During a nighttime traffic stop that resulted in drunk-driving charges, Shadow Sen. Paul Strauss repeatedly brandished his U.S. Senate badge to police officers, court documents say.

The records also indicate that Strauss' blood-alcohol level was at twice the legal level of intoxication after his Oct. 1 arrest, which was first reported two weeks ago by City Desk. The details of the arrest come from a police officer's sworn affidavit [PDF; images below], which was recently filed in Superior Court.

Last week, Strauss pleaded not guilty at his first court appearance---two days after winning a third six-year term as shadow senator with over 80 percent of the vote. His office comes with few of the privileges enjoyed by full-fledged senators, but one perk he does have is official identification, which gives him access to members-only parts of the Capitol (but not the Senate floor).

The stop took place after D.C. cops Jose Rodriguez and Andrew Zabavsky clocked Strauss' car going 49 mph westbound over the Duke Ellington Bridge between Adams Morgan and Woodley Park; the speed limit is 25 mph.

While speaking to Strauss, Rodriguez---who gave the affidavit---noted that his breath smelled of alcohol and that he "had a blank stare, blood shot eyes and appeared confused." Strauss had "difficulty retrieving" his driver's license, according to the officer's account, but he had less difficulty producing another form of identification: While handing over his license, Strauss "displayed his US Senate ID with his right hand...[and] continued to hold the US Senate ID the entire time" until he was told to get out of the car.

"Is this necessary?" Strauss asked.

Read More "Strauss Flashed Senate ID to Cops Before Arrest" »

It's been approximately 23 hours since LL contacted Shadow Sen. Paul Strauss for comment on his Oct. 1 drunk driving arrest. After LL left a message on his cell phone, Strauss texted back: "What?" LL replied, "Obtained court docs today regarding oct 1 arrest. Want to get your side." No response ever came.

Since then LL has left several messages on his cell phone and at his law office, before and after the item was posted this morning. A person answering the phone at his law office says a written statement was forthcoming earlier this afternoon, but still nothing has arrived.

You've got LL's number, senator!

UPDATE, 5:05 P.M.: Hamil Harris at the Post got him on the phone earlier today, however briefly. He said: "I can't comment at this time because it is pending in court, but I do expect that this matter will be resolved favorably in court," Strauss said. Incidentally, there is no law saying you can't answer questions about a pending court case---whether you're standing for election or not.

UPDATE, 5:35 P.M.: Strauss responds to LL in an e-mail: "Because this matter is currently pending before the Courts, I can not comment on anything at this time. I expect that this matter will be resolved favorably in Court, and I look forward to continuing to serve the people of the District of Columbia in the future."

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Shadow Sen. Paul Strauss was arrested for drunk driving on Oct. 1, according to court records.

The arrest took place on the 2000 block of Calvert Street NW, on or near the Duke Ellington Bridge between Woodley Park and Adams Morgan. Records contain few further details regarding the circumstances of the arrest.

Strauss, an attorney by trade, was charged with driving under the influence, driving while intoxicated, and operating while impaired---three offenses with different definitions under District law, yet routinely charged together after drunk-driving arrests. According to the court documents, this is the first time Strauss has been charged with DWI. He is due to be arraigned on Thursday, Nov. 6.

It's not his first arrest, though. In July 2005, he was detained on a disorderly conduct charge after "confronting officers as they arrested another man," according to a contemporary account. Regarding that arrest, Strauss told a previous LL, "I was just trying to be helpful," Strauss says. "I was asking basic questions like 'Where are you taking him?'"

Strauss, a Democrat, is seeking, and is likely to win, a third six-year term in next Tuesday's election. LL left a phone message for him last night; Strauss sent a text message in response asking about the nature of the inquiry. LL sent a text message back telling Strauss he was asking about the Oct. 1 arrest. No response came.

Readers may wonder: Why is LL breaking this story a month after the incident in question and days before the election? That's because LL was informed of the court proceeding by an anonymous tipster on Wednesday. Strauss' name had been entered into the Superior Court docket system as "STRAVSS," which would have foiled any earlier attempts at due diligence.

A few months ago, Damien "Lincoln" Ober launched a campaign to run as a Libertarian against D.C. Shadow Senator Paul Strauss. Ober, a film-maker, bartender and writer, saw the effort as a science-fiction art project. Which may have been why he took the challenge so seriously.

With the help of friends and D.C. Libertarians, he got his name on the ballot. Now he's in negotiations with Strauss to hold a debate. Strauss seems willing to cooperate. In August, he told the City Paper he would participate in a battle of words with Ober if the whippersnapper got himself on the ballot. Updates can be found here.

A few months back, LL included in his column an item about how the federal Office of Special Counsel declared that the chair of the Board of Zoning Appeals was in fact subject to the Hatch Act---the federal law prohibiting political activity by certain federal and city employees. That opinion [PDF] was sent in response to an inquiry by At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson, who had been investigating the case of former BZA head Geoffrey Griffis in the context of a 2007 confirmation hearing.

It was all boring stuff, no doubt. So LL is tickled to note that someone noticed.

