This is interesting.

Saied Azali seems to have used his drag queen associates to run a 2006 brownstone-ish operation at Perry's on Leonard Downie, who was then executive editor at the Washington Post. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Downie_Jr.

FreeRepublic.com posted a Washingtonian story detailing the revelations of two anonymous letters sent to the Washingtonian that gave details of the event at Perry's and the evidence coverup afterward. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1756904/posts

If you click on the Washingtonian link provided in the Free Republic post, you'll see the story has been 404'd, and what displays is a page covered with PANDAS: https://www.washingtonian.com/articles/mediapolitics/2902.html

Here's the Washingtonian article posted on FreeRepublic.com:

Len Downie's (WaPo Editor) Lap Dance With Drag Queen (Coverup/Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

The Washingtonian ^ | December 21, 2006 | Harry Jaffe

Posted on 12/21/2006, 10:42:28 AM by abb

The Post's editor had a R-rated encounter with a drag queen during a Post party this month—but so far the photos have stayed private.

Journalists get the occasional juicy and anonymous letter. Most are titillating but not worth publishing or broadcasting. The letter in large type about a party hosted by the Washington Post photography staff seemed to fit the second category: It mentioned in paragraph three that Post executive editor Len Downie was “the recipient of a lap dance and breasts in his face” by one of the party’s entertainers—who were drag queens!

Too good to be true?

A second anonymous letter said word had gone out at the Post to kill any pictures of Len’s lap dance.

I started making a few calls, figuring that if such an event had taken place, photos and videos probably would be on YouTube or some other website. If it had indeed taken place.

I got eye witness accounts. I wondered: Could a monthly magazine, with a lead time of several weeks, actually break a story about the Post’s top editor caught in an amusing, if not compromising, situation?

Here’s the scoop:

The Washington Post is not known for throwing lively parties, especially under staid executive editor Leonard Downie.

When the photo department decided to bid farewell to retiring staffers, it did not intend to get racy. Photo editor Joe Elbert booked Perrys, a sushi restaurant in DC’s Adams Morgan, for a Saturday afternoon. Owner Saied Azali promised to do something special because he was friends with well-known Post photographer Lucien Perkins.

Would the something special be free champagne? Special sushi? Not exactly.

Azali invited male dancers dressed as women who perform at Perrys’ Sunday “drag brunches.” Len Downie made an appearance just as the queens began to mingle. According to eye witnesses, one performer sat down next to Downie and wrapped him in a big hug.

Downie seemed at bit shocked, but one photographer says: “He took it in good humor at the time.”

But apparently Downie was less amused by the photos and videos being shot, and he asked that they be kept private.

No leaked pictures, so far, but many of those retired staffers would dearly love a picture of Downie in the embrace of a drag queen.

Barack and Michael Michelle Obama hosted a dinner for donors at Mintwood Place, the restaurant underneath Perry's drag queen-frequented eatery.

http://www.morrisanderson.com/company-news/entry/Presidential-diners-give-restaurateurs-a-big-rush/

"Longtime Washington restaurateur Saied Azali recalled a presidential dinner at his restaurant Mintwood Place hosted by the Obamas for a group of grass-roots donors. In preparation, Secret Service agents came into the restaurant every day for a week, Azali said. During the dinner they closed off two blocks around the restaurant.

Having to keep the visit a secret, Azali told his staff those men in suits were caterers."

Perry's is 2 doors down the block from Johnny's Half Shell, which Alefantis managed for 2 years. https://imgoat.com/uploads/7177163c83/43338.png

Saied Azali's Facebook page lists Comet Ping Pong among his favorites.

From infinitychan -

Here is an article on Comet Liquor. I am not sure if this is still in business, so I think I might be wrong about "Comet" being a chain. Now I think it may be the business Alefantis got his sign from. Either way, this is giant.

Here is an article I just found on Comet Liquor:

http://jewishfoodexperience.com/comet-liquors-deli-brightened-neighborhood/

Do you remember Comet Liquors in Adams Morgan? Located on Columbia Road between 18th and 19th Streets, it had a distinctive neon sign. Most who remember the business don’t realize it was opened by a Jewish immigrant in 1940 and continued to be Jewish-owned throughout its existence.

When Oscar Gildenhorn opened Comet Liquor, the neighborhood was not yet called Adams Morgan, but the name had caught on by the time Gildenhorn’s son-in-law Howard Speisman took over management 25 years later.

Sidney Drazin bought Comet in 1980. Drazin, a native Washingtonian, had served in World War II and then run a few different businesses before buying Comet.

In 1989, as neighborhood demographics changed, Drazin added a deli counter. Earlier in the 20th century, it was common for Jewish grocers in Washington to move into the liquor business, but now, a few decades later, a liquor man was adding food to his business. the deli offerings like white fish salad and lox with a bagel hinted at the Jewish ownership.

Comet sign sold to CPP in 2011 - https://thelocation.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/central-liquor-sign-sold-to-comet-ping-pong-owner/

Can't use archive atm, maybe some kind voater will help.

Hey, my Twitter searches have come in handy again: https://twitter.com/sdazali

He is following room11dc and CashionsEatPlce - two other locations connected to all of this, so I presume this account belongs to Saied Azali.

Perry's bears the sign of the Sovereign Order of Brothers in Blood.

Perry's next door to Comet Liquor