De Blasio’s Office Gets Subpoenas as Inquiries Into Fund-Raising Continue
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Version 0 of 1. The office of Mayor Bill de Blasio has received subpoenas from federal and state prosecutors in connection with a series of overlapping investigations into his fund-raising activities, the counsel to the mayor said on Wednesday. The subpoenas came from Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, and from the Manhattan district attorney’s office. “City Hall has been subpoenaed,” the counsel, Maya Wiley, said in a statement. “We are fully cooperating with the investigation. The mayor has not been personally served.” The subpoenas went to at least one of Mr. de Blasio’s top aides, Emma Wolfe, according to a person familiar with the matter, and to Ross A. Offinger, his campaign finance director, according to another person familiar with the matter. It was not clear when they were received. The precise nature of the information sought in the subpoenas was not immediately clear, but the origin of the subpoenas and their targets suggested that the authorities were delving deeper into aspects of Mr. de Blasio’s fund-raising on behalf of State Senate Democrats in 2014. Both Ms. Wolfe and Mr. Offinger were directly involved in discussions with potential donors, including at a meeting in September 2014 at which the mayor also spoke. A lawyer for Mr. Offinger, Harlan A. Levy, said his client had committed no crimes. “Mr. Offinger did nothing wrong,” Mr. Levy said. “He is a highly respected fund-raiser who was simply doing his job.” Karen Hinton, the mayor’s top spokeswoman, declined to comment “on details of the investigation” but said “all involved followed the letter of the law.” She added that Ms. Wolfe is “a highly regarded public servant whose integrity should not be questioned.” Mr. de Blasio made electing fellow Democrats to the State Senate a priority in late 2014 and actively worked to direct contributions to state and county party committees. Those committees then financed several candidates in difficult races. Mr. de Blasio’s lawyers have said the entire process was routine and legal. But the transactions came under criminal scrutiny after complaints from Republicans to the State Board of Elections prompted an investigation by the board’s enforcement counsel, Risa S. Sugarman. Her report, recommending a criminal inquiry by prosecutors, was leaked late last week, prompting strong criticism from Mr. de Blasio and his lawyers, who suggested there had been political motivations behind the investigation and the leak. The subpoenas suggest, however, that prosecutors are looking seriously at whether the fund-raising activities went over the line. In the case of the 2014 election, they are looking to see whether donations to candidates were funneled through county party committees to evade contribution limits, a violation of state law and a possible felony. A subpoena also went to BerlinRosen, a public affairs consulting firm that has provided political advice and press officers for Mr. de Blasio’s campaign efforts, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. Those efforts included the nonprofit Campaign for One New York, which the mayor created to advocate his agenda and which collected contributions from those with business before the city. Federal investigators are also looking at the nonprofit; several contributors also gave money to the Senate campaign. “We’re proud of the work we do for our clients,” said Jonathan Rosen, a principal at BerlinRosen as well as a close friend and adviser of the mayor. “We have acted appropriately and in accordance with the law at all times.” |