For the first time, Mayor Bill de Blasio is responding to reports that he personally intervened in city business on behalf of a campaign donor. In an exclusive interview on the Road to City Hall, de Blasio says he did nothing wrong. NY1's Grace Rauh filed the following report.

At the heart of the federal investigation into Mayor Bill de Blasio's political activities was this question: Did the mayor exchange official favors for political donations? 

"I think it's very clear how we run our government," de Blasio said. "It is an open and transparent government where we help people bring forward legitimate issues and try to see them through to conclusion."

While prosecutors did not end up charging the mayor or his top aides, a report in The New York Times shows the mayor and his top aides took an extraordinary degree of interest and became directly involved in the city's handling of a dispute involving a political donor, Harendra Singh. He ran the now-closed Water's Edge restaurant and was fighting with the city over his lease.

"The bottom line is that people bring me issues," de Blasio said. "I don't care if it's someone on a subway platform or someone I've met in political life. We pursue the issue."

Stacey Cumberbatch, the former commissioner of the agency dealing with Singh, told the New York Times, through her lawyer, that she was under tremendous pressure to give the mayor's donor a "sweetheart deal."

A now-former deputy commissioner at the agency, Ricardo Morales, says he was fired because he complained about City Hall's involvement in the case. He is now preparing to sue over his termination.

The mayor was dismissive of both officials.

"I don't want to account for people who obviously have their own attitude toward this administration, whatever axes they have to grind," de Blasio said.

The mayor also disputed the idea that Morales was fired for pushing back.

"There were real issues with the performance," de Blasio said. "It had nothing to do with this particular situation. It had to do with overall performance."

It may be up to the court to decide whether that is indeed the case.