Winnie Greco, a campaign adviser to New York Mayor Eric Adams, found herself in hot water on Wednesday after she attempted to give a reporter for the local publication The City a wad of cash – hidden in a bag of potato chips.
According to the publication, City Hall reporter Katie Honan ran into Greco at the opening earlier in the day for Adams’ new Harlem campaign office. Greco later texted Honan and asked to meet up with her across the street from the new office outside of a bank.
The pair then went into a local Whole Foods, where Greco bought said chips and opened the bag. She then handed the bag to Honan; when the reporter looked into the bag later, she saw that Greco had Stuffed a $100 bill and several $20 bills into the chips. At that point she texted Greco, said she could not accept that money and asked to return it to her — but received no response.
Honan informed her bosses at The City about the matter, and when contacted again Greco told Honan, “I make a mistake. I’m so sorry. It’s a culture thing. I don’t know. I don’t understand. I’m so sorry. I feel so bad right now. I’m so sorry, honey.”
Greco later called the publication back and told them, “Can we forget about this? I try to be a good person. Please. Please. Please don’t do in the news nothing about me. I just wanted to be her friend. I just wanted to have one good friend. It’s nothing.”
Greco also told the paper to contact her attorney, who insisted “Winnie’s intent was purely innocent. In the Chinese culture, money is often given to others in a gesture of friendship and gratitude. Winnie is apologetic and embarrassed by any negative impression or confusion this may have caused.”
The publication meanwhile notified the NY Department of Investigations, and reported Wednesday night that the money is now in possession of the U.S. Attorney for Brooklyn. Greco has since been suspended as an adviser to Adams’ reelection campaign, The City reported.
But Adams is no stranger to allegations of corruption. He was indicted on federal corruption charges a year ago. He denies any wrongdoing, but despite being elected in 2021 as a Democrat, after his indictment he began to publicly support Donald Trump.
Trump’s Department of Justice killed the case against him soon after he took office, doing so over the strenuous objections of several career DoJ employees. This included interim US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Renee Sassoon, acting head of the DOJ’s criminal division Kevin Driscoll, John Keller, the acting head of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, three other prosecutors in the Public Integrity Section and Hagan Scotten, lead prosecutor in the case against Adams. All of them resigned in protest.
Meanwhile, alongside Adams last year, several other city officials were investigated, including Greco, who then resigned as Adam’s Director of Asian Affairs.
