Cuomo Ally Pleads Not Guilty To Nine Count Felony Indictment (Update)

Niagara Gazette:

G. Steven Pigeon, a longtime Western New York political operative and former chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party, pleaded not guilty Thursday to multiple corruption charges filed in an indictment announced by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

The 55-year-old political consultant has been charged with bribery in the second degree, a class C felony; bribery in the third degree, a class D felony; grand larceny theft by extortion in the third degree, a class D Felony; and six counts of rewarding official misconduct in the second degree, a class E felony.

Pigeon, who appeared in court with his attorney, Paul Cambria, entered his plea during an arraignment Thursday morning in front of State Supreme Court Judge Donald F. Cerio, Jr. who set bail at $10,000 cash or $20,000 bond.

Following the arraignment, Cambria met with reporters outside the courtroom where he said Pigeon vehemently denies any wrongdoing and looks forward to his day in court.

Pigeon's arraignment follows Wednesday's guilty plea from former State Supreme Court Justice John A. Michalek. The 65-year-old Michalek resigned from the bench after pleading guilty to various charges in what Schneiderman's office has described as a scheme that involved receiving bribes from Pigeon, and for filing a false document with the New York State Office of Court Administration when he appointed a receiver who had been suggested by Pigeon. Michalek admitted guilt to a pair of felonies, including bribe receiving in the third degree and offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree. In addition to entering the plea, Michalek submitted a letter of resignation to the chief administrative judge, effective immediately.

The charges stem from an ongoing public corruption investigation by the attorney general's office. Schneiderman is scheduled to hold a press conference this afternoon at his office in Buffalo to discuss both cases in greater detail.

The Buffalo News reported this morning that this case is not likely to end with only Michalek and Pigeon facing criminal charges:

Schneiderman, who investigated Pigeon’s activities based on original complaints about election law violations, emerged as the only prosecutor or official in New York State willing to take on the case. And according to a source familiar with the charge, more counts could be forthcoming. The source pointed out nothing in this week’s court proceedings yet addresses the concerns that led Schneiderman’s investigators, the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the FBI in May of 2015 to raid the homes of former Buffalo Deputy Mayor Steven M. Casey and Christopher M. Grant, former chief of staff to Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence.

For now, the state focuses its next steps on Pigeon, who has garnered complaints from political opponents and elections officials for many years over his controversial methods of raising money for independent political committees. Much more serious charges now face Michalek and Pigeon as a result of the original complaints, though those close to the case say more charges could still be pressed.

Pigeon's connections to Cuomo are well known and the governor's name even popped up in the indictment:

In March 2012, Michalek emailed Pigeon regarding a lawsuit pending before him, providing Pigeon with details concerning a motion filed by a non-party to the litigation seeking a protective order from a subpoena served by one of the parties.

In a written decision issued approximately two weeks later, Michalek denied the motion for a protective order, just as Pigeon had requested. Michalek then sent Pigeon an email with a copy of the decision attached and thanked Pigeon for “his efforts” on behalf of his first relative looking for a job, the complaint said.

Pigeon responded by email a short time later with an offer of additional assistance to the relative.
The complaint also indicated that on Dec. 10, 2012, Michalek emailed Pigeon concerning assistance in securing the Appellate Division appointment. Michalek wrote: “think there is a seat open in App Div … I applied … Normally I wouldn’t mention it to you … wonder if you could help.”

That same day, Pigeon replied: “I will start talking u up.”

The documents then indicate that on Jan. 8, 2013, Michalek wrote to Pigeon: “Unc Steve...How’d you do with the Gov??? ...” Later that day, Pigeon responded: “Bunch happening ... in albany now... Gov went well ... Talked u up ... Let’s have coffee soon.”

The complaint draws a clear link between Pigeon and Michalek’s desire for a gubernatorial appointment to the appellate court.

Pigeon had bragged that he was Cuomo's go-to guy in Western New York (this was the subject of a Buffalo News story back in 2013), so the Michalek appointment convo may not be the only time Cuomo shows up in this case.

We'll see.

No matter what happens with the Pigeon case, the Buffalo Billion case is still ongoing as well, with two former Cuomo aides and one current Cuomo associate facing what will almost certainly be criminal charges for corruption.

It is going to be an interesting summer waiting to see how all of this shakes out.

Today Cuomo went to the Catskills with Robert DeNiro.

Here is a transcript of what transpired:

@J__Velasquez @NYGovCuomo A Goodfellas re-enactment for Steven Pigeon: Keep your mouth shut, don't rat on your friends.

— rbe (@perdidostschool) June 30, 2016

UPDATED - 1:55 PM: Former assistant district attorney Mark Sacha insinuates  Attorney General Schneiderman is engaging in a cover-up by going after low-lying fruit with the corruption indictment while ignoring the election fraud crimes Pigeon was engaged in that could take down a whole swath of politicians:

Former Erie County DA Mark Sacha on Steve Pigeon https://t.co/J5B8HVU62V via @YouTube

— Buffalopundit (@buffalopundit) June 30, 2016

Would note also that Risa Sugarman, Cuomo's hack at the Board of Elections, referred the Pigeon case initially.

