Ill-repute is harboured by Washington Republican? Correct (9)
I believe the answer is:
discredit
'ill-repute' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'is harboured by washington republican? correct' is the wordplay.
'harboured by' indicates putting letters inside.
'washington' becomes 'dc' (Washington DC).
'republican?' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'correct' becomes 'edit' (I've seen this before).
'is' put within 'dc' is 'disc'.
'disc'+'r'+'edit'='DISCREDIT'
(Other definitions for discredit that I've seen before include "Rubbish" , "Smear" , "Damage reputation of, cause to be disbelieved" , "Loss of reputation" , "Cast doubt" .)