Adrienne Adams Archives

Grassroots Laundering: How Elite Money Flows Through Working Families Party Network

July 25, 2025 / 21 minutes of reading

When government grants flow to charitable organizations that transfer funds to political advocacy groups supporting specific candidates, is this legitimate community organizing or sophisticated financial engineering? When the same individual controls multiple supposedly independent entities across this funding chain, are we witnessing grassroots democracy or elite manipulation disguised as popular power? What if the grassroots political movements reshaping American cities […]

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Adrienne Adams, George Soros, Justin Brannan, Make the Road Action, Make the Road New York, New Yorkers for Lower Costs, Tides Foundation, Working Families Party, Zohran MamdaniCorruption, Crime

The Working Families Party Elite-Funded Operation That Systematically Violated NYC Campaign Finance Disclosure Rules

July 16, 2025 / 22 minutes of reading

This investigation documents how Working Families Party coalition campaigns—including mayoral winner Zohran Mamdani, Comptroller candidate Justin Brannan, and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams—appear to have violated disclosure requirements through coordination that may have circumvented rules designed to ensure voter transparency. Equally troubling, documented relationships between Campaign Finance Board personnel and the WFP coalition raise questions about whether oversight itself was

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Adrienne Adams, Jason Curtis Anderson, Justin Brannan, Make the Road Action, Make the Road New York, New Yorkers for Lower Costs, Politico, Victoria Perrone, Working Families Party, Zohran MamdaniCorruption, Crime, Media Playbook

How Make the Road New York Uses Legal Loopholes to Transform Public Funds into Political Power

June 23, 2025 / 15 minutes of reading

Executive Summary New York City taxpayers are unknowingly subsidizing partisan political activities through a sophisticated legal loophole that allows publicly funded nonprofits to directly transfer money to political action committees. Our investigation reveals how Make the Road New York (MRNY), which has received over $27 million in taxpayer funds since 2010, operates a dual structure with its political affiliate Make

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Adrienne Adams, Brad Lander, Make the Road Action, Make the Road New York, Working Families Party, Zohran MamdaniCorruption, Crime

Investigation: The Branded Revolution – How Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Grassroots’ Campaign Became a $6.3 Million Corporate Production

June 19, 2025 / 10 minutes of reading

Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani wants New York voters to believe they’re witnessing a revolution. His mayoral campaign markets itself as a “grassroots, volunteer movement”—powered by neighborhood organizers, fueled by authentic passion, and guided by democratic socialist principles that reject corporate politics. But a forensic examination of campaign finance records, coordinated political messaging, and strategic timing reveals something entirely different: a meticulously

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Adrienne Adams, Justin Brannan, Politico, Zohran MamdaniCorruption, Media Playbook

Narrative Laundering: How Politico Spun a Poll Even WFP Didn’t Believe

June 3, 2025 / 7 minutes of reading

In financial fraud investigations, we often distinguish between direct misstatements and what auditors call “presentation risk”—the deliberate arrangement of technically true information in a way that misleads the reader. The same dynamic plagues political journalism, where the line between reporting and amplifying selective spin has largely disappeared. Polls get commissioned not to inform decisions, but to generate headlines. Methodologically weak

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Adrienne Adams, Andrew Cuomo, Joe Anuta, Letitia James, Politico, Sally Goldenberg, Working Families PartyMedia Playbook

Letitia James’ Campaign Text for Adrienne Adams Raises Ethics Concerns: Official Title Used for Fundraising

May 19, 2025 / 8 minutes of reading

As New York’s top prosecutor faces federal investigation, her campaign activities for Adrienne Adams raise serious questions about the misuse of official position When New York’s top law enforcement officer uses her official title to solicit campaign donations, where exactly is the line between public service and political activity? This question demands attention after a concerning text message campaign endorsed

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Adrienne Adams, Jeff Coltin, Letitia James, PoliticoCorruption, Crime

Sex, Lies, and Overtime: Inside the NYPD’s Financial Black Box

January 12, 2025 / 4 minutes of reading

The NYPD’s overtime system operates like a financial shell game, where millions of dollars can disappear into bureaucratic black holes with almost no accountability. This systemic dysfunction came into sharp focus with a recent scandal involving NYPD Lieutenant Quathisha Epps, who accused Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey of demanding sexual favors in exchange for overtime opportunities. Epps alleged that Maddrey

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Adrienne Adams, Brad Lander, Eric Adams, Jeffrey Maddrey, Justin Brannan, NYC, NYPD, Quathisha EppsCorruption, Crime

NYPD Overtime Scandal: Failure of Legislative Oversight Laid Bare

January 11, 2025 / 4 minutes of reading

The explosive allegations of sex-for-overtime rocking the NYPD have exposed not one scandal, but two. The first involves alleged sexual coercion for overtime pay. The second – perhaps even more disturbing – is how City Council leadership failed to spot glaring red flags in their own budget documents that suggested systemic overtime abuse. Under Speaker Adrienne Adams and Finance Chair

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Adrienne Adams, Eric Adams, Jeffrey Maddrey, Justin Brannan, NYPD, Quathisha EppsCorruption, Crime

NYC Taxpayers Fund Speaker Adams’ $30K Theater Production

December 5, 2024 / 3 minutes of reading

Following our initial investigation of NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams’ $1,393 car service expense, newly obtained records reveal an even more startling picture of public spending: The total bill for what appears to be a campaign speech masquerading as a State of the City address on March 13, 2024 – a staggering $29,541.06 of taxpayer money. In an era where

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Adrienne Adams, NYCCorruption

Pay-to-Play Politics: How NYC’s Speaker Bought Power

November 24, 2024 / 8 minutes of reading

How NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams Bought, Paid For, and Kept Control In New York City politics, where coincidences are as rare as an empty parking spot in Manhattan, sometimes a pattern emerges that’s so precise it makes Swiss watchmakers look sloppy. This is a story about political power, perfectly calculated gratitude, and the remarkable accuracy of $1,000 “thank you”

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Adrienne Adams, Ari Kagan, Bronx Democratic Party, Carlina Rivera, Christopher Marte, Jennifer Gutiérrez, Nantasha Williams, NYC, Pierina Sanchez, Sandy Nurse, Shekar Krishnan, Verrazzano Victory AllianceCorruption