That itself is interesting, since it's doubtful that the independent in name only Sugarman, appointed by the governor, would initiate anything without Cuomo's OK.

In any case, a sordid affair exposing Erie County corruption right to the very core - the justice system, the political system, the election system.

More as we get it.

Cuomo's Worried About The Corruption Probes

That's the takeaway I get from the two pieces out in the Wall Street Journal and the NY Times this morning about Joe Percoco and the Cuomo administration.

They're appearing simultaneously and have a very Cuomoesque slant to the corruption investigation (i.e., this is all the fault of former aides Todd Howe and Joe Percoco.)

They appear to have come directly from the Cuomo administration itself.

In addition, Fred Dicker has a piece out today saying the Scheiderman raid of SUNY Polytechnic was encouraged by the governor in order to throw SUNY Poly head Alain Kaloyeros under the bus:

Cuomo’s reaction to Bharara’s probe — which focuses in part on two of his closest friends and longtime associates, former aide Joe Percoco and lobbyist Todd Howe — was to push Kaloyeros aside and hire a special outside investigator, Bart Schwartz, to oversee the development projects going forward.

...

Bharara has been focusing his attention on Percoco and Howe — who were paid by major companies doing state business — and large state-hired construction firms that contributed to Cuomo’s re-election.

Schneiderman is focused more narrowly on possible bid-rigging and a violation of a state antitrust laws in relation to a SUNY Polytechnic dorm-construction project.

Schneiderman’s raid — to which some journalists were given notice even before investigators seized materials from an office once used by Howe — was described by a source close to SUNY as having been “clearly conducted with Cuomo’s encouragement’’ in an attempt to shift blame away from the governor to Kaloyeros.

“Cuomo and his people are trying to save their asses at the expense of everyone else,’’ the source said.

Kaloyeros did not return calls seeking comment. Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi insisted the sources “clearly don’t know what they’re talking about’’ and denied that the governor was involved in trying to undermine Kaloyeros.

Dicker also says Schwartz is slowing down work in the Buffalo Billion Project "to a crawl" in order to scrutinize everything.

The Cuomo admin responded with this doozy:

So this is going well. Cuomo spox now reduced to "sources don't know what they're talking about."#BuffaloBillion https://t.co/xtLyBRF6kp

— Steve McLaughlin (@SteveMcNY) June 14, 2016

Put it all together and what you have here is Cuomo going on the PR offensive in the Times and WSJ against Percoco and more evidence that Cuomo, despite talking more cautiously in public about Kaloyeros than he has about Percoco and Howe, looking to throw Dr. Nano under the bus as well.

This says he's very worried about what's going to come out of the Bharara probe and is going on the offensive once again to try and distance himself as much as possible from Percoco, Howe, and Kaloyeros.

Good luck with that, Andy.

The pattern - donors donate to you, get contracts/grants/subsidies/favors in return - remains.

SUNY Office Raided, Net Closes In On Cuomo Cronies

State law ebforcement agents at SUNY polytechnic today, after serving search warrants on Todd Howe's office. pic.twitter.com/Od8qoGwhoR

— Jesse McKinley (@jessemckinley) May 26, 2016

From the NY Times:

ALBANY — Agents from the state attorney general’s office conducted a search at the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute here on Thursday, scouring an office once used by a lobbyist as part of an inquiry into possible bid rigging.

Agents arrived with search warrants and looked through an office used by Todd R. Howe, who has past ties to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat. Mr. Howe had worked as the president of the lobbying arm of Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, a prominent Albany law firm which had SUNY Polytechnic as a client. Agents also served a warrant to examine communications from Alain E. Kaloyeros, the school’s president.

Mr. Howe and Mr. Kaloyeros have recently emerged as central players in a multipronged federal investigation led by the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, surrounding the Buffalo Billion, the governor’s signature upstate economic initiative. Mr. Howe was fired from Whiteman after news of the federal investigation broke last month.

The search — conducted by several agents, who looked into electronic files and removed at least two boxes of material — focused in part on a plan to build a dormitory near the university’s sleek campus. But according to an official with knowledge of the investigation, agents were also looking into other projects connected with SUNY Polytechnic, as well as several developers who had worked with the school.

They're looking at bid-rigging - that the proposal for a dormitory project was written up in such a way that only a Cuomo donor (Columbia Development, $195,000 to Cuomo since August 2013) could win it.

This would follow what appears to be an emerging pattern of rigging proposals for Cuomo donors, as happened with LP Ciminelli in the Buffalo Billion Project or NAH for a proposed for-profit charter school that got backdated under older rules that still allowed for for-profit charters.

