Fed subpoena revealed: Investigators wanted Fernandes Anderson’s notes, chats, images and more

The federal grand jury subpoena sent to Boston City Hall in September set forth eye-popping demands for detailed copies of now-indicted Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson’s emails, drafts, and “Lotus notes” in a kickback probe that left no stone unturned.

That seven-page document, handed over to the Herald in a public records request, also lists 22 secretaries and administrative assistants who have served under Fernandes Anderson in some capacity.

“I didn’t know I was part” of the probe, said one of the surprised staffers contacted by the Herald on Monday. “I’m not going to comment,” he then stated.

Most of the City Hall staffers made paltry pay, some just a few thousand dollars in the latest payroll figures available. But, the subpoena suggests, they were at the crossroads of “electronic communications” of Fernandes Anderson’s alleged $7,000 kickback scheme.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston sent the subpoena to the City of Boston Law Department on Sept. 11, “pursuant to an official investigation being conducted by a federal Grand Jury … of suspected violations of federal criminal law.”

The subpoena sought hard discs or “other media that can store data,” any “handmade form,” any typing, microfilm, prints, slides, negatives, videotapes, photocopies, or chats sent over Microsoft Teams, or “similar inter-office” communications.

Calendar entries, schedules, notes, and “memoranda” were also sought.

Investigators wanted all that was produced for or stored by “TFA” or “TFA Staff.” That included non-disclosure agreements Tania Fernandes Anderson (TFA) required her staff to sign, as the original indictment stated.

The city’s law department had to do all this “under penalties of perjury.”

We now know Fernandes Anderson, 45, was indicted on five counts of aiding and abetting wire fraud and one count of aiding and abetting theft concerning a program receiving federal funds, according to court records and a publicly available indictment.

She has pleaded not guilty and is vowing to remain in her $115,000 councilor’s job. Her pay will be bumped to $120,000 in January, but Mayor Michelle Wu and Council colleagues are all calling on her to resign before then.

The feds revealed in the indictment that Fernandes Anderson allegedly pocketed $7,000 of a $13,000 bonus she doled out to a Council staffer. The handoff was coordinated by text, the feds allege, and took place in June 2023 inside a City Hall bathroom.

Fernandes Anderson, whose District 7 includes Roxbury, Dorchester, Fenway and part of the South End, said she has spoken with the mayor’s administration, and “made myself very clear that I would like collaboration. I do not want to be blocked in any way.”

Councilor Ed Flynn repeated his call for establishing an Ethics Committee and is urging all his colleagues to return to work before the New Year to get it done in wake of the Fernandes Anderson scandal.

“Inaction or delay should no longer be an option as our credibility is also being questioned,” he told the Herald Monday. “Boston residents deserve an honest and transparent government.”

The Council is now set to meet again Jan. 8.

Fellow Councilor Erin Murphy also said Monday it’s now “essential to ensure transparency, oversight, accountability and to restore public trust.”

She also named Councilor John FitzGerald as being the only ones to back Flynn’s ethics panel push.

There was no update Monday in Fernandes Anderson’s federal court case, according to the docket.

The Herald did report that “TFA” must pay for her own defense and owes the court $5,000 for the public defender who represented her during arraignment.