D.C.’s supposedly tough new Board of Ethics and Government Accountability says its first order of business will be a “preliminary investigation” of D.C. Council member Jim Graham’s highly suspect conduct in 2008, when he represented the District on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority board.

But the “preliminary” work has already been done. An independent investigation just released by Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft — an outside law firm commissioned by Metro — has determined that Graham improperly tried to link a deal for development of Metro-owned land in his ward to a $120 million D.C. Lottery contract. This is why the board needs to launch a full-scale probe of Graham immediately.