New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will be questioned on Friday by federal prosecutors from Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's office about allegedly trading favors for campaign funds in 2013.
This is part of an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Attorney's office to probe him for possible corruption charges, the New York Post reported on Thursday evening.
The investigation is centered around de Blasio and his aides being accused of trading favors "in exchange for donations to his 2013 campaign or to his shuttered nonprofit."
Eric Phillips, a spokesperson for de Blasio, declined to give a comment to the Post about this matter.
de Blasio did not put his Friday meeting with Preet Bharara's office on his public schedule. It did not go on unnoticed, however.
.@NYCMayor Why not list your meeting with @SDNYnews on your schedule? Doesn't public deserve to know? https://t.co/yW8LbQPMBZ pic.twitter.com/WNJykv2WcV
— Myles Miller (@MylesMill) February 24, 2017
FWIW @NYGovCuomo didn't put his interview w @PreetBharara prosecutors on his sked when it happened in the fallhttps://t.co/yJMDAxV4BY
— erica orden (@eorden) February 24, 2017
de Blasio has prided himself on transparency, telling the New York Times that New York has "the best ethics and transparency laws in the entire country," according to the Observer.
"We believe in that approach, we believe in those laws," de Blasio said. "Things like the Conflict of Interest Board and the ability to go to them and seek guidance on a whole host of levels, that doesn’t exist in many places in such a sophisticated manner."
When he was asked further to define transparency point blank, he said, "I think it simply means providing appropriate information to the public."
The investigation has found two people with relationships to de Blasio that are of interest.
The first is Moishe Indig, who is a rabbi and political fundraiser, and the other is Harendra Singh, who owns "a half-dozen restaurants."
Singh is currently cooperating with the feds for another series of crimes. He is facing bribery and tax-evasion charges.
He used to be on the advisory board of the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York but is now is no longer serving on it.
Indig's phone was confiscated by the feds back in December, as it is suspected that de Blasio traded favors to him in return for his political support.
UPDATE 11:35 A.M.: This post was updated to include that de Blasio's public schedule did not note his Friday meeting with prosecutors, and that he believes his transparency is credible.