A political consultant in Florida who once served as president of the Broward County Democratic Black Caucus was charged this week with lying on a COVID-19 relief loan application and fraudulently obtaining $300,000 as a result. Damara Holness, 28, of Fort Lauderdale, was charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud. According to court documents, Holness submitted in June 2020 a Payment Protection Program loan application online to an Atlanta-based bank. Holness is accused of falsely stating that her company, Holness Consulting, had 18 employees and an average monthly payroll of $120,000 a month. The bank several days later approved the loan, based on the false information provided. From July through September, Holness allegedly began issuing checks to various people to make it appear as if she were paying full-time employees. But the people, at the direction of Holness, returned the checks to the defendant after endorsing them, authorities say. Holness would …