New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is refusing to release to the press email exchanges between his office and outside advisers, leading two New York media outlets to bring a lawsuit against the mayor.
The New York Post and NY1 News have filed their suit after de Blasio would not hand over messages that were sent between himself and five advisers who work outside his office, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported Friday.
One of the advisers who communicated with the mayor is Jonathan Rosen, who runs a public relations firm that works with de Blasio’s campaign, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
City Hall claims that Rosen and the four other de Blasio associates are "agents of the city." Therefore, any emails they trade with de Blasio and members of his administration are beyond the reach of the Freedom of Information Act.
None of the five individuals in questions are employees of the city, nor have they been retained in any official capacity by the mayor–the criteria typical of city agents. In addition, lawyers for the press argue that Rosen has a conflict of interest. His firm represents entities and individuals with business before the city. He therefore could not both act on the city’s behalf and lobby on behalf of others.
The Daily Caller News Foundation also reported that Rosen has been investigated by federal officials for his fundraising activities.
De Blasio is a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton, who is dealing with the fallout of her private email server use from when she was secretary of state and documents from that not being publicly released.