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A longtime adviser to Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams who resigned after an FBI raid is now on leave from his campaign for handing cash to a journalist, The New York Times reported.

Adams’ campaign suspended volunteer Winnie Greco on Wednesday after local news outlet The City reported that the former Adams adviser gave one of its reporters more than $100 in a potato chip bag, according to the NYT. Greco stepped down as senior adviser and Asian affairs liaison for Adams in October 2024 after the FBI raided her home months earlier over campaign fundraising practices.

“I make a mistake,” Greco said to the City reporter when asked about the gift, according to the outlet. “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.”

“Can we forget about this? I try to be a good person,” Greco reportedly told The City. “Please. Please. Please don’t do in the news nothing about me.”

“I grant you this looks odd,” Greco’s attorney, Steven Brill, told the NYT. “But I assure you that Winnie’s intent was purely innocent.” Greco meant the gift to be a gesture of friendship common in Chinese culture, Brill said.

Brill’s law firm did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The FBI has investigated Greco after she was accused of questionable financial arrangements related to Adams’s campaign, such as  overseeing illegal “straw” donations to reimburse donors for Adams, News 12 and The City reported. No charges have been announced against her.

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Greco also drew scrutiny for her ties to China, including when she spoke at a banquet with Adams where a nonprofit leader bragged on stage about hosting a Chinese government police station in New York — which led to criminal charges for those allegedly involved.

“We are shocked by these reports,” an Adams campaign spokesperson told the NYT about Greco’s gift to the reporter, adding that Adams has “always demanded the highest ethical and legal standards.”

Adams’ campaign did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

The Department of Justice alleged in 2024 that Adams illegally “sought and accepted improper valuable benefits” from wealthy foreigners and a Turkish official, but the Trump administration dropped the charges in February. Several Adams associates and supporters are expected to face corruption charges in the coming months, The New York Times reported.

Adams, running as an independent, is up for reelection in November against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.

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