D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles rejected an offer to settle a billing dispute between the city and a company owned by billionaire developer Don Peebles one day before suing the company, an e-mail obtained by The Washington Examiner shows.
Peebles was a Mayor Adrian Fenty opponent and funded efforts to oust the now lame-duck mayor. Nickles has said he did not file the lawsuit against Peebles’ company out of political spite. In a statement, Peebles described the lawsuit as “retaliation” for his criticism of Fenty and Nickles.
But the e-mail sent by the attorney general’s chief of the public advocacy section to Richard Aguila, general counsel for Peebles’ company 2100 Martin Luther King Limited Partnership, shows MLK was prepared to settle on Monday, the day before Nickles filed the lawsuit. Nickles did not immediately return a call for comment Thursday.
The e-mail in full:
Our settlement meeting ended this afternoon with no offer on the table. I then reported to the Attorney General that we did not have a settlement, and he confirmed for me that the District is to file a False Claims Act case against your client tomorrow morning. Shortly thereafter, the Director told me that she had just received a telephone call from your client offering to settle the matter.
Only the Attorney General has the authority to settle False Claims Act claims on behalf of the District, and that authority has not been delegated to the Director. Your client’s telephonic offer to settle these claims has been rejected by the Attorney General, and the District plans to file its False Claims Act case tomorrow.
Bennett
Bennet Rushkoff
Chief, Public Advocacy Section