Yesterday, Robert Kabel, chair of the D.C. Republican Committee, dispatched a letter to the OSC asking them about the special case of Paul Strauss. The alleged conflict lies in Strauss' concurrent service for the past decade as an elected partisan "shadow senator" and as chair of the city's Board of Real Property Assessment Appeals, aka BRPAA (pronounced "BURP-uh," FYI).

That, in light of LL's disclosure of the Griffis letter, raises this issue: "The positions of Chair of [BRPAA] and Chair of the Board of Zoning Appeals are analogous. The Mayor appoints members of both Boards with the advice and consent of the Council. Both officials are paid on a per diem basis by the D.C. Government. If OSC found that the Hatch Act applies to Mr. Griffis' position, it would also seem logical that it applies to Mr. Strauss' position."

Strauss says that the OSC has already ruled on the matter. The issue, he says, first came up in 2006, amid his run for the Ward 3 council seat. At the time, the OSC rendered an opinion that his service in elective office and his service to BRPAA are not incompatible.

Kabel's letter asks that the OSC release both the Griffis letter and the 2006 Strauss letter. It does not ask for an additional review of the matter.

OSC spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi says that his office will not release the letters, as they are "advisory opinions" narrowly focused, rather than decisions dealing with a broader scope of law. "They're just FYIs to interested parties," he says.

The 2006 Strauss decision still holds, he says, because there was a differing interpretation of the types of service each board position entails. In the OSC's analysis, he says, the BZA head serves on a regular basis than the BRPAA head, who is forbidden from political activity only while discharging his board duties.

Why would the Republicans be pressing the issue? Strauss is running for re-election as a Democrat on Nov. 4; he has Republican competition, in Nelson Rimensnyder.

In any case, Strauss says, he's nearing the end of his BRPAA service. His term expired in July and he has not requested reappointment by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. Whenever Hizzoner gets around to naming a replacement, he says, he's out.

The GOP letter is pasted after the jump. Read More "More Hatch Act Antics: GOP Wonders About Strauss" »

Late Wednesday, LL's endorsements for the Sept. 9 primary were posted on this Web site. In them, regarding the Democratic shadow senator race, he gave a chilly endorsement to incumbent Paul Strauss, declining to endorse challenger Philip Pannell due to "his record of quitting in a huff every organization he's ever joined."

That was an exaggeration and a reference to Pannell's oft-deployed sense of outrage, which has led in recent years to his separation from groups including D.C. Vote (over Eugene Dewitt Kinlow's decision to depart the shadow race), D.C. for Democracy (over a lack of Ward 7 representation among Barack Obama delegates), and the D.C. Democratic State Committee (leading to claims that he was "riding into the sunset" and "done with local politics"). Those are all groups that a shadow senator needs to have effective working relationships with.

Early Thursday morning, while LL was sleeping, Pannell called and left a voice mail. In the morning, when he listened to the message, he heard Pannell in full bloom of outrage, with the Anacostia activist saying he would cease any further communications with LL or City Paper.

LL tried to mend fences with an e-mail, but he received in reply, "What you did goes beyond politics and is nothing more than the destruction of my reputation. You publicly degraded me. Please, please cease any further communication with me."

As easy as it would be to ascribe such a reaction to that oft-deployed sense of outrage, Pannell has a point.

Pannell has earned better than the one-sentence slam LL dished out. Here's a guy who has labored tirelessly for decades advocating for east-of-the-river causes, the gay community, and good governance among dysfunctional local Democrats. He's attended innumerable neighborhood meetings, shown up at just about every political event, and organized countless protests, all with little remuneration. That deserves more respect than what he got from LL this week.

LL isn't going to change his recommendation---he still thinks Kinlow, with his unmatched record on voting-rights advocacy, would have been the best choice for the job.

But Pannell's record isn't something to be mocked; he has done too much good and has been a pain in the asses of too many people who deserve it. Pannell needs to keep doing what he does---cataloging those east-of-the-river snubs and hammering the Nationals on their gay-rights record, for instance---but the shadow senator seat is not the place to do it.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Damien Ober, the Libertarian challenger to D.C.'s shadow senator, Paul Strauss, has turned in his petitions, hopefully with the 3,000 legit names he needs to get on the ballot. He'll find out if he made it Sept. 8. Ober says he learned a lot about the political process through the arduous work of gathering signatures. He learned how to explain his platform to one voter while scanning the crowd for his next prospect, although on one occasion, an impatient signatory threw the clipboard back in Ober's face. While Ober understands that it shouldn't be too easy to get on the ballot, he still thinks it's harder than it should be. "It's a one-party town," he says, "And the people in charge make the rules." Here's his newest video:

DENVER---TV star Hayden Panettiere, LL has learned, is scheduled to join the D.C. delegation for a luncheon this afternoon hosted by the District's shadow delegation.

Panettiere is buds with Shadow Sen. Paul Strauss, whom she met earlier this year while lobbying Congress on saving the whales. She taped a short YouTube voting-rights PSA with Strauss at the time.

More to come.

UPDATE, 12:24 P.M.: Strauss, moments ago, promised LL there would be two additional big name "Hollywood guests." He has printed up hand cards advertising the shindig.

