Perdido 03

Perdido 03

Thursday, June 9, 2016

Is De Blasio Next?

The NY Times:

Of all the charges and the allegations in a 17-page criminal complaint accusing a powerful New York City union leader of corruption, perhaps the most far-reaching development was woven into the legal boilerplate, essentially hiding in plain sight.

A person, referred to as “CW-1,” for Cooperating Witness 1, had agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The cooperator’s name was not mentioned in the complaint unsealed on Wednesday, but several people with knowledge of the matter said it was Jona S. Rechnitz, a central figure in one of the half-dozen continuing federal corruption investigations focused on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s fund-raising.

Mr. Rechnitz, who has generously supported several of Mr. de Blasio’s interests and served on the mayor’s inaugural committee, has pleaded guilty to fraud conspiracy charges in connection with the corruption case against Norman Seabrook, the influential leader of the union that represents the city’s correction officers, and another defendant, according to the complaint.

But the significance of his decision to join the roster of government witnesses could go far beyond the case against the union leader, and have wide-ranging consequences for Mr. de Blasio.

The complaint in the corruption case, along with statements by Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York (whose office brought it), and interviews with people with knowledge of the fund-raising inquiries, strongly suggest that Mr. Rechnitz could serve as an important witness in at least one of the fund-raising matters.

At a news conference on Wednesday announcing the charges against Mr. Seabrook, Mr. Bharara declined to answer questions about the identity of CW-1 and the degree to which the witness could be helpful in other cases.

But he noted that “the complaint does say that he is assisting other investigations as well; that’s all I’ll say.”

And:

While Mr. Bharara also declined to answer questions about the fund-raising inquiries during the news conference, he left little doubt that there were more public corruption cases on the horizon.

“As those of you who come here often appreciate, it is seldom the case that the bringing of a particular charge at a particular date is the end of the matter,” he said. “We’re still investigating lots of different things, and you should expect to see me again.”

Ominous words for Bill de Blasio, that's for sure.

8 comments:

  1. Sure the hypocrites are going after good ole bill but never once questioned the most corrupt mayor in the history of nyc mr bloomberg...i take that back by calling him mr bloomberg rather mike bloomshits....where were the investigations then?? ONly money talks people in the corrupt albany collection of politicians who sit around each day doing nothing. Personally I feel this is a crime in itself by going after diblasio and NEVER ONCE going after corrupt bloomberg who destroyed our school system and left the schools in rubble....diblasio is a good man who truly cares about people unlike corrupt bloomy

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    1. Thank you.

      De Blasio has many flaws,especially if you're a publc school teacher, but until shown otherwise, I'm going to assume that this is an attempt to bring down the closest thing to a progressive mayor the city has had in many years, and to make sure we never have another one.

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    2. I look forward to de Blasio going to prison. The awful conditions we work under are his fault - he allows Farina to run the system with FEAR as the guiding principal. I once defended him and worried about what would come after him. Things have gotten so bad now, I no longer do either.

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  2. Why was Mr. Bloomberg granted impunity
    by Preet Bharara?
    Mr. Bloomberg was the champion of crony capitalism ,malfeasance and manifest greed.
    The wheels of Justice are turned very slowly
    by milquetoast weasel Bharara.

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    Replies
    1. Cyrus Vance granted immunity to Bloomberg in the Haggerty case, not Bharara.

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  3. ...20 billion reasons they didnt nail Bloomturd...

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  4. Bhara Preetinder is a phony, not a contender.

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  5. Sure deBlasio is an unreconstructed communist who actually served alongside his Sandinista allies in El Salvador but that doesn't mean he is crooked or has a malfunctioning moral compass. Didn't everybody do that back then? No way he is now a a dishonest pol. Just no way.

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