Recently, an observant Capitol Hill staffer alerted Mother Jones to a 2007 Lincoln Navigator in a congressional parking lot that was sporting eyebrow-raising license plates. The Texas tags read: "WTF 44." The staffer helpfully snapped a photo (see above) and sent it along. [...]
Based on where the SUV was spotted, in the parking lot of the Longworth House Office Building, it seemed likely that the vehicle belonged to a congressional staffer, or perhaps a House member ...
It took several weeks, and further back and forth with the Texas DMV, but I finally obtained the title and registration information connected to WTF 44 ... it lists the owner of the Navigator: Scott Graves of Bronte, Texas.
Graves is the legislative director for Rep. K. Michael Conaway, a Texas Republican who represents a district in the western part of the state and who serves as a deputy Republican whip. [...]
Graves did not respond to a request for comment. But when I reached Conaway's spokesman, Sam Ray, and described the license plate to him, Ray said, "This is the first I've heard of that." He told me it was unclear to him what type of statement Graves is making: "To be honest, I get where you're going, but I'm not sure that's what that means. That's like conjecture to me because you don't have any proof that's what that means." He added, "I don't know, maybe that was his number in football" ... Ray promised to look into it. He never got back me and didn't respond to a follow-up call. WTF, indeed.