Graham’s New Press Guy Picked a Lousy Day to Start

It's been a week now since Ted Loza, chief of staff to Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham, was arrested on federal bribery charges.

LL and other news outlets have explored a lot of angles in the arrest's aftermath, but there's a media angle that's been neglected: Graham's press guy was just getting settled in.

"Thursday was my second day," says Brian DeBose. "I came in, and I was starting to just get myself acclimated to the computer and the system. And, you know, by 12:30 the FBI came in to Ted's office," he says, "which vastly changed the job."

DeBose is no stranger to the city hall media; he was a longtime Washington Times reporter. He spent eight years at the paper, including a stint on the editorial board in his last months there. (He's also married to Washington Post police reporter Theola Labbé-DeBose.) He's taking over for David Lipscomb, another former WaTimes reporter who is now returning to that paper.

"This is the first political advocacy job I had, DeBose says. "I like excitement and it is exciting."

And how.

DeBose says his reportorial expertise came in handy last week. "I've learned lessons a long time ago about how to handle these sorts of things. There's only so much you can do in this sort of situation."

Another thing came in handy, too: "My friend sent me her crisis memo. She's the former communication director for William Jefferson," says DeBose, referring to the Louisiana congressman found by federal agents to be stashing $90,000 in his freezer. "That's there where I learned my lessons."