Mayor de Blasio on Friday defended the city’s $11.7 million in payouts for legal bills to protect the administration against numerous probes by city and federal law enforcement agencies.
The Post reported a day earlier that the legal tab continues to soar amid federal probes of potential pay-to-play involving political donors to the mayor’s causes and investigations of a suspicious Lower East Side property deal that was botched by the city in early 2015.
“Anything related to city employees — and I’m not talking about myself, I’m talking about all the other city employees who have been a part of this process — they need representation. It’s an American right,” Hizzoner said on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show.
“Obviously they shouldn’t have to pay for it out of their own pockets in regards to their city responsibilities.”
The mayor also insisted the probes are a huge waste of time and money because everything his administration has done has been above board.
The mayor raised $4.3 million for a political non-profit that backed his agenda — including six-figure donations from entities with business interests before the city — but he has maintained that no one got special treatment for their financial support.
“A lot of money is going to end up being spent here and I wish it wasn’t because I’ve said 100 percent consistently, no one did anything wrong,” de Blasio said.
At one point in the 30-minute interview, de Blasio grew irritated when Lehrer suggested city funds were being used to defend the mayor’s political campaign work — which is also under law enforcement scrutiny.
“That’s entirely inaccurate,” de Blasio shot back. “That’s just crazy.”
The campaign probes include one by the Manhattan District Attorney into de Blasio’s fund-raising on behalf of state Senate Democrats in 2014. The mayor said this week he was interviewed by DA officials in late December.
Newly released filings with the state Board of Elections show that de Blasio’s 2013 campaign spent close to $300,000 on investigations of non City-related campaign work between Aug. 24 and Jan. 6.
The bills include $138,376 in payments to Bachner and Associates – a white collar criminal law firm in downtown Manhattan; $73,693 for Boies, Schiller & Flexner – a firm that represents de Blasio’s top campaign fundraiser Ross Offinger; and $71,678 to Kantor Davidoff, which employs de Blasio’s 2013 campaign lawyer Laurence Laufer.
The 2013 campaign committee ended the latest filing period with a balance of $151,689.