UPDATE, 12:38 P.M.: LL's aggressive coverage of this issue continues. Shadow Sen. Michael D. Brown reports one of the as-yet-unnamed guests was in Officer and a Gentleman and the other was in the West Wing. And, he says, there's a fourth possible guest "bigger than the other three combined," but that's not confirmed yet.

UPDATE, 2:21 P.M.: The fourth big shot? Dan Rather! He hasn't shown yet, but he is said to be on the way. Brown reports he will accompany Rather to Mile High Stadium tonight for Barack Obama's acceptance speech.

UPDATE, 3:19 P.M.: Hayden is in the house, just delivered her remarks. The other celebs are David Keith of An Officer and a Gentleman and The Great Santini, and Melissa Fitzgerald from West Wing. No Debra Winger! Dan Rather is due within minutes.

Damien Ober, an aspiring Libertarian candidate for DC's shadow senator seat, has a new video up that hints at a potential scheme to infiltrate the Libertarian mainstream (obvs., that's sort of a contradictory idea). Like his other videos, which I wrote about this week, this one is intentionally mysterious. So I won't make any conclusions. I think the plot will continue to unfold. Ober says he still hopes to get enough signatures to get his name on the ballot -- but it will be tight. You can find him, and his petitions, at Marx Cafe.

Robert Brannum, the Ward 5 education activist and serial-hearing-testifier, has dropped his challenge to two-term incumbent Shadow Sen. Paul Strauss. Brannum made his announcement at the Ward 5 Democrats meeting Monday night in North Michigan Park.

"I did not have the time to put into an effective citywide campaign," Brannum told LL, citing a need to stay "close to home in Ward 5." Collecting the hefty 2,000-signature requirement for nominating petitions, he says, was not an issue.

That leaves Ward 8 activist Phil Pannell as the lone remaining challenger to Strauss for the Democratic shadown senator nomination. Brannum says he's throwing his support, such as it is, to Pannell, citing a need for "someone who is able to bring a new dynamic to the cause."

Brannum's electoral ambitions have not been completely foiled: He told LL he's planning a run for the State Board of Education, against incumbent Lisa Raymond for the nonpartisan seat representing Wards 5 and 6.

UPDATE, 2:44 P.M.: Brannum won't be challenging Raymond, actually---the makeup of the board changes next year, with one member elected from each ward plus an at-large member, rather than the current hybrid of mayoral appointees and elected members from two-ward districts. Raymond, who lives in Ward 6, is planning to run for that ward's spot, LL assumes.

Today is the first day candidates can pick up petitions for the Sept. 9 primary, and the big news is this: Ward 8 resident and longtime statehood activist Eugene Dewitt Kinlow plans to challenge incumbent Paul Strauss for his shadow senator slot.

LL was at the Board of Elections and Ethics' door bright and early this morning, and the scuttlebutt was soon flying that Kinlow would be filing. LL didn't see him before leaving around noontime but was able to reach Kinlow at his office at D.C. Vote this afternoon; he says he plans to pick up his ballot petitions before the end of the day.

Kinlow isn't the only one challenging Strauss; Ward 5 rabble-rouser Robert Vinson Brannum was in shortly after 9 a.m. to pick up his petitions for the Democratic primary. Longtime activist Nelson Rimensnyder also showed to file for the Republican primary.

Kinlow brings a lot more cred to his campaign against the 12-year incumbent than the others; he's outreach director for the District's most prominent voting-rights organization, is a member of one of D.C.'s most prominent political families, and has close ties to the local Democratic organization.

"I think that first of all, I've got a lot of interest in all things Washington D.C.; I've been interested in voting rights and statehood all my life," Kinlow says explaining his decision to run.

Kinlow says he and Strauss are good friends---a relationship that goes back to their college years---but he says it's time for a change in the shadow ranks. "He's had 12 years to do what he can do," Kinlow says. "I think I can do more. I think can do a better job."

Cinch that tie up, next time, Senator.

(BTW, I'm getting really good at spelling "Hayden Panettiere.")

The Shadow Delegation somehow roped Heroes' Hayden Panettiere into recording a PSA reminding you, District taxpayers, to donate to the D.C. Statehood Delegation Fund, which is used to support the doings of Shadow Sens. Paul Strauss and Michael D. Brown and Shadow Rep. Mike "Close Enough to Panettiere" Panetta.

The footage was shot back in January, Strauss says, when Panettiere was in town to lobby Congress on whaling issues. Strauss met her at the Barack Obama rally on Jan. 28.

"She was lobbying the Senate on whale issues as part of her Save the Whales campaign....I assured her that she would get my vote, but, hey, I don't get one." Over lunch in the Senate dining room, Strauss says, he explained "what I could do for whales and how much more I could do if I got a vote....She saw the injustice and agreed to help us out."

Lucky for Strauss, a camera crew documenting Panettiere's whale work was following her around and they agreed to shoot a quick PSA after their lunch.

But why wait until less than a week before tax day to drum up support for a tax-form check-off?

Strauss says getting a hold of the tape was a bit tricky: "The guy who had the footage was out on a boat chasing whales in the Dominican Republic....He was tough to track down."