Investigators are also looking at the relationship between Cuomo administration officials and COR Development, which gave the governor $325,000 through various individuals and entities and received $100 million in state contracts.

Something similar is happening with Cuomo's vaunted LaGuardia Airport redo, where Cuomo donors stand to do very well in plans set forth by the Cuomo administration, though there's no indication that investigators are looking at that - yet, at any rate.

Yesterday's raid suggests former Cuomo aide/Cuomo hand model Todd Howe is done for - it's only a matter of time before he's picked up and squeezed by the feds.

And since he acted as a "de facto chief of staff" to SUNY Poly guy Alain Kaloyeros and the feds are looking at Kaloyeros too, well, you'd have to think it's only a matter of time before the highest paid state employee gets picked up too.

Cuomo threw Howe and Kaloyeros under the bus this week, along with former aide/confidante Joe Percoco, saying that the the investigation was really limited to those individuals, but with news that the investigations by the U.S. attorney and the attorney general continue to widen (see here, here and here), that appears not to be the case.

There is still no evidence that this will reach as high as Cuomo, but here's the thing that should give some hope on that.

There's one string that links all of this disparate strands together and it is this: Cuomo donors gave money to Cuomo and got state contracts, grants, subsidies and/or other help in return.

This happened not once or twice but seemingly over and over and over.

Maybe Cuomo's got a firewall between himself and the rest of his cronies pulling these shenanigans, but he'd better hope it's a very strong firewall.

Because the authorities are looking not just at some corrupt individuals in basically a good system - they're looking at some corrupt individuals operating in a just-as-corrupt system.

And no pol has taken advantage of that system more than Cuomo, who had a huge war chest for his last re-election and even now is sitting on $16 million raised from dubious sources.

Noticing The Not-So-Subtle Way Cuomo's State Contracts Seem Rigged For His Donors

The pattern for how Cuomo and his associates rig bids for his donors gets some scrutiny in this Albany Business Review piece looking at a SUNY Polytechnic contract for a dorm:

Richard Gefell is always looking for potential business opportunities, so when he heard last year SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Albany needed dormitories for 500 students near its campus, he was intrigued.

Gefell, director of business development at Purcell Construction Corp. in Watertown, signed a confidentiality agreement to get the project specifications, a requirement 12 other companies also fulfilled, according to documents released to Albany Business Review under the state Freedom of Information Law.

But his interest waned when he read the Request for Proposal, or RFP, and realized developers must have their headquarters or “major operations” in the Albany region. Watertown is 175 miles west, near Lake Ontario.

He was also dismayed to see the college preferred the dorms be built within a 10-minute walk of campus.

“The way the RFP was written, you could kind of tell they had already selected their site,” Gefell said. “The more research I did down there, there’s really one site that was suitable.”

He added, “They had very tight parameters on where the site could be located, and a very short window of time to secure it. It appeared there weren’t that many sites that met that criteria.”

Another builder said the deadline to submit proposals — just 43 days after the RFP was issued — made it impractical to get control of land near the campus on time.

“We thought someone had an inside track,” said the builder, who asked not to be identified because of concerns it could threaten future dealings with SUNY Polytechnic. “It was so highly specific. Unless you knew about it before the RFP was released, you would not have been in a position to respond.”

Only one developer submitted a proposal - Columbia Development.

If you guessed that Columbia Development was a Cuomo donor, well, you win a government contract from the Cuomo administration.

Here was Chris Churchill in the Times-Union back in September following some of the money around the Columbia Development/SUNY Poly dorm story:

SUNY Poly just awarded a contract for dormitory construction to Columbia Development, whose entities have given at least $175,000 to the governor's campaign fund since the start of 2014.

...

June 2014: The Times Union learns that Columbia is the developer for the so-called ZEN building, a $191 million project that is still under construction. Columbia will be also be a ZEN tenant.

July 2014: We learn that Columbia is buying homes on Loughlin Street, just south of the SUNY Poly campus. "Nobody here has any idea what that's about," Gretzinger said at the time.

March 2015: SUNY Poly issues a request for proposals to construct dorms. The school asks that the dorms be within a 10-minute walk of campus, and it requires that the developer be based in the Capital Region and have experience in dorm construction.

The requirements seemed perfectly suited for Columbia, but SUNY Poly head Alain Kaloyeros cautioned against jumping to conclusions. "It would be an erroneous assumption to presume at this point that we have a preferred developer or location," Kaloyeros said then.

September 2015: We learn that Columbia has, indeed, won the bid and will develop three dorms and parking on land that includes Loughlin Street. SUNY Poly is negotiating to buy the land from the developer. The project architect is EYP, which is headquartered on the SUNY Poly campus.

OK, so take that timeline and overlay it with what I found on Monday while searching the Board of Elections online records.

August 2013: A Columbia entity gives $25,000 to Cuomo's campaign fund. It's the company's first donation to Cuomo in the database.

