An unsealed application for a search warrant filed earlier this year by the office of District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. has roiled Pittsburgh city government this week — as some of those named in the document say its accusations are groundless and in some cases characterized by factual errors.

And the source of key claims that form the basis for the nine-page affidavit filed in support of the warrant application — attorney and former City Council aide Dan Friedson — said that by itself, “that document doesn’t really prove anything.

“It’s not the end of the journey,” said Friedson, who previously served as council’s solicitor. “It’s a jumping point to look into things.”

The affidavit, unsealed Monday afternoon, details interviews by investigators for Zappala’s office with Friedson, former City Councilor Theresa Kail Smith, current City Councilor Anthony Coghill and an aide in his office, and current City Controller Rachael Heisler and her office’s solicitor.

It cites a mix of facts and allegations about the city’s financial practices, some of which have been reported by Pittsburgh media or discussed in public council deliberations. Overall, it faults the fiscal decisions of former Mayor Ed Gainey and his administration and raises questions about city contracts with people or organizations it identifies as his political allies.

Gainey did not respond to a request for comment.

The investigation dates back as far as 2023, when investigators with Zappala’s office first met with Friedson, who they said was examining city processes related to the use of no-bid contracts. Zappala’s investigators sought and obtained the warrant on March 23 from Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jill E. Rangos after outlining aspects of their investigation in the affidavit.

Since then, the warrant had been under seal. In the affidavit, investigators said they sought the seal because of “a fear of retaliation, political or physical” for one or more of the witnesses. The seal, according to the affidavit, would prevent possible targets of the investigation from interfering with the investigation or threatening witnesses.

Zappala has repeatedly made reference to the investigation, most recently at a news conference in August, in which he said his office had received and was going through “7,000 financial documents.” He said then that Mayor Corey O’Connor’s administration and Heisler, the controller, were both cooperative with the investigation, but that because of the volume of information involved, the investigation would take time.

The warrant sought records related to the city’s relationships with a number of different organizations. At the center of the affidavit accompanying it are assertions that the city of Pittsburgh lacks sufficient financial oversight and controls in regard to contracts it entered.

The affidavit also contends that the Gainey administration exploited legal loopholes — some of which date back to the administration of his predecessor, Bill Peduto — to award favorable grants to certain groups.

It includes comments from interviewees scrutinizing the use of the Stop the Violence Fund — a heavily debated pot of city money established in 2020 to address violence from a public health perspective — for potential irregularities. Conflict flared over the fund at council last year.

“Under the former Gainey Administration, specific procedures were being exploited to the detriment of the City of Pittsburgh by funding specific organizations without following proper procedures,” the affidavit says, additionally positing that those practices “assisted the City of Pittsburgh into the financial issues of the past including the recently announced 2025 deficit.”

In the affidavit, investigators raise questions about “sole source” or “no-bid” contracts that bypass typical contract procedures, and the Gainey administration’s handling of some organizations as the only possible providers for certain services.

“If the City of Pittsburgh Administration was trying to claim ‘Single Source’ provider for the exemptions, specific documents would be required, and Friedson believed that someone would have had to lie on the documentation submitted,” the affidavit states. “The vendors obtaining these exemptions should not qualify for either sole source or single source.”

In the affidavit, the investigators quote Friedson as saying former City Solicitor Krysia Kubiak advised members of council not to read city contracts for themselves before voting on them. The affidavit also contends that the city never received work product for certain initiatives that it funded.

The affidavit also makes a number of references to sitting City Councilor Khari Mosley, alleging various connections between Mosley and 1Hood Media, an organization that has received city money, including through grants administered by outside organizations.

The basis for some claims remains murky.

The affidavit, for example, does not provide a written record for its claim that Kubiak “had told City Council that they were not allowed to read any city contract” and were obliged to approve them. Friedson told WESA Tuesday that Kubiak had made the claim in the form of a legal opinion protected by attorney-client privilege — even though council hadn’t sought her guidance. In doing so, he said, she had “exploit[ed] attorney-client privilege” to keep her prohibition under wraps.

