Mayor de Blasio’s disgraced donor pal Jona Rechnitz admitted to raising illegal “straw donations” during the mayor’s 2013 campaign.
Jona Rechnitz — who took the witness stand in Manhattan Federal Court Thursday — said he asked people who worked with him to donate to political campaigns and later reimbursed them.
“I worked with straw donors,” he said.
“A couple of people in my office, I had them write checks, because I wasn’t allowed to give more than $4,950. And I reimbursed them for those donations.”
When asked how many times he he took the straw donations, Rechnitz replied: “a handful.”
The practice is illegal.
Rechnitz said that he promised de Blasio’s campaign finance director Ross Offinger that he would hit his target donations — and Offinger would stop by his office to check on the fundraising.
“I had a lot of pressure from him to bring that amount in,” Rechnitz said of the pledged amount.
“So many times when he was even in my office, I would tell them hold on. I would go and get a check from people and then bring them in.”