Cash in a Chip Bag: Eric Adams’ Aide Suspended Amid Bizarre Bribery Allegations

In what is possibly the dumbest political graft story of all time, an aide for New York Mayor Eric Adams gifted a reporter with a potato chip bag stuffed with money and then claimed it was all just a “misunderstanding.” The Adams administration immediately “suspended” Winnie Greco, Hizzoner’s “close advisor,” on Wednesday as the incident went viral, according to the New York Times.

The Adams camp is “shocked”

“We are shocked by these reports,” an Adams campaign spokesperson told the New York Times concerning Greco’s gift to the reporter, adding that Adams has “always demanded the highest ethical and legal standards.”

Hilariously, at least one $100 bill and several 20s were slipped inside a red Chinese envelope and hidden in an “opened bag of Herr’s Sour Cream & Onion ripple potato chips,” according to The City.

Very, very bad bribery

The reporter, Katie Honan, had agreed to meet Greco after spotting her twice at a campaign event in Harlem. The communist Chinese-tied staffer handed her the so-called bag of chips when they met at Whole Foods, which she refused, “thinking it was an offer of a light snack.” The aide persisted and eventually, Honan took them after she “told Greco more than once she could not accept the chips … Greco insisted that she keep them.”

Doesn’t sound like much of a mistake, does it?

When the reporter left the meeting, she discovered that the bag contained money and proceeded to text Greco, “I can’t take this, when can I give it back to you?” Points for honesty there, which is rare these days (if all the allegations are true, that is – it did come from the New York Times after all).

The staffer did not answer any of Honan’s texts, according to The City.

When cornered on the incident, Greco didn’t exactly deny what happened, which made things worse. Adams’ former Asian affairs adviser went on to give an utterly bizarre excuse for the attempted bribe.

“I make a mistake,” she told The City during an interview. “I’m so sorry. It’s a culture thing. I don’t know. I don’t understand. I’m so sorry. I feel so bad right now. I’m so sorry, honey.”

Later on, the aide called the outlet to beg them not to blow up the incident in the news cycle. Too late.

“Can we forget about this? I try to be a good person. Please. Please. Please don’t do in the news nothing about me. I just wanted to be her friend,” Greco reportedly told The City. “I just wanted to have one good friend. It’s nothing.”

An outright bribe is not “nothing.” And if this is indicative of Chinese culture, then there should not be a single Chinese national in any position of power or influence in the US.

Her attorney to the rescue

“I can see how this looks strange,” Greco’s attorney, Steven Brill, told The City in an interview. “But I assure you that [Greco’s] intent was purely innocent. In the Chinese culture, money is often given to others in a gesture of friendship and gratitude. [Greco] is apologetic and embarrassed by any negative impression or confusion this may have caused.”

“This was no payoff. This was no bag of cash in a dark alley,” Brill stated. “Any insinuation that this gift had a nefarious intent to influence this reporter or her coverage is misinterpreted and ridiculous.”

Right. Because you always make friends by passing off potato chip bags stuffed with money to reporters. Her attorney had to know what a monstrous lie that was when he uttered it.

Corruption allegations surround Greco

Plus, this isn’t Greco’s first bout of corruption.

The FBI raided her home in February 2024 over corruption allegations that involved campaign fundraising, according to the New York Post. Greco stepped down as senior adviser and Asian Affairs liaison for Adams in October 2024, but somehow still had an in with the mayor. She was close to him for a decade. Those allegations included overseeing illegal “straw” donations to reimburse donors for Adams.

The City reported that Greco was allegedly part of a scheme involving the Adams administration that used the Wyndham Garden hotel to “shelter more than 100 formerly incarcerated New Yorkers integrating back into society.” New York City’s shelter contracts with the hotel were about $6.2 million a year in income.

According to the outlet, Greco was living in one of those taxpayer-funded hotel rooms “for more than eight months.” The cost of that was over $50,000.

But wait… there’s more.

“A businessperson [previously said] that Greco allegedly demanded $10,000 to her archway nonprofit as the cost of entry to a Chinese-themed event with Adams at Gracie mansion, for what was a free event,” The City also reported.

“Additionally, a campaign volunteer claimed that Greco promised to help him get a city job if he helped oversee renovations to her home in The Bronx,” the outlet noted.

A communist Chinese plant

She’s closely tied to the Chinese communists. Greco spoke at a banquet with the mayor, where a nonprofit leader boasted on stage about hosting a Chinese government police station in New York City. That led to criminal charges for those involved as well.

One can understand the occasional Chinese spy being caught, but a Chinese-planted politician who repeatedly mires themselves in moronic corruption schemes is just an insult to the communists.

The City Editor-in-Chief, Richard Kim, released a statement to NBC News branding Greco’s actions “deeply disturbing.”

“The fact that one of Mayor Adams’ closest, longtime advisors would attempt to ingratiate herself to any reporter, much less Katie Honan, with a cash gift is deeply disturbing and speaks to a rampant and blatant disregard for the role of a free and fair press,” he remarked. “The choice of sour cream and onion chips is also questionable.”

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