Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. last week laid out in his clearest language yet how Mayor Bloomberg may have broken campaign finance law in funding his reelection bid last year.
Somehow, though, Vance doesn't see it as a case worth pursuing.
He filed legal papers Friday bolstering his indictment of John Haggerty, the election aide accused of pocketing $1.1 million Bloomberg spent for Election Day poll-watching.
Bloomberg funneled that money through a special "housekeeping account" of the state Independence Party, one that can accept unlimited donations and doesn't report them until two months after Election Day.
State law says housekeeping money can only be used for day-to-day party activities, not to benefit any specific candidate. Haggerty, though, claims he spoke directly with Bloomberg about how it would help the mayor's campaign.
Here's where it gets sticky for Bloomberg.
Haggerty's lawyers say that if Bloomberg's $1.1 million was truly a donation to the Independence Party, then prosecutors can't claim it was stolen just because they don't like how the party spent it.
In last week's filing, though, Vance scoffs at the idea Bloomberg's money was a donation to the party.
"This argument seeks to mischaracterize the nature of the transferred funds," prosecutors wrote. "Haggerty deceived Bloomberg and his staff into sending the money to pay for a fictitious ballot security operation."
If Bloomberg's $1.1 million wasn't really a party donation, it should presumably have been reported as part of his campaign spending.
"That's the conundrum here," said Dennis Vacco, one of Haggerty's lawyers. "It's either a contribution or it's an expenditure."
Bloomberg even filed a state Board of Elections form called a CF-16 promising that "all financial activity related to my campaign, including my own," would go through his official Bloomberg for Mayor 2009 campaign.
That's not what happened, though.
Vance and his office will not comment on why - or whether - they haven't tried to pursue a case against Bloomberg.
Lisberg goes on to say the first term Vance doesn't want to risk a battle with Bloomberg and so he;s letting the case go.
So Bloomberg gets to subvert democracy by throwing as much illegal cash into campaigns as he wants without any risk of penalty.
No wonder the country is as screwed up as it is.
Which is why "independant businessmen" as wealthy as Scumberg shouldn't be allowed to serve in public office. The argument they all use is that they're not beholden to corruption since they are independantly wealthy. Well...how has THAT worked out for us here? The guy is so rich that he bribed the entire city into forcing himself upon us for a third term. Subverted the democratic process, and if all of his indiscretions could be revealed, is probably worse that Boss Tweed.
ReplyDeleteWe were better off with the corrupt machine politicians of yesteryear-lesser of two evils. There, the city was corrupt, but at least there was some valid press criticism. With a guy worth 20 billion, everyone bends over for him, even the DA's office. Scumberg is so rich and powerful that the major players in Manhattan are all afraid to conflict with him. And the small fires are all cooing around him to garner favors...despicable.
Welcome to the oligarchy, the corporate fascist state, where there is the ruling class and the slave class. Where reality is conditional to the whims of the kings, AND "queens", of which Scumberg obviously is the latter.
Has anyone ever seen the pricelist for items his vendors sell to city schools? One AP told me that the cost of Blackberries, and Dell computers is like a third higher than they can be bought on the open market. Have not seen it for myself, but maybe someone out there can document that.
Listen, we all knew that Bloomberg would be as dirty as a $20 hooker and as corrupt as the mafia. Bloomberg's billions would pay off or intimidate any DA. Vance wants to keep his career while Bloomberg's in office. Once Buckberg is out, Vance will probably become a well-known, don't mess with crime-fighter. You see Vance will fight those criminals that have very little money.
ReplyDeleteHey, it's the nature of the beast!
Unfortunately it is the nature of the beast these days - billionaires get all the breaks, everybody else gets the shaft.
ReplyDelete