Tim Fullerton defends Signal group as a distribution list and rebuts accusations

I have a prepared statement, but I do want to make something very clear based on the previous testimony.

The people in that group were not paid by the Memdani administration.

They were not paid by a third party.

That is a signal chat that gets them.

the same type of information that Room 9 gets.

I will also say something about Room 9.

The New York Post, when they covered this story, ran a photo of Emilia Rowland in it, which was something that they pulled from her Instagram account, and it was a photo of her in a swimming pool.

So if we're going to talk about credibility and we're going to talk about who has the credibility,

There is plenty of blame to go around with people who are good actors and who are not.

And the New York Post decided to go down a sexist route to try to make a salacious point because they didn't have any details or any specifics about what this was, nor they understood it.

So I just want to respond to that outrageous comment that was made before and was highly inappropriate for a million reasons.

And again, they may get paid by a third-party entity for creator work.

They did not get that from the Memdani administration.

So I just want to clear the record there.

Now.

Moving on to my statement.

So as I said, my name is Tim Fullerton.

I'm the founder and CEO of Find Out Media, which is a left-leaning progressive media operation.

I have also been the chief digital officer of the state of New York, and I've also been the director of digital strategy in the Obama administration at the U.S.

Department of the Interior, so I know a little bit about this issue.

And I want to thank Chair Brewer and the members of the committee for having me today.

And I want to talk a little bit about what happened here.

You know, when I did these jobs in the federal government and the state government, I learned

something simple.

Government information is only useful if it reaches people.

Today, millions of New Yorkers don't get their news from newspapers or the six o'clock broadcast, or frankly, even know it exists.

They get it from creators they trust on platforms that they already use.

A mayor's office that ignores those people isn't being careful.

It's being absent.

So let's be clear about what this signal group is.

It's a distribution list.

The mayor's office...

Time has expired.

Event invitations and access to officials.

This is the same thing that the press gets.

Now, I believe that the...

They need to turn on, and they have turned on, the thing that keeps them from being deleted.

But this is the same information that the press is getting, and I think it would be wise for the city council to look at this and modify some rules to make sure that all types of communication are

allowed so that the mayor can get his information out, especially in areas where the press isn't covering.

Thank you very much.