PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey is responding tonight after Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala told 11 Investigates that an investigation into no-bid city contracts is still active and ongoing.
The mayor also said he stands by his campaign comment where he called the district attorney a racist.
He did not provide details about why he believes Zappala is a racist.
Gainey also said he has nothing to hide and will provide whatever information the DA needs.
Earle: He (the District Attorney) did say yesterday he was continuing an investigation into no-bid contracts? Are you concerned about that? Is there anything to hide?
Mayor Gainey: No, I think everything, you know this Rick, you already know this, everything he’s ever asked of us, we’ve given him.
Mayor Gainey responded Friday to Zappala’s comments Thursday about an ongoing investigation into no-bid contracts, including a $180,000 police staffing study that Zappala said lacked substance.
Zappala also questioned the findings of the staffing study that suggested Pittsburgh had enough police officers.
“I’m not done with the no-bid contracts. I just have, this is much more important than that. Anything that’s a financial issue, there’s always a paper trail, you know, it’s not, it’s there,” said Zappala.
Gainey, whose campaign has struggled to raise money, also addressed $30,000 worth of payments from his campaign account to a law firm for legal services and compliance.
While campaigns frequently rely on attorneys, political observers say these payments are high for a Pittsburgh mayoral race.
Earle questioned Gainey about the payments.
Earle: Your campaign paid a law firm $15,000 two separate times. What was that for?
Gainey: I’m just making sure that we’re doing everything that’s necessary to be in the right. We want to make sure we are in the right on everything, you know that, Rick, you know I’m always making sure of that. I’m dotting my i’s and crossing my t’s, and I think that’s something that’s critical for us to be able to do.
Gainey also addressed a recent comment he made about Zappala on the campaign trail.
“I told the DA he’s a racist. I ain’t support the DA,” said Gainey, during a campaign appearance that was posted to social media.
Earle asked Gainey about his comment that was made prior to Zappala’s interview on Thursday.
Earle: Is the district attorney a racist?
Gainey: I said what I said and I’m going to leave it at that Rick. I appreciate it.
Earle: Why would you go after the DA at this point? Is there anything that promoted or provoked that because he hasn’t talked about you in a while?
Gainey: I mean, Rick, we made a statement and I’m going to leave it there. It was about 2023, it was about 2023, and I was supporting Matt, Mr. Dugan, and I believe there’s a lot of democrats in this region, at the end of the day, that understand where I’m coming from and appreciate that.
On Thursday, Earle asked Zappala about the Mayor’s comment.
“I’m in politics. This is politics. I’m a public figure so you can lie about me. I mean I get it. I get it. It’s tougher on my wife,” said Zappala, who has clashed with Gainey before over downtown public safety and the declining number of Pittsburgh police officers.
Zappala also told Earle that he never had a conversation about that with Gainey.
Last week after the mayor’s comment came to light, his campaign issued a statement, providing more context about the comment.
“It’s no secret the Mayor and many, many Western Pa. Democrats have long disapproved of the Republican DA’s actions — and campaigned for Democratic nominee Matt Dugan over him. At a time where Trump is rolling back civil rights protections cheered on by white supremacists, Democrats can’t be afraid to call a spade a spade and stand up for the constitutional rights of our constituents.”
It’s been a difficult couple of months for Gainey as he’s facing a tough re-election challenge from Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor, who has raised substantially more money and also leads by double digits in some of the polls.
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