan Ghaisar are returning to active duty this week. Officers Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya have been on leave since the shooting and were indicted for manslaughter in Fairfax County in October 2020. The charges were dismissed and the Justice Department declined to file federal civil rights charges. The officers won’t immediately return to patrol duty while USPP figures out the appropriate roles for them through the grievance process, according to union head Kenneth Spencer. [Post]
ESPN Bet will soon join other major sports betting companies operating in D.C. Under D.C. law, sports betting companies must partner with one of the city’s professional sports franchises—ESPN Bet is partnering with Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which is already partnering with Caesars. [WBJ]
Conservative Post columnist Jennifer Rubin is the latest to defect from the hometown paper. The 62-year-old cited the decision to spike a satirical cartoon showing the Post’s owner Jeff Bezos bending the knee to Donald Trump, as well as Bezos’ decision to block the planned endorsement of Kamala Harris for president, as reasons for her departure. She will join CNN analyst Norm Eisen to launch a Substack called The Contrarian aimed at combating “with every fiber of our being, the authoritarian threat that we face.” [Daily Beast, Status, Bluesky]
By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)
Outgoing U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves is taking credit for a drop in violent crime in the city during the end of his tenure, despite frequent accusations that his office’s low prosecution rate helped drive the crime spike. He’s also warning against pardoning Jan. 6 defendants, which President-elect Donald Trump has frequently contemplated. “There is no such thing as undoing the work of Jan. 6,” Graves says. “There will forever be a record of what happened on Jan. 6 that anyone that cares to know the facts can review.” [WTOP, WUSA9, NBC Washington]
Mayor Muriel Bowser is now taking applications from property owners seeking to convert empty downtown office buildings into more than just new housing. She’s offering a 15-year property tax freeze for building owners, which she expects could create up to 2.5 million square feet of new retail, child care, or grocery space. [WBJ]
The recent snowstorm strained parents who suddenly had to provide child care with schools and day cares closed. Is there anything the D.C. government could do to help? [Informer]
By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)
Celsius, the energy drink that’s packed with caffeine and was originally marketed to athletes, is being chugged like water on Capitol Hill—by reporters, congressional staffers, and members of Congress. The science is out on whether the stuff in the drink is, like, actually good for us. “It has all this stuff on the back of it that I haven’t really checked into,” says Victoria Knight, an Axios health reporter who admits a Celsius addiction. “But it does taste like it would be healthier.” [Post]
The former Marines who founded the popular local coffee chain Compass Coffee have split and are fighting in court over allegations of misspent COVID relief funds. The federal civil lawsuit filed by Harrison Suarez under the RICO statute accuses co-founder Michael Haft and his family of using relief funds to pay off their debt, invest in Union Kitchen, and invest in Bitcoin. Haft calls Suarez’s accusations “utterly untrue” and said Suarez had been experiencing “more severe behavioral health challenges” during the pandemic. [Post]
On Sunday, the Diner in Adams Morgan returned to its former 24/7 operating schedule—the first time since the pandemic. [X]
By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)
Credit: Dorvall Bedford
At Mosh Madness, a Slam Dunk for Local Music and Community
Dorinda took home the Mosh Madness trophy on Saturday and raised over $2,500 for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
Helmed by Washington National Opera, the American Opera Initiative pairs composers and librettists to create timely work that resonates with modern audiences. On Jan. 18, AOI will debut its latest creations, including world premiere operas from queer artists JL Marlor and Omar Najmi. “Cry, Wolf,” Marlor’s 20-minute piece with librettist Claire Fuyuko Bierman, has been getting a lot of attention for the timeliness of its story about three men navigating “dark internet ideologies” and the growing radicalization of young men. [Blade]
We can’t say country music star Carrie Underwood has ever impressed us, but she’s officially landed on our disappointing list. Underwood will perform at Trump’s inauguration on Monday. “Underwood is a more high-profile performer than the musical guests at Trump’s 2017 inauguration, signaling that the entertainment industry’s hesitance to embrace Trump has thawed since he left office,” Axios’ Ivana Saric writes. [Axios]
Out of Character, the one-man play written and performed by Tony Award-winning actor Ari’el Stachel, has opened at Theater J in a co-production with Mosaic Theatre. The performer, who identifies as “American-born, of Arab descent, and profoundly Jewish,” discusses the making of his funny and poignant autobiographical play. [DC Theater Arts]
By Sarah Marloff (tips? smarloff@washingtoncitypaper.com)
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