New York Former adviser to city's mayor is accused of bribery

A former adviser to the New York City mayor has been accused of bribery after giving a reporter a crisp packet filled with cash on Wednesday following a campaign event.

- Anna Betts

A New York City news site, the City, reported that Winnie Greco, a former aide to Eric Adams who resigned last October while under FBI scrutiny but who had recently been volunteering for his re-election campaign, had pressed a bag of crisps into one of their reporters' hands containing a red envelope with a $100 bill and several $20 bills.

The reporter, Katie Honan, had scrutinized Greco's conduct in the past as a significant fundraiser for Adams in the Chinese American community.

Greco's attorney, Steven Brill, told the Associated Press that the incident was not a bribe and the situation was being "blown out of proportion".

"This was not a bag of cash," Brill wrote in an email. "In the Chinese culture, money is often given to others in a gesture of friendship and gratitude. And that's all that was done here. Winnie's intention was born purely out of kindness."