A search warrant affidavit unsealed Monday sheds new light on Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala’s investigation into former Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration.

In conversations starting in late 2023, two City Council members and council’s former solicitor alleged the city improperly gave out no-bid contracts and dealt grants to politically-aligned groups, according to a search warrant unsealed Monday.

None of the allegations made in the affidavit have been proven, and so far nobody has been charged in connection with the investigation. A spokesperson for Zappala said the investigation is ongoing and declined to comment.

Neither Gainey nor former Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak, who was also mentioned in the affidavit, immediately responded to a request for comment.

Councilors Anthony Coghill and Theresa Kail-Smith spoke with investigators from Zappala’s office earlier this year, according to the search warrant. The warrant was signed by Judge Jill Rangos in March and investigators used it to collect numerous documents from City Hall.

Corey O’Connor, the current mayor, has said the city is cooperating with the investigation and turning over requested documents. His press secretary did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

Daniel Friedson, the former council solicitor, told investigators that the amount of contracts the city gave out without a competitive bidding process rose from 10% to 20% under Gainey, and that “these no-bid contracts were surreptitiously benefitting Mayor Gainey” and his Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak.

The investigators wrote in the affidavit that Friedson told them that vendors receiving no-bid contracts would subsequently give money to unions and political groups tied to Gainey, which would then “provide political support back to the candidates that assist in issuing the no-bid contracts.” The labor organizations named in the affidavit did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Friedson did not have immediate comment.

The affidavit does not include evidence of the claims it describes and the district attorney’s office has not said if the documents it turned up substantiated any of them.

Friedson also alleged that Gainey’s staff abused a part of the law that allows for no-bid contracts in “sole source” situations, when only one vendor could practically do a job, and that the city’s legal department failed to fulfill its duty to ensure that the city was following contracting procedures, according to the affidavit.

Investigators wrote that Coghill raised concerns about the city’s Stop The Violence fund, which doles out about $10 million in grants to community organizations annually. He told investigators that under the Gainey administration, organizations would receive more grant money than they applied for and the city often would not receive documentation of how the groups used the money.

“Coghill believed this to be a slush fund for Mayor Gainey,” investigators wrote.

Charlie Wolfson is the local government reporter for Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.

Rich Lord contributed.

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Affidavit: City Council members and staff led DA to investigate Gainey contracts

by Charlie Wolfson, Pittsburgh's Public Source
September 21, 2026

<h1>Affidavit: City Council members and staff led DA to investigate Gainey contracts</h1> <p class="byline">by Charlie Wolfson, Pittsburgh's Public Source <br />September 21, 2026</p> <p>A search warrant affidavit unsealed Monday sheds new light on Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala’s investigation into former Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration.</p> <p>In conversations starting in late 2023, two City Council members and council’s former solicitor alleged the city improperly gave out no-bid contracts and dealt grants to politically-aligned groups, according to a search warrant unsealed Monday.</p> <p>None of the allegations made in the affidavit have been proven, and so far nobody has been charged in connection with the investigation. A spokesperson for Zappala said the investigation is ongoing and declined to comment.</p> <p>Neither Gainey nor former Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak, who was also mentioned in the affidavit, immediately responded to a request for comment.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/20251110-Pittsburgh-Mayor-Gainey-Budget-49.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1337546" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Jake Pawlak, then deputy mayor of Pittsburgh, talks to the media outside of City Council Chambers on Nov. 10, at the City-County Building in Downtown. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)</figcaption></figure> <p>Councilors Anthony Coghill and Theresa Kail-Smith spoke with investigators from Zappala’s office earlier this year, according to the search warrant. The warrant was signed by Judge Jill Rangos in March and investigators used it to collect numerous documents from City Hall.</p> <p>Corey O’Connor, the current mayor, has said the city is cooperating with the investigation and turning over requested documents. His press secretary did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.</p> <p>Daniel Friedson, the former council solicitor, told investigators that the amount of contracts the city gave out without a competitive bidding process rose from 10% to 20% under Gainey, and that “these no-bid contracts were surreptitiously benefitting Mayor Gainey” and his Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak.</p> <p>The investigators wrote in the affidavit that Friedson told them that vendors receiving no-bid contracts would subsequently give money to unions and political groups tied to Gainey, which would then “provide political support back to the candidates that assist in issuing the no-bid contracts.” The labor organizations named in the affidavit did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Friedson did not have immediate comment.</p> <p>The affidavit does not include evidence of the claims it describes and the district attorney’s office has not said if the documents it turned up substantiated any of them.</p> <p>Friedson also alleged that Gainey’s staff abused a part of the law that allows for no-bid contracts in “sole source” situations, when only one vendor could practically do a job, and that the city’s legal department failed to fulfill its duty to ensure that the city was following contracting procedures, according to the affidavit.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/AJ_HousingAmendment-Jankiewicz-21.jpg" alt="Four people sit at a panel during a meeting; one man in the foreground gestures while speaking, as others listen attentively." class="wp-image-1337552" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Pittsburgh Councilor Anthony Coghill speaks in a council meeting on Oct. 15 at the City-County Building. At the far left is then-Councilor Theresa Kail-Smith. (Photo by Alex Jurkuta/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)</figcaption></figure> <p>Investigators wrote that Coghill raised concerns about the city’s Stop The Violence fund, which doles out about $10 million in grants to community organizations annually. He told investigators that under the Gainey administration, organizations would receive more grant money than they applied for and the city often would not receive documentation of how the groups used the money.</p> <p>“Coghill believed this to be a slush fund for Mayor Gainey,” investigators wrote.</p> <p><em>Charlie Wolfson is the local government reporter for Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at</em> <a href="mailto:charlie@publicsource.org"><em>charlie@publicsource.org</em></a><em>.</em></p> <p><em>Rich Lord contributed.</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/investigation-gainey-administration-contracts/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh&#039;s Public Source&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=1337558&amp;amp;ga4=G-CCLXQK5C14&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.publicsource.org/investigation-gainey-administration-contracts/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/publicsource.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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