Ex-NYC COVID adviser is fired after video reveals he attended parties during pandemic
The IndependentSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A former New York City official who helped coordinate the city’s response to the pandemic was fired from his private-sector job after a recording showed him talking about attending a sex party and other private gatherings when the city was urging people to practice social distancing. A hidden-camera video posted last week by a conservative podcaster shows Varma speaking casually to a woman about attending gatherings even as he served as a face of the city’s pandemic response. “And I was like, no, I really like being my authentic self.” Varma also acknowledged how disastrous his actions would have been to the city’s efforts had they been exposed at the time. “I take responsibility for not using the best judgment at the time,” he wrote, adding that the recordings were from private conversations that had been “secretly recorded, spliced, diced, and taken out of context.” Varma didn’t elaborate on the events he referenced in the video, but acknowledged attending at least three private gatherings during his City Hall tenure.