The former mayor has been the centerpoint of conversations surrounding the city’s dire financial picture. Probes into his time in office as mayor have revealed that his administration’s actions have put the city in a precarious position.
An affidavit for a search warrant served by the district attorney’s office in March was unsealed on Monday. According to the document, former Mayor Ed Gainey allegedly used no-bid contracts and grant funding to funnel Pittsburgh money to friends and political allies “to the detriment of the city.”
The affidavit is the first detailed public disclosure from the investigation that has been ongoing for years.
The unsealed search warrant is the latest piece of evidence pointing towards Gainey’s severe mismanagement of city funds that has led to a dire financial situation for Pittsburgh.
The affidavit reveals that during his administration, Gainey allegedly hid the state of the city’s finances to the point where it could violate federal securities law. The nine-page affidavit includes statements from former City Council attorney Dan Friedson, who alleges that Gainey’s administration did not keep track of how the city’s money was being spent by grantees and subcontractors while taking advantage of loopholes to funnel city money to the administration’s preferred applicants.
According to the affidavit and Friedson’s comments, the law department explicitly told City Council members that they were not allowed to read any city contracts.
“That’s really what changed things. Everything kind of seemed like politics to members until they got that memo from the law department that they weren’t allowed to read contracts. No lawyer in their right mind would tell their client to sign something without reading it and still have a job,” Friedson said in a recent interview.
He said that the law department’s actions raised suspicions that the administration was trying to hide something.
“If the law department hadn’t sent that memo, council would have probably maintained trust,” he said.
Friedson took his concerns over how Gainey’s administration handled contracts to investigators in the district attorney’s office.
“Under the Gainey administration, specific procedures were being exploited to the detriment of the city of Pittsburgh by funding specific organizations without proper procedures,” said Detective Kevin P. Flannigan in the affidavit supporting the search warrant.
By the end of 2025, the city of Pittsburgh had spent almost $45 million more than had been budgeted.
The underlying search warrant was sealed when it was served. According to Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr., the witnesses named had feared for their safety and authorities were concerned about the possibility of evidence being created or destroyed.
The unsealed affidavit says that “it was noted by one or more witnesses that there was a fear of retaliation, political or physical.”
The affidavit alleged that the Gainey administration was exploiting changes made to the no-bid contract process by then-Mayor Bill Peduto. These contracts allow the city to go around the normal bidding process in emergencies, when sensitive information is involved, or when only one vendor is able to provide a certain service typically due to patents.
Friedson said that the administration was using the single-source exception to claim that their chosen organization was the only one that could provide a particular service, according to the affidavit. He said that “the Gainey administration had successfully taken the law department out of the process.”
The affidavit alleges that the Gainey administration was circumventing the law by utilizing the contract process to funnel city money to preferred organizations.
Friedson alleged that city officials “were committing Security and Exchange Commission violations with every bond issuance” by presenting inaccurate information about the city’s financial position. Federal law requires that governments are honest with investors about their finances so that investors can make informed decisions.
Current Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor has uncovered a massive financial problem that was hidden under former Mayor Gainey’s administration.
O’Connor has said that the city’s finances were off by $250 million over the next five years compared with what Gainey had claimed in his final budget presentation during his time as mayor.
