5 things to know about DOI Commish Jocelyn Strauber

Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber has her hands full with New York City affairs. She made an appearance at U.S. Attorney Damian Williams’ press conference last week to announce New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted on federal corruption charges. 

“As our highest elected official, the mayor should set the standard for all of city government and exemplify the integrity, transparency and dedication to serving the public that all New Yorkers deserve,” Strauber said at the press conference. “Instead, the indictment unsealed today alleges that Mayor Adams abused his power and position for nearly a decade as Brooklyn borough president and as mayor to enrich himself and his mayoral campaigns.”

The DOI is the city’s independent legal inspector. Although Adams appointed Strauber, she and the DOI operate independently of the mayor and the City Council. Adams nominated her in December 2021, and the City Council approved her nomination, allowing her to be sworn in in February 2022. The department’s responsibilities include investigating cases of corruption, fraud and other criminal activities committed by city employees, and Strauber clearly takes those responsibilities seriously. 

Here are five things to know about Strauber:

She was a federal prosecutor

Strauber isn’t new to the public sector. She was formerly a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the office that recently indicted Adams, from 2005 to 2013. Her cases included fraud, illegal guns and international drug trafficking. She rose to the level of leading the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. She oversaw successful prosecutions of several notorious terrorism and national security cases, including the failed 2010 Times Square bombing. For her work, she received the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award in 2011. 

Strauber previously clerked for former Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist and was a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General in the U.S. Department of Justice. She clerked for Arthur Raymond Randolph in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

She spent some time in a white-shoe law firm

Strauber tread the well-worn path from SDNY into the private sector.  After her illustrious career in prosecution and the public sector, she spent over eight years as a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. A specialist in protecting high-profile clients from government regulatory charges and charges of white collar crime, Strauber defended global businesses being probed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to her LinkedIn profile. 

A high-profile client of hers was an executive at JP Morgan Chase & Co.

During her time at Skadden, Strauber represented Michael Nowak, a managing director at JP Morgan, who was indicted for illegally manipulating precious metal markets. Federal prosecutors charged three traders, including Nowak, for participating in a yearslong fraud scheme. Novak was ultimately sentenced to a year in prison.

As part of the case, Strauber touted that she negotiated with the Department of Justice, the Federal Reserve, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority, according to her LinkedIn profile. 

She’s not afraid to call Adams out

In 2022, Strauber publicly criticized Adams’ proposed budget cuts to the DOI and testified before the City Council to express those concerns. Her main ask was a $2 million restoration of funds. The original proposed budget would allocate $49.2 million to the DOI, $2 million less than the previous fiscal year. Strauber claimed the additional $2 million would go into hiring new investigators and enforcing a promotion structure to retain staff. 

Her current salary as DOI commissioner is nearly $240,000.

Current DOI investigations are under her watch

Weapon scanners in subways. Timothy Pearson. Winnie Greco. NYPD. These are some of the DOI investigations that fall under Strauber’s authority. 

The DOI is currently looking into Adams’ installations of the controversial weapon scanners 

by the security company Evolv Technologies in subway systems, the Daily News reported Friday. Adams has repeatedly promoted the company, and he previously made comments about wishing to add weapons scanners to other locations, like schools.

In May, Strauber shared that the DOI was investigating Timothy Pearson, one of Adams’ top aides and a former police inspector, over allegations of assaulting a security officer at a migrant shelter. The agency later broadened its investigation to include alleged sexual harassment of NYPD employees. Pearson resigned on Monday from his post following Adams’ indictment. 

In November, the DOI opened a file for Winnie Greco, Adams’ director of Asian Affairs, to look into accusations that she took advantage of her government position by forcing an unpaid volunteer to renovate her home before he could attain a city job. 

Strauber confirmed in May that the DOI was investigating social media posts from senior New York City Police Department officers directly targeting elected officials and journalists. The investigation was first requested by City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and the Legal Aid Society after Chief of Patrol John Chell launched an attack on Council Member Tiffany Cabán.