Kubiak, who has since left the city for a post at Duquesne Light Company, did not respond to requests for comment. Coghill also declined to comment on the material in the affidavit, due to the ongoing nature of the investigation. He said he had been contacted by the DA’s office to do an interview with detectives.

But by Tuesday morning, some of those named in the document were pushing back against its claims, at times expressing bafflement at having been included in it at all.

Mosley is named repeatedly in the affidavit, though his first name is misspelled in places and the affidavit identifies him as having been the “owner and operator” of 1Hood Media — a title that organizers of the 20-year-old group say he’s never held. The affidavit also claims he formerly worked for Gainey, a claim that is unsupported in the document and that Mosley denies.

And while Mosley is a board member of the group, the affidavit does not identify him as taking any action in his capacity as a city council member, other than recusing himself from votes involving the group.

“When we looked at the affidavit, it’s really an attempt to attack Khari” by suggesting impropriety, said Jasiri X, the co-founder and CEO of 1Hood Media. “We were the collateral damage. We know that these are individuals that want to gain political power for themselves.”

Jasiri X said the allegations were an effort to undermine Black political groups and to discredit the Stop the Violence fund, even though rates of serious crime decreased during Gainey’s administration.

“For right-wing folks, that’s the talking point: Black people kill themselves. But when we build successful models to reduce violence in our communities, then you don’t even support that,” he said.

The 1Hood label applies to different entities: 1Hood Media, which receives city grants for community outreach and cultural programs, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; 1Hood Power is a 501(c)(4) that advocates on political questions. Jasiri X said the two entities maintain separate offices and separate financial structures.

Mosley had a foot in both organizations: Prior to his election in 2023, he headed up 1Hood Power’s political engagement efforts. But he left that job before taking office, and Jasiri X said Mosley is not paid as a 1Hood board member.

On Tuesday, Mosley told reporters, “I did not benefit from anything” having to do with city grants to the group.

“There’s no connection between me and the insinuations and the inaccuracies … that are in the document,” he said. “I recused myself on all votes of 1Hood Media.”

Another recipient of city funds identified in the affidavit, Cohen Law Group founder and former City Councilor Dan Cohen, also said Tuesday that the allegations involving him are entirely untrue.

The affidavit says “Friedson stated that the Cohen Law Group was hired to conduct a telecommunication asset study for approximately $1,500,000 and the City of Pittsburgh had received nothing in return. No reports, at the time of this interview, had ever been provided for this contract.”

But Cohen, who held the council seat later occupied by Peduto, told WESA Tuesday morning there was a good reason he had not produced a telecommunication asset study: He had never actually had a contract to do the work.

“Our firm was never hired to conduct a telecommunications asset study for the city of Pittsburgh,” he said. “I don’t know what they are referring to, but it’s not our firm."

Cohen’s firm specializes in helping local governments negotiate with cable providers and related legal tasks. He says the firm has worked on a handful of tasks for the city, the largest being a renegotiation of contracts with cable providers Verizon and Comcast, but “we were hired in the Peduto administration.”

Negotiating with cable firms can be a lengthy process, but while work on some contracts extended into the Gainey years, Cohen said, “in none of them were we hired by the Gainey administration.”

Adding to the confusion: While the affidavit names the Cohen Law Group as a firm whose contract was of interest to investigators, it describes the firm using the corporate biography for a different, similarly named firm.

Asked by WESA about the contract, Friedson said he believed the telecommunications asset study dated back to the Peduto administration. He said the Cohen group’s name, along with that of other recipients of large-dollar sums, appeared in a list of “no-bid contracts of a period of time that was above a certain amount. Just because that vendor is listed doesn't necessarily mean there was wrongdoing. It just means these are high-number no-bid contracts to be looked into.”

City Councilor Barb Warwick, who was closely allied with Gainey, said, “The allegations are serious, but at least from what I’ve seen, the source of the allegations feels like four hens gossiping at an Eat’n Park. So I would certainly want to see more detailed information on what the evidence is before passing any kind of judgment.”