Mayor Bill de Blasio was grilled by heavy-hitting federal prosecutors about his campaign fundraising for over four hours on Friday.
De Blasio left Gracie Mansion at 8:45 a.m. and arrived about 25 minutes later at his lawyer Barry H. Berke’s office on Sixth Avenue for the long-anticipated sit-down with prosecutors from US Attorney Preet Bharara’s office.
The mayor didn’t leave his lawyer’s office until about 1:50 p.m.
“As part of the Administration’s continued cooperation with the U.S. Attorney’s inquiry, Mayor de Blasio voluntarily met with federal authorities for four hours earlier today at the law offices of the Mayor’s attorney,” City Hall Press Secretary Eric Phillips said in a statement.
“We remain confident that at all times the Mayor and his staff acted appropriately and well within the law. We hope our continued cooperation will help bring a swift conclusion to the U.S. Attorney’s review. In the interest of protecting the integrity of this process, we will refrain from any further comment at this time.”
When de Blasio arrived at Berke’s office Friday morning, he sat in the backseat of a black SUV with his aide Jonathan Viguers, which swiftly pulled into a garage on W. 46th Street.
A little while later, Assistant US Attorneys Andrew Goldstein and Tatiana Martins, two of the prosecutors who secured corruption convictions of former state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, also showed up at Berke’s office.
Prosecutor Russell Capone was also said to be involved in the de Blasio probe.
The feds have been probing the mayor over whether he and his advisers exchanged favors to donors for contributions to his 2013 campaign and his now-shuttered nonprofit, the Campaign for One New York.
De Blasio spent hours with his lawyer on Wednesday and Thursday preparing for the meet with Preet.