Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson subject of federal investigation

Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson is the subject of a federal investigation, and subpoenas have been issued to City Hall in relation to the probe, the Herald has learned.

The nature and circumstances of the investigation into the second-term city councilor have not been revealed, and no criminal charges have been filed.

The city acknowledged the existence of a federal subpoena or subpoenas that have been “issued to the Boston City Council or specific city councilors” in a Friday response to a Herald public records request that sought “information and/or documents relating to federal subpoenas that have been issued to Boston City Hall, the Boston City Council, Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson and any of the 13 city councilors from Jan. 1, 2024 to Nov. 14, 2024.

The city declined to provide the subpoena or subpoenas, which the Herald has learned pertained to a probe involving Fernandes Anderson, saying that it reached out to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office to confirm that the “investigatory exemption” of the public records law applied in this instance.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, release of such information could impair the “integrity of a grand jury investigation,” per the city’s records response.

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment, saying that the office “can’t confirm or deny an investigation.”

Fernandes Anderson, who represents District 7 which includes Roxbury, Dorchester, the South End and Fenway, did not immediately respond to the Herald’s request for comment. She declined to comment when reached by the Boston Globe on Tuesday, per a report from the outlet.

“I don’t want to comment on it,” Fernandes Anderson, the first African immigrant and Muslim American elected to the City Council, told the Globe.

The existence of a federal probe is the latest controversy for a city councilor who has had her fair share since taking office roughly three years ago.

Last month, Fernandes Anderson was hit with a number of state campaign finance violations, per a Nov. 14 letter from the Office of Campaign and Political Finance. The violations included her failure to report roughly $32,900 of $34,500 of campaign contributions over an 11-month period in a timely fashion, and receipt of individual contributions in excess of the $1,000 state limit.

The letter notes that the Anderson Committee took steps to resolve the excess contributions, by purging $1,750 to the Commonwealth on Sept. 26 to resolve the individual matter, and refunding $100 to the committee of a state senator that had sent a second $100 contribution in the same calendar year to Fernandes Anderson. Only one $100 contribution per year between two campaign committees is allowed by state law.

Fernandes Anderson admitted to a state ethics violation last year for hiring her sister and son to paid positions on her City Council staff and paid a $5,000 fine.

The State Ethics Commission said Fernandes Anderson appointed her sister and son to full-time positions in 2022, her first year on the Council. She also chose to increase their salaries, and in the case of her sister, award a $7,000 bonus.

Fernandes Anderson set her sister’s salary at $65,000. She awarded her sister a raise in June 2022, increasing her salary to $70,000 and tacking on a $7,000 bonus, the Ethics Commission said.

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In June 2022, Fernandes Anderson appointed her son as her full-time office manager at an annual salary of $52,000. She participated in the Council’s July 15 vote to approve the appointment. Eleven days later, the councilor increased her son’s salary to $70,000, the Commission said.

Fernandes Anderson addressed the matter in several tweets in July 2023 upon the ethics violation becoming public saying that she “messed up” and referencing her sister, said, “You are my everything and if it wasn’t unethical, I’d do it again.”

More recently, a video of Fernandes Anderson not saying the oath of office during this past January’s inauguration, in violation of the city charter, went viral on social media.

Fernandes Anderson retook the oath privately with the city clerk days later. In a social media statement at the time, she said she had been “internalizing” her oath and “committing a prayer between myself and God.”

The 13 city councilors now make a $115,000 salary, after starting the year with an $11,500 pay hike.

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