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Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson was arrested by FBI agents early Friday morning on public corruption charges.

“Anderson, 45, was indicted on five counts of aiding and abetting wire fraud and one count of aiding and abetting theft of federal monies in connection with a kickback scheme,” The Boston Globe reported.

In 2023, as Anderson was facing financial difficulty, she allegedly gave a staffer a whopping $13,000 bonus on the basis that the staffer would “kickback” about half of the money ($7,000) to her.

“From in or about early to mid-2023, Fernandes Anderson was facing personal financial difficulty, which included missing monthly rent and car payments, an impending $5,000 civil penalty from the Ethics Commission [for hiring family members], and incurring bank overdraft fees, which resulted in Fernandes Anderson maintaining low daily bank balances,” the indictment reads.

“On or about June 9, 2023, at approximately 4:11 p.m., Staff Member A texted Fernandes Anderson, ‘Bathroom’ to let Fernandes Anderson know that Staff Member A was waiting in the bathroom to hand the $7,000 cash to Fernandes Anderson. Within seconds, Fernandes Anderson texted Staff Member A, ‘Ready’ to confirm that Fernandes Anderson was ready to accept the $7,000 cash kickback from Staff Member A,” the indictment continues.

Shortly thereafter, the two met in the bathroom of Boston’s City Hall, and the staffer handed over a $7,000 kickback.

The Globe describes Anderson’s indictment as a “stunning fall” of grace for her. Upon being elected to office in 2021 as a Democrat, she became “the first Muslim councilor in Boston’s history,” as well as “[t]he first formerly undocumented immigrant” and “[t]he first African immigrant.”

“She was buoyant in the weeks after her history-making election, [saying], ‘I’m really excited about the work. Am I nervous? I am a little nervous about just making sure that I do the job well and be effective,’” the Globe notes. “Three years later, she may be fighting for her political life, as details emerge of the federal probe that resulted in charges being brought against her.”

Boston City Councilor Erin Murphy responded to the indictment with a statement describing Anderson’s behavior as “deeply disturbing.”

“Elected officials are entrusted with representing the public honestly and ethically, not abusing their power for personal gain,” she said. “Actions like these erode public trust and perpetuate the damaging belief that our City Council is unworthy of the confidence of those we serve.”

This reportedly isn’t Anderson’s first rodeo in the spotlight.

“Fernandes Anderson has faced controversies during her time on the council, from dropping expletives on the council floor to hiring relatives in violation of state ethics law to multiple campaign finance snafus,” the Globe notes.

She’s also been accused of intimidating her staffers.

“People are intimidated by her,” a City Hall employee previously told Fox News. “And that intimidation does work. No one want[s] to disagree with Tania because she’s unpredictable. The last thing someone wants is to be labeled as a racist in this city.”

The City Hall employee went on to accuse Anderson of being a “troubled person” who’s created an “unhealthy” environment by using phony accusations of racism to intimidate dissenters into compliance.

Anderson’s also a “woke” leftist. After she was elected to office, she vowed that her goal was to engender a “revolution” for so-called “equity.”

“It will be about equity, and I hope we don’t have too many disagreements in there,” she said in 2021. “I think that systemic racism is long overdue for us to overthrow it in order for us to create a revolution that brings about change.”

She’s also threatened her colleagues.

“Don’t come for me, because if you want smoke, you’ll get smoke,” she reportedly said during a hearing last March. “I’m not afraid of any of you.”

“It’s a threat,” Fox News’ anonymous City Hall source said of Anderson’s words from March. “I feel like it’s a threat.”

Vivek Saxena
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