Sources conversant in the interview confirmed that Dietl spoke with the investigators, but it surely was unclear when the sit-down occurred or what the standing of the investigation is at present, given management adjustments within the Manhattan U.S. lawyer’s workplace, which has led the probe.
Dietl, a longtime pal of Adams who has extra not too long ago voiced criticism of the mayor amid his authorized troubles, declined to touch upon or verify the assembly, citing “legal reasons.” Manhattan U.S. lawyer’s workplace spokesman Nicholas Biase additionally declined to remark.
With out going into any names, Dietl mentioned in a podcast launched final week that he was advised by among the mayor’s “people” to submit a bid for a migrant shelter safety contract “at three times the going rate,” with the understanding he’d then need to pay 20% of the deal complete to a non-public consulting agency.
Reached by cellphone final week, Dietl declined to call the individual he alleges advised him that, saying he couldn’t achieve this, once more for “legal reasons.”
“They then wanted 20% of the total to go to a consulting company,” he mentioned, including he couldn’t title the corporate, both, for “legal reasons.”
“This is all still something I can’t comment on,” he mentioned.
A 2024 audit of the Adams administration’s migrant disaster response, carried out by Metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander’s workplace, discovered personal safety contractors working at migrant shelters have charged the town $117 per hour.
On Monday, Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak famous that Pearson not works for the mayor’s administration and that Dietl by no means bought a migrant-related contract with the town. She additionally mentioned the administration “has always remained dedicated to being fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars” and argued “any insinuation otherwise is baseless and false.”
Pearson, who resigned in October after the raid, delayed the awarding of a Brooklyn migrant shelter contract in 2023 in an effort to get Dietl a safety subcontract on the web site, Politico reported final 12 months.
In addition to the federal probe, Pearson was hit with a number of lawsuits alleging sexual harassment, skilled retaliation and assault whereas in Adams’ administration. A kind of fits claims Pearson as soon as complained he wasn’t making sufficient cash off of migrant contracts he was awarding, allegedly telling subordinates, “Where are my crumbs?”
Arturo Holmes/Getty Photos
Timothy Pearson is pictured behind Mayor Eric Adams on Jan. 1, 2022 in Occasions Sq.. (Photograph by Arturo Holmes/Getty Photos)
Whether or not the probe involving Pearson remains to be lively is unclear, following a shakeup in management on the Manhattan U.S. lawyer’s workplace provoked by the Trump administration’s intervention within the corruption case towards Adams, which was born from a collection of investigations overseen by the workplace’s former head, Damian Williams.
The destiny can also be unsure ofmultiple different Manhattan U.S. lawyer corruption probes that final 12 months ensnared varied high Adams aides, together with ex-NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, Deputy Mayor for Public Security Phil Banks, Faculties Chancellor David Banks and First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright.
President Trump’s Justice Division pressured the workplace earlier this 12 months to drop Adams’ corruption indictment in a fashion that has led many to consider the mayor is compromised and beholden to Trump’s agenda.
In response to the demand to cease prosecuting Adams, high officers within the prestigious Manhattan workplace resigned in protest, together with performing U.S. Legal professional Danielle Sassoon, who wrote in a letter the dismissal of the mayor’s case amounted to a “quid pro quo” through which he would help the president’s deportation agenda in change for authorized reprieve.
In February, Dietl laid out related allegations in a RealDeal podcast look.
