Former DC official charged with bribery, accepted at least $10,000 in cash: officials
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A former deputy director in D.C. has been charged with bribery, according to a document filed in D.C. federal court.
In her former role, McDaniel's managed agency programming and community-based services focused on providing resources and interventions for at-risk individuals in at-risk communities impacted by violence in D.C., including the Violence Intervention (VI) Initiative.
According to officials, Dana McDaniel, who was deputy director of the city’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE), accepted at least $10,000 in cash from an associate in exchange for agreeing to use her position to steer contracts toward the associate’s businesses.
This is the second bribery case in recent months linked to the agency and follows the August arrest of council member Trayon White, accused of accepting cash to steer violence prevention contracts.
DC Council votes unanimously to expel Trayon White
The D.C. Council has a number of important items on their plate, including emergency votes to transfer the RFK site, expand Secure DC pre-trial detention, and the Trayon White expulsion vote.
Former D.C. Council member Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8) was previously arrested on federal allegations that he took payoffs in exchange for promising to influence contracts at ONSE. In a recent unanimous vote, the D.C. Council voted to expel White.
The McDaniel case stretches before September 2022 and continued "at least through August 2024," prosecutors wrote in a court filing. The charging document, which was filed Tuesday, did not specify the circumstances of the alleged bribe and the nature of the agreement between McDaniel and the associate.
McDaniel was charged in a five-page criminal information, a type of charging document typically reserved for those who have agreed to plead guilty in a case.
The Source: Information from FOX 5 DC reporting and D.C. charging documents were used to write this report.