June 2014: Two Columbia entities — Ridgehill LLC and 25 Monroe LLC — give $50,000 each. All together, Columbia and related LLCs give $115,000 to the governor over the course of 2014.

July 2015: Six separate Columbia entities give a total of $50,000 to the governor on just one day, July 13. All together, Columbia has given $60,000 so far this year, according to state records.

The three-year total: $200,000.

That's a significant amount of money — and it's probably an undercount of Columbia's contributions. It's so difficult to ferret out all the various Columbia-associated LLCs that it's likely I missed a few. Columbia President Joe Nicolla, who also is a SUNY Poly Foundation board member, could probably provide the precise number, but he declined comment Monday.

Churchill went on to note the similarities between the Columbia Development/SUNY Poly dorm story and the Buffalo Billion/LP Ciminelli story:

In Buffalo, a similar pattern was uncovered by the Investigative Post, a Buffalo-based online news outlet.

Jim Heaney, its editor, dug deep on the Buffalo Billion, a Cuomo economic development effort in which Kaloyeros is heavily involved. His reporting peeled away layers of secrecy to find that a request-for-proposals seemed written for LPCiminelli, which is owned by a major Cuomo donor.

This week we found what seems to be a similar RFP rigging from SUNY over a proposed for-profit charter school run by NHA - a Cuomo donor in the past.

I'm no lawyer, but I would imagine that this kind of pattern - RFP's seemingly tailored so only Cuomo donors can get the contract - will interest the U.S. attorney and his merry men and women looking into potential criminality, conflicts of interest and malfeasance in Cuomo's economic development programs.

It's Attorney General Schneiderman officially looking into this SUNY Polytechnic dorm proposal, but it's not like he and Preet don't talk, you know?

SUNY Poly Scrubbed Dorm Project After Subpoenas

Gee, this doesn't have the appearance of a problem:

ALBANY – Officials say SUNY Polytechnic and its leader, Alain Kaloyeros, one of the point people for the Buffalo Billion program, is under investigation by the state attorney general over a contract awarded for a new dormitory building at the public college he runs in Albany.

A person familiar with the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is looking at possible bid-rigging violations after just one company – Columbia Development – put in a proposal to build the dorm.

The project, which included a signed contract with Columbia, was canceled last fall after SUNY Polytechnic officials said the construction effort was going to be rebid. It appears the scrubbing of the deal came about two months after Schneiderman issued subpoenas to the public college and the developer for information about the contract process.

 Kaloyeros has been a close advisor to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on upstate economic development issues, and Cuomo personally tapped him to handle mega-projects such as the SolarCity plant under construction in South Buffalo. Columbia is a large developer and builder of projects in the Albany area, including a sprawling new building at the SUNY Polytechnic campus on the west side of Albany. Between corporate contributions and those from individuals tied to the company, it has been a reliable donor to Cuomo in recent years.

Hey, you know that project we were going do but we got subpoenas on it?

Let's not do that anymore, okay.

And there's more trouble in CuomoLand:

The source who spoke to The News said the dorm contract award is not the only matter Schneiderman is looking at involving SUNY Polytechnic; the source declined to elaborate. Also, the person said U.S. Attorney General Preet Bharara is aware of Schneiderman’s probe and that the state investigation of the dorm project and Bharara’s expanding Buffalo Billion investigation is “all inter-connected.” In the Buffalo Billion probe that began with an inquiry after the awarding of the RiverBend project that will house a future SolarCity plant, Bharara issued subpoenas to SUNY Polytechnic and Cuomo’s economic development agency, as well as Buffalo firms LPCiminelli and McGuire Development.

Key takeaway from all of this?

"Schneiderman’s probe and the state investigation of the dorm project and Bharara’s expanding Buffalo Billion investigation is 'all inter-connected.'”

At the very least, Cuomo's going to have some serious political fallout to deal with when all the "interconnected" investigations come to a close and some of Cuomo's closest allies and former aides get carted off in handcuffs.

Schneiderman Investigates Cuomo Ally For Rigging Bid For A Cuomo Donor

Another day, another corruption investigation involving a Cuomo ally and/or associate:

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office is investigating potential bid-rigging in the development of a dormitory on the campus of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

SUNY Poly’s CEO Alain Kaloyeros, the state’s highest-paid employee and a major player in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s upstate high-tech development blueprint, is a key focus of the investigation, according to the source.

Subpoenas were issued in September to SUNY Poly as well as its development arm, Fuller Road Management Corp., as well as two Albany-based companies involved in the dorm project, Columbia Development and EYP Architecture & Engineering.

...

The Attorney General’s subpoenas were not the only ones received by SUNY Poly last fall.

The same month, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara’s office subpoenaed records from the school as part of its investigation into the Buffalo Billion program.

At the time, Cuomo said, “You can have investigations but that does not mean there’s any ‘there’ there, or that anyone did anything wrong.”

