Daniel G. Cort is the MTA Inspector General.
MTA Inspector General Daniel G. Cort is a respected leader with more than three decades of law enforcement and criminal justice experience. Just prior to joining MTA OIG, he served as the First Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (DOI), since 2018, where he also served as Acting Commissioner from November 2021 to February 2022.
Inspector General Cort has extensive experience as a prosecutor and in leading criminal investigations. Prior to DOI, he served as Chief of the Public Integrity Bureau at the New York State Attorney General’s Office, leading a team of lawyers, investigators, analysts, and auditors who investigated and prosecuted government corruption, fraud, and abuse of authority, across New York State. During his time at the Attorney General’s Office, the Public Integrity Bureau’s prosecutions led to the convictions of several judges, a member of the State Assembly, and numerous other public servants.
Before his tenure at the Attorney General’s Office, Inspector General Cort worked in the New York County District Attorney’s Office for nineteen years as an Assistant District Attorney, including as Chief of the Public Integrity Unit. While at the D.A.’s Office, he tried numerous cases in State Supreme Court, including the successful prosecution of a Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings on corruption charges. He secured the conviction of a New York City councilmember on campaign finance-related crimes, was lead prosecutor in a multi-year investigation that resulted in the felony convictions and disbarments of fourteen lawyers and tried a reckless manslaughter case stemming from the death and serious injuries of construction workers. He also served as Deputy Bureau Chief and Acting Bureau Chief of the Rackets Bureau and as a Senior Investigative Counsel.
Inspector General Cort began his career in 1988 as a litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York, and served as Assistant Counsel at the New York State Commission of Investigation from 1991 to 1994. From 1994 to 1995, he worked as a Nominations Counsel at the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
He received his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and is a cum laude graduate of Drew University.
