The District prepaid about $17,000 on the two Lincoln Navigators leased at the request of D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown, two D.C. government sources with knowledge of the transaction confirmed to The Washington Examiner. The Attorney General’s Office has canceled both leases, but is now negotiating to get back some of the cash the city already paid for the sport utility vehicle, the sources said. Brown has been entangled in a scandal involving the Lincoln Navigators since it was revealed last week that he ordered one SUV in December only to return it because he disliked the interior color. He then requested a second to replace it. The first Navigator, however, didn’t go back to the leasing company. Instead, it became a backup SUV for the mayor. Brown asked both to be returned last week.
“It’s not unheard of for prepayments to take place on contracts,” one source said. “What’s unusual in this case is that the pre-payment was made on a lease.”
