Mayor de Blasio is returning $20,200 in campaign contributions from a real-estate firm involved in the corruption scandals involving two disgraced Albany legislative leaders — a move that puts Gov. Cuomo in a political jam.
De Blasio is the first elected official to heed Post editorials calling for the return of millions in campaign cash from Glenwood Management, a powerhouse developer that figured in the corruption trials of both former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos.
Cuomo has pulled in $1.2 million over the years from Glenwood, its officials and subsidiaries.
Cuomo spokesman Austin Shafran declined on Thursday to say whether the governor would follow the mayor’s lead and give back the money.
When The Post raised the issue earlier this week, Shafran insisted “the governor’s decisions are not influenced by contributions, as testimony in the trials showed.”
The mayor’s campaign — which would certainly say the same about de Blasio — nevertheless decided it would refund Glenwood’s money, according to a campaign spokesman.
Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin puts this into perspective:
It should be a no-brainer for Cuomo to return the Glenwood $.... too late to lead by example, now he's in a jam.
https://t.co/fwLnCPL6xk
— Steve McLaughlin (@SteveMcNY) December 18, 2015
It should have been a no-brainer, all right, but Cuomo insisted he was going to wait for the outcome of the Silver/Skelos trials before making any move and then, after both were convicted, clearly still decided to wait to make any move (perhaps hoping the hullabaloo would go away?) and now de Blasio beat him to the punch.
Of course, it's quite easy for de Blasio to return $20K, less so for Cuomo to return $1.2 million in bagman cash from Glenwood.
And if Cuomo had to return every dirty donation from a contributor, sheesh - they would cost him most of his campaign warchest.
That's why the feds are looking into his donors in the first place.
So I get why he's not led on the Glenwood donation issue.
Nonetheless, the de Blasio move, meant to tweak him, will make him very, very sad.
And you know what happens when Cuomo gets sad - somebody gets hurt.
Expect some kind of retaliation from Cuomo against de Blasio very, very soon.
If he returns the money, then he did all that illegal(alleged)stuff for free. That is quite a pickle.
ReplyDeleteThinking too much into this:
ReplyDeleteMy bet is that Cuomo returns the money and in the process makes a grand statement about having to fix the corruption problem in Albany. He will say something about how the recent convictions have shown that money from this source has been tainted and that he is so above that that he is giving it back.
We need to start to see Preet as the police officer in the car along the highway.....so long as his presence is making people behave, he'll be mostly satisfied.....pull over the occasional car, give the occasional ticket, but the point is to amend behavior. Silver and Skelos got tickets and Cuomo needs to show he's slowing down in order to avoid one himself. I bet Cuomo slows down to the speed limit, at least enough for Preet to not toss an indictment at him.
Cuomo needs the cash to pay his lawyers.
ReplyDeleteI thought he was going to use that cash to give to eva moskowitch's charter schools. The cash could have given Eva a raise and a few smart boards for the kids....Oh well, I guess Eva will get it from the tax payers instead.
ReplyDeleteAlbany is beginning to remind of the movie and then there were none. Where is bloomberg in all of this I am sure he is in on something, no?
ReplyDeleteOh really...When will they require Mulgrew to return the 40 million bucks his sister received in ed. Contracts from Bloomberg LLC. ? He is laughing all the way to the bank! I CANT WAIT till I can cancel my union dues !!! Then Ill be laughing....
ReplyDeleteyeah cancel your dues and the doe will cancel your employment...dont go running to the uft then
Deleteremember it new york will be called the right to work for less state so you really should pay your dues and keep quiet pal unless you want to wait on line at the unemployment office..just sayin
Delete"Pal"....Im not worrird about it ...Ill ride for free on YOUR back.."Pal"...get some real leadership that gives a shit about the rank and file...guess what...it aint happenin ..."Pal"...
ReplyDeletei know your not worried about it because its people like you that screw the system up because your worried about your 50 dollar payment to the union. Well, pal, lol, good luck.
ReplyDelete