Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Holds Media Availability

October 28, 2017

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Make sure everybody is ready here. Gloria you look unready. Lets give you a moment to get ready. You’re so ready, alright. Okay, everybody get organized. Everyone good? Okay.

So you have heard a lot of tales over the last few days. Jona Rechnitz has had his turn, now its my turn to tell you the truth. Jona Rechnitz is a liar and a felon it’s as simple as that. He is a convicted criminal. To save his own skin, he has lied about a number of things including access to government officials. He’s lied about the integrity of my administration. He’s lied about exchanges with me. Its never easy to hear lies like this, its never easy to see them reported in the media as if they’re true even though everyone knows he is a convicted criminal. But it does not dissuade me from my purpose I got into politics long ago to make a difference. This is what animates me. I’ve been in public service my whole life, and I’m going to be in public service for the rest of my life. I’m proud of my integrity and the integrity of my team. And I’m not going to let a liar to interfere with our work. None of what you’ve heard over these last few days is new. These issues have been reviewed in very careful detail by a number of different authorities. There was extensive investigation. The authorities passed on taking further action in those investigations. Rehashing stories doesn’t make them true. And Mr. Rechnitz’s delusion doesn’t make anything real.

So, you will hear more in the days ahead I assure you. And I ask you to remember that you’re going to hear these stories from a felon facing jail. Who’s proven he will cheat and steal to enrich himself and to help himself.

And I conclude with a simple point, and I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again. My administration would make decisions based on the merits. We do things the right way; we do things the appropriate way. And nothing you have heard or will hear will prove otherwise. With that I’m happy to take your questions.

Question: Dan [inaudible] channel five.

Mayor: Yeah.

Question: Did you know, or do you know Jona Rechnitz?

Mayor: I’ve been asked this before, I’ve been asked it before, and I’ve said it and ill say it again. I never met him to my memory before the fall of 2013. I only had contact with him for a year or a year and change. Never was close to him, never knew his history from what I could see he was a business guy who was involved in community activities and, charitable activities. Nothing raised an alarm and bell. We were all appalled later by what we learned. We had no reason to suspect it, at the time. But this is not someone I ever knew well or was close to. And what you’re hearing from him just isn’t true. He is the kind of person who tries to present some great closeness not just with me but with other people. And it’s just not true. What I can tell you for sure is I wish I never met the guy. And my whole team feels the same way. That he turned out to be just a thorough liar.

Question: Mr. Mayor he has testified over the last couple of days that you met with him and gave him your personal email and your personal cell phone number in the back of the business card when you came to visit him in his office. He testified that he called you at least once a week.

Mayor: It’s false, so why don’t we just say the point and I could happily follow up. First of all he did not call me once a week that’s just false. Again everything I assure you. The federal authorities in particular have every email, they know about every phone call. He didn’t call me once a week. We were not close; he is exaggerating in many, many ways. And again I don’t know why his testimony is more interesting than a full investigation by federal authorities and other authorities. I think that’s the definitive word. But I give and I can literally find you thousands of people over the years I’ve given my email, and my cell phone number to. Including after many town hall meetings. It’s just not that unusual. The question is not did someone get to bring an issue to me. The question is what happens with that issue. And those decisions are made on the merits, and are passed on to whoever appropriate. They’re made on the merits. Literally twice this week at town hall meetings people came up to me in droves, raised issues I pulled over the commissioner and I said follow up on this, this sounds like a problem. Maybe there is something here we need to fix. Follow up, do as you see fit. 

Question: Did you give your cell phone number –

Mayor: Hold on I’m giving her – I just said I did, I don’t know why it’s hard to understand –

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Continue please.

Question: Are you saying the government’s witness is lying on the stand?

Mayor: Yes. Period.

Question: Mr. Mayor would you pursue or encourage the U.S. Attorney to pursue some sort of perjury charges that are [inaudible]?

Mayor: I’m not a lawyer, I respect the federal authorities. I understand they are pursuing a number of different issues here. So I am not going to comment on their work. I will remind you he’s testifying because he has already pled guilty to felonies. And this is the whole point about his individual. He’s just a horrible human being, we’ve come to learn that. So I don’t think you can overweight to say the least what he’s saying. He’s doing it to save his own skin.

Question: Did you ask Mr. Rechnitz, did you ask him to help you with Norman Seabrook in any way?

Mayor: I have no memory of that. I saw that report. I have no memory of that at all. I had plenty of opportunity to talk to Norman Seabrook over the years. Who has also been a horrible disappointment. But I have no memory of asking Mr. Rechnitz to get involved.

Question: Well you have said previously –

Mayor: You go ahead, and then you’ll go.

Question: – process by which Ross Offinger would solicit donations and then let you know who to visit, or who to contact. Was there a certain amount of money that would trigger your personal visit, or get your personal attention?

