Philly councilwoman mum on aide’s theft of $100,000 from her campaign

A Philadelphia City Councilwoman isn’t talking about a guilty plea from a former staffer.

 

 

John McDaniel entered a guilty plea Thursday to one count of wire fraud for stealing $100,000 from Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown’s campaign.

The plea came during City Council’s weekly session and Reynolds Brown slipped out before the meeting ended.

At City Council’s first public hearing since the guilty plea, she had to be chased down the hall for this reaction:

“I will not be commenting on any outside federal investigation. It’s inappropriate, it’s improper.”

“It’s inappropriate, it’s improper,” she then repeated.

A representative of the U.S. Attorney’s Office would not comment on whether the investigation into the theft of funds is going any further.

Reynolds Brown agreed to pay more than $48,000 to settle a dispute with the city ethics board for using campaign funds to cover personal expenses. That’s a Philadelphia record for total fines and repayments.