The fishy fire truck testimony delivered last Thursday by Peaceoholics co-founder Ronald Moten before the D.C. Council was plenty dramatic, but the drama apparently did not end with the pound of the gavel.

Since then, a classic council-executive scuffle has broken out over broadcasts of the proceeding on city cable, with allegations flying that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty himself has become personally involved.

Because Thursday's proceeding was considered a "public deposition" rather than a council hearing (it was supposed to be behind closed doors until Moten demanded otherwise), the councilmembers heading up the fire truck investigation---Mary Cheh and Phil Mendelson---determined that its contents should not be disseminated. That's in keeping with the usual council practice on depositions, which are kept under wraps, so other witnesses won't change their testimony to make their stories consistent (Never mind that LL and other reporters already did plenty of disseminating.)

Read More "D.C. Council Riled Over TV Airing of Fire Truck Testimony" »

The D.C. Council saw one of the livelier proceedings in recent memory this morning, when Peaceoholics co-founder Ronald Moten appeared before councilmembers Mary Cheh and Phil Mendelson in connection with their investigation into the donation of used city emergency equipment to the Dominican Republic.

The proceeding wasn't hearing, exactly, but an open deposition. Moten had originally been scheduled to give his deposition behind closed doors on Friday, but he declined to testify, citing the council's political motivations. Council staff agreed to let him say his piece in public today, in what Mendelson called a "very unusual" proceeding.

Moten set the tone early, with a combative opening statement decrying a "political smear campaign" targeting his organization. He accused councilmembers and media of "attacking the mayor at my organization's expense" and engaging in a "political charade" that has affected his business and his family. "We hold the council directly responsible for creating an atmosphere where such stories could flourish," he said of media accounts questioning his organization's role in the shadowy transfer. The questions will remain, he says, until the "thirst for political blood is quenched."

Read More "Mayoral Official, Friend Implicated at Council Fire Truck Proceeding" »

Wee bit of Friday drama down at the John A. Wilson Building.

Today, three players in the fishy fire truck scandal---Deputy Fire Chief Ronald Gill, Robin Booth of the Office of Property Management Contracting and Procurement, and Peaceoholics chief Ronald Moten---are scheduled to give private testimony in a D.C. Council probe being jointly led by Councilmembers Mary Cheh and Phil Mendelson. Leading up to today's depositions, there had been much posturing in both side over whether the city would allow the witnesses to testify; pro bono counsel from top law firm was found to represent Booth and Gill.

This morning, other lawyers showed up, too---two from the Office of the Attorney General. Cheh and Mendelson were not happy to see them, and an hour-and-a-half long standoff ensued. At one point, the councilmembers threatened to call security to have the city lawyers removed.

Read More "City Lawyers Ejected From Fishy Fire Truck Depositions" »

You've read about them all week in the pages of the Examiner and lesser publications! Now see them with your own eyes---the fire truck and ambulance once donated by the District government, controversially, to the Dominican Republic!

A well-tipped LL, accompanied by ace photog Darrow Montgomery, headed down in the LLmobile to the city property yard and warehouse on Adams Street NE this afternoon. Behind the warehouse, they found the two vehicles, a 1998 Seagrave pumper and a 2002 Ford E-450 ambulance, sitting comfortably behind traffic cones.

Both had affixed to their windshields labels from shipping concern Seaboard Marine. According to the shipper's Web site, it costs anywhere from $1,500 to $4,100 a piece to ship such machinery from Miami to Puerto Plata, DR, depending on its length.

Photos by Darrow Montgomery