This SUNY case mirrored the Buffalo Billion case wherein a bid was rigged for a Cuomo donor to win:

A request-for-proposals issued by the school asked that the dorms be located within a 10-minute walk of SUNY Poly’s Fuller Road campus and required that the developer be based in the Capital Region and have experience in dorm construction.

The requirements matched the abilities of Columbia Development, which had been buying land along Loughlin Street adjacent to the SUNY Poly campus. Columbia is also the lead developer of the $190 million ZEN building on the campus, and the company said that it planned to become a tenant in that building.

SUNY Poly later said that Columbia had won the bid and would likely build three dormitories and parking on land that included the Loughlin Street properties.
...
 Columbia and its various entities have given the governor’s campaign at least $200,000 over the past three years. Half of that sum was donated to Cuomo’s political operation on a single day — June 17, 2014 — by two Columbia LLCs that each made $50,000 donations.

The same day, Nicolla’s wife, Jessica Nicolla, made a $50,000 donation to the governor’s campaign that, according to Board of Elections records, was made using her maiden name and an address in Muncie, Ind., her home town.

The same scam was worked in the Buffalo Billion with LP Ciminelli:

 Not content with just building a factory for Solar City, the Cuomo administration appears to have rigged the bid by putting in the RFP (request for proposals) a stipulation that only a company with 50 years in business could bid. Well..... interestingly there is only one company in Buffalo that fit that bill, L.P. Ciminelli. Even more interesting is that Ciminelli is one of Cuomo's top 100 donors. Wow! What a coincidence!

When the information came out about the 50 year requirement the excuse was that it "was a typographical error" and it had been corrected and it should have said 15 years. But, Ciminelli was still awarded the contract.

Take a look at your keyboard. How does someone mistakenly type

50 instead of 15? I believe that excuse like I believe Cuomo supports education or your 2nd amendment rights.

Ciminelli was of course a Cuomo donor:

LPCiminelli, whose chairman and chief executive, Louis P. Ciminelli, is a financial backer of Mr. Cuomo’s, was ultimately selected to construct the SolarCity factory.

Records show that the Ciminelli family was supportive of the governor’s campaign during the period when developers were being sought for Buffalo Billion projects.

On Nov. 19, 2013, Mr. Cuomo traveled to Buffalo for a fund-raiser. Campaign finance records show that Mr. Ciminelli’s wife provided facilities or services to the Cuomo campaign that day worth $2,350 — known as an in-kind contribution. A Cuomo campaign spokesman said the contribution paid for a private gathering that Mr. Ciminelli hosted for the governor that night.

Three weeks later, on Dec. 10, LPCiminelli submitted its proposal for development work as part of the Buffalo Billion. In early January, Mr. Ciminelli and his wife gave more money to the governor — $29,200 in total. Mr. Ciminelli was so generous, he donated more to Mr. Cuomo than was allowed by law, so a portion of his donation was refunded.

Later that month, LPCiminelli was selected as one of the winning developers, and would eventually build the SolarCity factory.

The subpoena to SUNY Polytechnic sought records related to monetary and in-kind donations to any state elected official.

A pattern of quid pro quo - bid rigging for Cuomo's donors, donations coming Cuomo's way?

Andy Pallotta Has The Sads Over A Blog Post

Yesterday somebody told me that NYSUT leadership is upset about this post from Sullio that succinctly and devastatingly explains how the NYSUT leadership runs things at the union.

The gist of the post is that leadership doesn't care what rights and protections teachers have lost, doesn't care how the rank and file feel about these lost rights and protections, and doesn't care to do anything to rectify these lost rights and protections because membership dues are required by law so why should they care?

Apparently NYSUT Executive Vice President Andy Pallotta, who was never once mentioned in Sullio's post, is upset because he says the post compares him to a gangster - this despite the fact that the mob is never mentioned in the post either.

The only reference to the mob is a brief clip from the film Goodfellas that explains how, when you're paying protection money to the mob, it doesn't matter what happens during the week that might make those payments inconvenient - you've got to come up with the protection money no matter what.

You know, kinda like how teachers have to pony up their union dues every month no matter how many rights and protections disappear because the NYSUT leadership is either complicit with the education reform movement that seeks to destroy the teaching profession or is totally incompetent to stop them (take your pick on which but I lean toward Choice #1.)

Pallotta wants the state attorney general to look into the blog post and filed a discrimination complaint  because, you know, what better things can NYSUT spend time, money and energy on then attacking a blogger who accurately depicts how NYSUT runs its operations.

NYC Educator took on NYSUT leaders over this here.

Sean Crowley did the same here.

Here's my take:

With the Friedrichs case to be heard this year by the Supreme Court and the likelihood coming that the U.S. will be made into a "right-to-work" nation where union dues cannot be compelled from government workers after that case is decided, you'd think NYSUT leadership would be busy re-thinking their "Top-down/Fuck the rank and file cuz' I got mine" way of running things, but given Andy Pallotta's concern over a blog post, that's apparently not the case.

