Editor’s Note: Every Friday, District Digest will bring you the highlights from this week’s news around D.C. and the greater metropolitan area.

Weiner – with his creative use of twitter – is not even close to being the only man in the District with a scandal. Political scandals in the D.C. government have been producing enough energy to light up Healy Hall.

Rotten at the top

On Monday, former 2010 mayoral candidate Sulaimon Brown – complete with shades – testified before the D.C. Council that Mayor Vincent Gray‘s campaign staff bribed him in exchange for criticizing former incumbent mayor and fellow primary opponent Adrian Fenty.

After the election, Brown received a $110,000 post in the Department of Health Care Finance, which was quickly terminated when rumors of the deal emerged. All this controversy has landed Gray a Council investigation and even threats of recall.

Take me out to the graft game

That same day, the D.C. Attorney General filed suit against Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. (D-Ward 5) for misappropriation of funding. Thomas, chairman of the Economic Development Committee, stands accused of  diverting more than the $316,000 meant for youth baseball programs.

Instead of supporting America’s favorite pastime, Thomas bought a brand new Audi SUV ($58,000), trips to Vegas and Pebble Beach in California, a Nationals Park Suite, golf outings. As of Wednesday, Thomas has resigned his chairmanship of the Economic Development Committee.

Other news

The D.C. area saw record-breaking temperatures on Thursday. The reading at Reagan National Airport was 102 degrees, the hottest June day on record.

An MPD officer has been charged with murdering a Prince George’s County woman and her one year-old daughter. The officer had been ordered to court last Tuesday to determine the paternity of the woman’s child.

Image taken from D.C. Council video

This entry was posted on Friday, June 10th, 2011 at 10:00 am and is filed under News, Vox Populi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.