By Ryan Schwach<\/p>\n
Nadia Shihata, Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s pick to lead the Department of Investigations, was questioned by councilmembers over her relationship with the mayor and her plans for the agency on Monday. <\/p>\n
Shihata, a former prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York, testified before the Council as she vies to lead the law enforcement department. She repeatedly argued her preexisting relationship with the current mayor would not hinder her ability to investigate him, should the instance arise, as it did under DOI\u2019s previous commissioner. <\/p>\n
\u201cI intend, If confirmed, to approach being DOI commissioner as I approached being a federal prosecutor, which is to investigate matters without fear or favor, following the evidence and the law and nothing else,\u201d she told members of the City Council\u2019s Committee on Rules, Privileges, Elections, Standards and Ethics. <\/p>\n
Shihata had a social relationship with Mayor Zohran Mamdani prior to being tapped to lead DOI. Shihata also gave money to Mamdani\u2019s mayoral campaign. <\/p>\n
The line of questioning, carried by several members, stemmed from recent experience. <\/p>\n
In 2024, the DOI, under previous Commissioner Jocelyn Stauber, investigated Mayor Eric Adams and members of his administration for fraud and corruption. <\/p>\n
\u201c[I] just want to make sure, obviously, that when it comes to your role, especially in this particular role, that you will be able to do it without any sort of bias,\u201d said Queens Councilmember Linda Lee. <\/p>\n
Shihata said that her previous relationship and donations to the mayor would not be an issue if she was confirmed. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have acted with integrity and independence as a federal prosecutor. I have investigated people I’ve supported in the past,\u201d she said. \u201cIt has no bearing and will have no bearing on how I conduct myself in this position.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added that she would consult the \u201cadvice of counsel\u201d regarding recusal in a case involving the mayor, should the instance arise. <\/p>\n
She also took questions from members on funding and staffing the investigative agency. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe lessening of DOI\u2019s workforce is something that the DOI commissioner really needs to address,\u201d she said. \u201cI would start by being a relentless advocate for DOI\u2019s budget and explaining why it’s so important that DOI is properly funded.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it ultimately leads to saving city resources given DOI\u2019s mandate \u2013 rooting out corruption and waste,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ryan Schwach Nadia Shihata, Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s pick to lead the Department of Investigations, was questioned by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188423,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-188422","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-queens","12":"tag-queens-headlines","13":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}