Mayor: The fundraising team was working on a lot of different things simontuinusly. I did not have the time or the interest to get in the mechanics of their work. They had to decide if an event was worthwhile for example. That’s typical thing any campaign finance team would do you know. If an event worth the principal going to is a phone call worth making. That is just the normal course of things. I never got involved in those details. It just wouldn’t have been logistically possible. Nor would I have been interested.

Question: So at some point Ross or someone else had said to you. Hey there is this guy giving a lot of money. What was that process –

Mayor: In a – I’ve said it before and ill happily say it again. In a – I don’t remember the details but I can remember the broad strokes. At the end of the primary Mr. Rechnitz was not involved in my primary campaign at all. At the end of the primary the projection was I was going to win the general election. Vast number of people suddenly came forward including a lot people who opposed me previously or I had no relationship with. A number of them offered to help in the general election campaign. That is a normal reality. So at some point, I think it was Ross who said here is someone who says they want to help out and then it proceeded from there. But I don’t remember the details. Yes?

Question: You have said previously that you spoke or met several times in 2014 and into 2015 to Rechnitz and Mr. Reichberg. In the testimony from Mr. Rechnitz he spoke to you by phone every week.

Mayor: False.

Question: And frequently.

Mayor: False.

Question: Will you make public every one of your meetings?

Mayor: No.

Question: With Mr. Rechnitz and phone records that show us –

Mayor: No, I’m just telling you, I’m telling you –

Question: Why don’t you make that public?

Mayor: Because you always want everything. And I am not going give it to you. I have answered the question very consistently. There has been full investigation. We’re not relegating this. The notion that a convicted felon is causing you to relegate things when the federal government has already went over in great detail makes no sense to me.

Question: I’m not. You’re telling me –

Mayor: I’m just telling you the answer –

Question: that you had contact back in 2014 to 2015 with a man who later became a convicted felon.

Mayor: And none of us had any knowledge –

Question: I’m asking you to be transparent about –

Mayor: I’ve answered your question.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: None of us had any knowledge of the activities that later came to light. And I’ve answered your question. Any other questions?

Question: Mr. Mayor there was an email that was presented as a proof of a piece of evidence yesterday from you, from Rechnitz to you saying I’ve spoken to Norman Seabrook, he’s been taken care of that email was not included in the many foils that we have sent in to your office for your communications. Did you delete that email? Why was it –

Mayor: I have no – I don’t remember that email. I have no idea what happened with it. It’s as simple as that. I just don’t remember that at all.

Question: Bo Dietl wants you to be prosecuted. What do you have to say to that?

Mayor: I don’t pay a lot of attention to Bo Dietl.

Unknown: Last question. 

Question: How often, how often did you speak to Mr. Rechnitz. You said it was not once a week, that’s a lie. How often?

Mayor: I remember a handful of times being in person with him and I remember a handful of times on the phone. I really can’t give you an exact number but nothing like once a week –

Question: Fewer than ten?

Mayor: Again I can’t give you an exact number but nothing like once a week. Hold on, we’ll do two more.

Question: Two weeks before the election, are you worried at all that this may –

Mayor: I think the people, you know it is so fascinating, when the investigations where going on, which we cooperated with absolutely, consistently, fully. I kept saying to all of you, the people of this City are very fair and very discerning. They believe everyone deserves due process, and there was a full investigation and there were no charges were brought. And I continue to say, and I think people who know me and people who have watched me understand why I am in this work, to achieve things like Pre-K, and affordable housing, and IDNYC, and bringing police and community together, and lowering crime, that’s what I came here to do. People have seen it happen and they understand I’m in it for the right reasons, and they understand that it was a full process, and the process yielded nothing. Whereas there are many other investigations that yield a lot of follow up action because unfortunately there are some people in public life who do the wrong thing. So the people of this City, at 42 town hall meetings, radio call in shows, on the street, in the subway, they don’t raise this issue because I fundamentally believe they already know we’ve done things the right way. And the fact that a convicted felon is now trying to besmirch me, no one is going to fall for that. That’s my view. The last question, go ahead.

Question: The process here seems to indicate, and I think this is indicative across the board, that larger donors get more access. Is that the way it is in both politics generally and your campaign?

Mayor: Look, no. I think it’s clear, first of all, that we need a bigger change in our political system. New York City has the best campaign finance laws in the country, but we need to go to full public financing because the whole concept raises too many concerns and it just should be changed at its root. We should end, [inaudible] speaking, end private donations. But what happens in my administration, is people bring us concerns who support me, people bring concerns who don’t support me. I mean I’ve got lots of Republicans who bring me concerns and are never going to vote for me, we still follow up on their concerns as well. People at town hall meetings, with no money and no power, come up, we follow up with their concerns. They’re given to the appropriate agency. The agency has to figure out what to do. My view is if people raise a concern, I’m going to listen, I’m going to have it passed on. We try and do that really consistently for everyone and if you want to see it in action come to a town hall meeting. Thanks everyone.