I dunno, perhaps Pallotta has the sads because NYSUT leadership is about to lose a few cars off their union gravy train post-Friedrichs, perhaps he's not a fan of Goodfellas and prefers Casino instead (though I dunno why, since Casino seems so derivative of Goodfellas.)

Either way, Pallotta ought to grow up and worry less about blog posts and more about what's going to happen to NYSUT once the Supreme Court says members no longer are compelled to pay dues.

If I were him, I might be thinking, "Hey, maybe we have to start serving our members and actually protecting their interests," but given the nonsense we've seen from NYSUT so far this year, it doesn't appear that's where the leadership's heading.

Instead they appear to be going down the road of "We'll try and exert even tighter control and destroy any opposition and/or criticism" even as their political House of Cards comes tumbling down around them.

I'm no professional political strategist like Andy Pallotta, but something tells me that strategy will be about as effective as NYSUT's strategy against Andy Cuomo's toxic education reform agenda.

Looks Like Cuomo's Working The Phone Again, Lashing Out At Enemies

State Senator Marc Panepinto publicly backed Mayor Bill de Blasio in his battle with Governor Andrew Cuomo earlier this month, saying “I have a great deal of respect for the governor, but he wants to rule the Democratic Party with an iron fist.”

Today the Daily News' Glenn Blain reports the following about Panepinto:

ALBANY — A state senator from Buffalo pressed state Workers Compensation Board officials to take action favored by his multi-million-dollar law firm, the Daily News has learned.

Sen. Marc Panepinto, a Democrat, lobbied Workers Compensation officials to abandon plans to alter — and in some instances reduce — the reimbursement rates paid to doctors and other medical service providers shortly after taking office in January.

Panepinto's opposition mirrored that of his law firm, Dolce Panepinto, which, according to its website, specializes in Workers Compensation cases and recovered more than $8.5 million for injured workers in just the first few months of 2015. The senator personally earned more than $1 million from his work as a partner in the firm in 2014, according to records.

The firm trumpeted Panepinto's efforts to roll back the proposed rate changes in its most recent quarterly report, boasting that the senator was part of a coalition that "banded together to successfully defeat this regulatory barrier to quality health care for injured workers."

Workers Compensation Board spokeswoman Rachel McEneny confirmed that Panepinto "discussed a variety of issues" with board executives during a Feb. 11 telephone call but declined to provide further details. She stressed that the board was still considering the rate changes.

Panepinto's response:

A spokeswoman for the senator defended Panepinto's efforts.

"Senator Panepinto received no compensation for his efforts fighting the ill-conceived Workers Compensation Board proposal and his law firm had no financial stake in stopping this reckless policy change," the spokeswoman said.

She said the proposed regulatory fee change was “a bad plan that would have harmed millions of hardworking New Yorkers and it would have created additional costs to taxpayers.”

The spokeswoman did not respond to requests for further information about Panepinto's activities or say whether he sought approval from the Legislative Ethics Commission.

And then there's this at the end of the article:

Insiders familiar with the Workers Compensation System suggested the changes, if implemented, would not drastically alter the financial recoveries earned by Panepinto's firm, but the firm's efforts likely endeared it to unions and doctors that refer cases.

"There's always something to be gained by doing something indirectly for the hand that feeds you," said one insider.

Panepinto, who pleaded guilty in 2001 to misdemeanor election fraud charges for collecting false signatures on nominating petitions, was elected to the Senate in November with heavy backing from labor unions, including the state's powerful teachers union.

Cuomo used the Daily News to dish dirt anonymously on de Blasio last month before de Blasio returned fire on Cuomo publicly.

It's not a stretch to think that Cuomo's using the Daily News again to strike out at enemies - including Panepinto, but not limited to him.

There's also a Ken Lovett Daily News expose on Eric Schneiderman today that reports the attorney general has "raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations over the past six months — through a loophole he has said should be closed."

Schneiderman, seen as a potential candidate for governor in 2018, is another enemy of Cuomo, having criticized the governor and the legislature for not closing the LLC loophole.

Lovet does report that $1.4 million of the $5.2 million raised in the last six months by Andrew Cuomo has come through the LLC loophole too.

But overall, the Lovett piece is aimed at Schneiderman, not at Cuomo.

And frankly, the story's kinda bullshit.

Scheiderman raised a combined $267,850 from more than 40 different limited-liability companies.

Seems like a lot until you put that into context.

Hell, last week alone Cuomo got eight checks amounting to $250,000 from four different LLC's with connections to the land development guy in the village of Kiryas Joel after Cuomo vetoed legislation that might have out the kibosh on Kiryas Joel's ability to annex 500+ acres of land next to the village.

Cuomo taking a quarter of a million from four LLC's with connections to the land development guy in Kiryas Joel just days after he helps Kiryas Joel with a veto - kinda puts the Scheiderman LLC donations into a bit of perspective, doesn't it?

