D.C. Council reprimands Jim Graham in lottery contract flap The D.C. Council reprimanded member Jim Graham on Monday for improperly intervening in a dispute over the city lottery contract four years ago. Graham was scolded by the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability this month after it found "substantial" evidence that he broke the District's code of employee conduct in 2008 by intervening with a local businessman in a Metro land deal. The board declined to sanction the Ward 1 Democrat, saying it could not levy penalties when there were no penalties in place for council members at the time of Graham's conduct. But Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) proposed that Graham be reprimanded - a formal statement that his colleagues disapprove of his conduct. The controversy stems from Graham's role as the council's representative on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in a real estate deal. Graham has been accused of offering to support businessman Warren W. Williams's bid on the lottery contract if Williams would forgo his interest in the Metro land deal. Graham has denied wrongdoing.