NYC Councilwoman Julie Won’s campaign boss husband told ex-staff to eat ‘a lot of Adderall,’ take other extreme steps to get out vote

Queens Councilwoman Julie Won’s campaign boss husband was caught on tape last year telling staffers for a New York congressional candidate to eat “a lot of Adderall” and take other extreme steps — like setting off fire alarms — to get people to come out and vote, the Daily News has learned.

In addition to the recording obtained by The News, freshly unearthed emails show Won’s husband, Eugene Noh, has taken on a larger role than previously known in his wife’s government office, including giving instructions to her staff even though he’s not a Council employee.

Being that involved in internal Council affairs despite not holding a Council title could be problematic from an ethics perspective, according to a government watchdog.

Noh is a political consultant who managed his wife’s Democratic 2021 campaign for a Queens Council district that includes Long Island City, Sunnyside and Astoria. Beyond spearheading his wife’s political operation, Noh served as the field director of Max Rose’s unsuccessful Democratic 2022 campaign for the city’s 11th Congressional District.

While on the Rose campaign, a fired-up Noh held an Oct. 30, 2022 meeting in which he gave staffers marching orders on how to get voters to come out in support of Rose on Election Day.

A staffer who attended that meet started secretly recording the confab after she said she was disturbed by the “heinous stuff” Noh was saying. She shared the recording with The News.

“On Election Day itself, we are going to be the most visible, high energy and cracked out f—ing team that this island has seen, so take a lot of Adderall,” Noh can be heard telling the staffers in the recording, referring to an amphetamine-based prescription medication. The remark prompted some in the room to laugh.

Before she started filming, the staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said Noh told the Rose team members they should also feel free to “smoke meth or do cocaine” on Election Day if that would help keep them energized.

“They have to f—ing vote, otherwise they’re just going to piss us off,” Noh can be heard saying of constituents on the tape. “And we’re going to keep coming and coming, and harassing them … They can’t take a s–t without seeing Max Rose.”

Also in the recording, Noh can be heard telling the Rose aides that it could help bolster voter turnout if fire alarms were set off in apartment buildings where poll sites are on the first floor.

“Guys are just f—ing pulling on the fire alarms when they have to. Don’t say I ever told you to do that, but that has been done before in certain really Democratic buildings where they would vote downstairs,” he said.

Representatives for Rose did not return multiple requests for comment this week on whether the candidate was aware of the instructions Noh gave his campaign team.

In an emailed statement Thursday, Noh acknowledged the authenticity of the recording and offered an apology.

“In a completely failed attempt to create a moment of levity when we were all exhausted, I made some jokes that were in bad taste and inappropriate in any circumstance. Substance abuse is not a joke. Ever,” he said. “I take total responsibility for that. I apologize for any offense my statements caused to the team and know I have to be better.”

Another staffer on Rose’s 2022 campaign claimed Noh floated more extreme proposals for boosting voter turnout during a strategy meeting this past September.

“[Noh] slowly paced back and forth in front of us holding a hammer in his right hand while continuously hitting it against his left,” said the ex-staffer, who also only spoke on condition of anonymity. “In the same meeting, he talked about building a ‘goon squad’ that would take a ‘by any means’ approach to taking down the other candidate’s signs and replacing them with Max Rose signs.”

The staffer said he was fired without explanation after a few days on the Rose campaign.

“Eugene called to inform me to ‘pack up my s–t and get the f–k out of here,’” the person said. “When I inquired what led to my termination, he agreed to tell me, but only if he’d ‘beat the s–t’ out of me.’”

Noh did not dispute the anecdote about him proposing to form a “goon squad,” but vehemently denied the ex-Rose staffer’s claims about the alleged termination.

“I take responsibility for my words and actions, but this story is false,” Noh said. “I have never terminated anyone without cause and explanation — nor have I ever threatened violence while doing so.”

The revelations about Noh’s behavior on Rose’s campaign come on the heels of The News reporting last month that he got suspended from Twitter after posting offensive language on the platform over a decade ago. The News also reported last month that Noh has been looped in on a variety of emails about internal Council business even though he’s not a Council employee.

Another batch of emails obtained last week via a Freedom of Information Law request show that not only did Noh get looped in on Council business — he also on at least one occasion gave one of his wife’s government staffers a direct order.

“If any lobbyist or community member tries to get a meeting or special treatment from your office by dropping my name, feel free to tell them to go f–k themselves if that’s what your office needs to do. I don’t have a lot of friends, so give me a heads up if anyone claims to be one,” Noh wrote to the Won staffer after he got copied in on an email from a lobbyist who had reached out to the Council member’s office.

“Ahh, gotcha — thanks so much. Will definitely be keeping an eye out for those emails,” the Won staffer wrote back to Noh.

John Kaehny, executive director of the Reinvent Albany government watchdog group, said it’s troublesome for Noh to talk about government business with his wife’s staff on two levels.

“The first is that a person on the campaign side should not ever be giving instructions to government staff who are essentially employees of the taxpayers. That’s wrong, shouldn’t happen and is not allowed under city conflict of interest rules,” Kaehny said. “Secondly, a family member of an elected official should not be giving instructions to government employees. They have no authority to do so and should be stopped from doing so.”

Kaehny added of Won: “Council leadership should send a written reprimand to the Council member reminding her of the conflict of interest rules and ask her to consult with the Conflicts of Interest Board for a refresher.”

Won declined to comment on her husband’s role in her office, citing advice from Council lawyers. Noh also declined to comment on the matter other than saying he doesn’t work in his wife’s office.

In a rare swipe at a fellow Democratic Council member, Speaker Adrienne Adams told The News on Thursday she hopes Won will exercise better “discretion” in the future when asked about Noh’s involvement with her office.

“We’re all public figures so I look forward to future discretion when it comes to anything, or any behavior of my colleagues, myself included,” the speaker said. “I would hope that better discretion will be handled.”

The speaker would not say if the Won-Noh situation warrants an investigation by the city Conflicts of Interest Board. The Conflicts of Interest Board declined to comment.

With Michael Gartland