How come Kiryas Joel/Cuomo story didn't make it into the Lovett column today?

Unless I missed it, I haven't seen the DN cover the Kiryas Joel/Cuomo $250K story at all.

The NY Post had it.

Two Daily News pieces attacking two Cuomo enemies today - Panepinto and Schneiderman - I dunno, seems odd, especially since Cuomo's used the Daily News in the recent past as a weapon of choice to lash out anonymously at enemies.

I'm no "insider" in the ways of Albany or anything and maybe I'm just being naive here, but my bullshit meter goes up when I see this sort of thing. 

Feels like Cuomo's working the phones again, using the press to plant stories and lash out at his enemies.

Eric Adams Backs De Blasio in Fight With Cuomo

Attorney General Schneiderman, City Council Speaker Mark-Viverito and Public Advocate James all declined to back Bill de Blasio for his comments yesterday blasting Governor Cuomo, but de Blasio did get public support from Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams:

One Democrat who did have Mr. de Blasio’s back was Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. Mr. Adams, a former Democratic state senator, defended the mayor after he spoke at Mr. Schneiderman’s event, telling the Observer he was “grateful” Mr. de Blasio spoke out.

He blamed Mr. Cuomo for helping Senate Republicans gerrymander their districts, not adequately funding public schools, and failing to sufficiently strengthen rent regulations.

“We’re frustrated and angry and expect more from a Democratic governor,” he said.

I understand Dems like Scheiderman, James and Mark-Viverito not wanting to pick a fight with Cuomo that they didn't start, but this kind of caution veers into co-dependency when it comes to Cuomo.

So far, no prominent Dems have come out in support of Cuomo (despite his calling around to get some public support), a couple have backed de Blasio (state senator Mark Panepinto and now Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.)

We'll see how this progresses.

Conjecture from some journos on twitter is that this battle will peter out as both Cuomo and de Blasio realize they have more to lose than gain, and that it will all end with some "beer summit" bro-hug.

Perhaps.

Nonetheless I think it was important for de Blasio to stop the abuse and take a public stand against Cuomo.

As Alex Balk wrote at The Awl today:

For those of us who have feared that, rather than craftily allowing himself to appear as an amiable dunce in an attempt to do liberalism by stealth, de Blasio actually is just a big fucking dummy who means well but couldn’t tie his shoes without asking for four different perspectives on whether you put the left lace over the right or the other way around, it’s a pleasure to see him finally stand up for himself, whether or not it will have a negative effect on how the governor treats the city from now on. (What’s Cuomo going to do, fuck New York over worse? He’s boxed out from running for president and if he wants a third term he’s not going to get it on votes from Utica and Plattsburgh alone.) 

Seriously, how much worse can Cuomo screw NYC over than he a;ready has?

Especially now that de Blasio has torn back the curtain and said "Hey, guy's a prick, he screws with us just to screw with us and we now expect more since I've gone public with the bullshit games he plays."

And especially since Cuomo's already roundly hated upstate and only survives with approval ratings above Spitzer levels because of the support he has in NYC.

Cuomo Donations From Western NY Politico Under Criminal Investigation Subject Of Probe

From the Buffalo News:

All of G. Steven Pigeon’s recent political contributions – including those to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo – are “fair game” in the probe of his fundraising activities, according to a source familiar with the state investigation.

Investigators are focused on the origin of about $150,000 in contributions by the Buffalo political operative, mostly in 2012 and 2013, said the source, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation.

...

Pigeon, 54, who served for seven years as Erie County Democratic chairman, remains the central figure in an investigation into possible corruption that prompted agents of the FBI, State Police and state Attorney General’s Office to search his waterfront condominium May 28. The same agencies also executed simultaneous search warrants at the homes of Steven M. Casey, former first deputy mayor of Buffalo, and Christopher M. Grant, chief of staff to Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence.

...

While Pigeon has always insisted that any money donated to political causes and candidates stemmed from his own funds, new questions surround his ability to make large contributions following revelations that he owes the federal government more than $244,000 in back taxes.

...

New interest is focused on at least two significant contributions or loans that Pigeon made in late 2013 – including donations of almost $100,000 to the caucus and $54,000 to Cuomo, especially a $50,000 contribution in connection with the governor’s 2012 birthday bash at Manhattan’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

...

In February, Pigeon revealed his tax returns to The Buffalo News to indicate a more than healthy income in the mid-six figures. But the contention that he was financially capable of such hefty contributions occurred 11 months after he negotiated a tax repayment plan with the Internal Revenue Service as he was incurring even more tax problems with the federal government.

Investigators are now curious about his ability to finance such significant contributions to Cuomo and the caucus, according to several sources.

The source familiar with the investigation said Pigeon’s connection to the Cuomo campaign also interests investigators.

...

Several sources confirm that Pigeon was involved in Cuomo’s Western New York campaign, including participating in periodic conference calls coordinated by Joseph Percoco, a longtime top aide to the governor.

You can see more here about the Pigeon/Cuomo connection.

Looks like Cuomo's now got to fight a two front war against criminal probes - the feds in the US attorney's office looking into Moreland tampering and Albany corruption and now state investigators out of the AG's office running a probe into Cuomo's Western New York political crony.

Quinnipiac Poll: Voters Disapprove Of Cuomo's Handling Of Education, 59%-30%

Yesterday Quinnipiac released a poll showing Governor Andrew Cuomo's job approval rating had fallen to his lowest level ever in that poll - 44%

Cuomo is also at lows in two other polls - the Siena (41%-59%) and Marist (37-59%)

Today Quinnipiac released more from the poll that shows how unpopular most of the Cuomo agenda is:

ALBANY—New Yorkers aren’t happy with Governor Andrew Cuomo on education, and they don't want Mayor Bill de Blasio to retain control of schools in the five boroughs, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.

By a 59 percent to 30 percent margin, voters disapproved of Cuomo's handling of education, while 54 percent of those questioned said they trusted teachers’ unions more than the governor to improve schools.

Cuomo’s specific education reform proposals are even more unpopular. About 69 percent of respondents said teacher pay should not be based on students’ standardized test scores, and 65 percent said tenure should not be based on tests.

There's more:

Voters are also sour on the state’s standardized testing requirements.

A slight majority, 51 percent, think students should be able to refuse standardized tests, compared to 45 percent who said students should be required to take the exams.

In addition, the poll found, 64 percent of those questioned said tests aren’t an accurate way of measuring student learning.

Only two parts of Cuomo's reform agenda had support in the Q poll - the charter cap (53%-39% said it should be increased) and tax credits for education.

Cuomo's pushed through most of his education reform agenda successfully and I suspect he'll get more of it before everything is done in two weeks - the charter cap will likely get an increase and there's an outside chance the heavy hearts in the Assembly will cave on part or all of thee ducation tax credit.

But Cuomo's paying a political price for imposing his agenda - it's not a mistake that he's at "historic" (one of his favorite words) lows in three different polls (the Quinnipiac, the Marist and the Siena poll.)

He grows weaker by the week,with corruption charges in Albany taking a toll on him, his education agenda taking a toll on him and weariness with his "My Way Or The Highway" approach taking a toll on him.

No wonder he's going after Scheiderman in a very public way.

He's scared for his political life.

Is The Criminal Investigation Into Cuomo's Crony In Buffalo Politically Motivated To Get At Cuomo?

As I blogged yesterday, one of Governor Cuomo's political cronies was on the other end of a law enforcement search:

State and federal investigators Thursday searched the homes of three Western New York political operatives – confidants to the New York governor, Buffalo mayor and a member of Congress – sending shock waves across state Democratic and Republican party circles.

The investigation of G. Steven Pigeon, Steven M. Casey and Christopher M. Grant appears focused around an independent political committee called the WNY Progressive Caucus, which has ties to Pigeon. Investigators appear interested in the financial activities of the caucus and its ties to several political campaigns in recent years. The probe also includes questions about “elevated” payments for advertising, mailings and other political activities, a law enforcement official said.

The raids targeted three men who have been integral players in local and statewide politics, and that fact was not lost on party insiders in Buffalo and Albany.

Pigeon has vast political connections, from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to billionaire businessman B. Thomas Golisano.

Casey – dubbed the “shadow mayor” – was until last year the first deputy mayor under Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown.

Grant is chief of staff for Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence.

The Buffalo mayor, Byron Brown, says he is not a target of the investigation:

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown acknowledged he knows all three Western New York political figures involved in State Attorney General’s Office probe.  Brown told reporters Friday he was surprised by the raids and is in no way connected.

“I have been informed by law enforcement that I’m not involved in the investigation,” said Brown.

The Cuomo administration, however, had no comment:

Last year, Pigeon also gave $54,000 to Cuomo’s re-election campaign. He and Cuomo have been tight for years, and the governor has sent signals to people in and out of government in Western New York that Pigeon should be considered his go-to political point person from the area.

The Cuomo administration had no comment Thursday.

The Buffalo Chronicle wondered back in February if the investigation into Pigeon was politically motivated to go after Governor Cuomo:

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has been roundly criticized for failing to pursue public corruption cases against elected officials who have been accused of enriching themselves with public dollars.

So it is curious, they say, that he would allocate law enforcement resources into investigating a much more minor charge against the lobbyist G. Steven Pigeon, a former Chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party and an active figure in New York politics.

Pigeon, an intrepid political insider who engages in politics like sport, contributed $100,000 in personal savings to a PAC, managed by the political operative Kristy Mazurek. By all accounts, both are well versed in the legalities surrounding campaign spending and political action committees and insist that they adhered to those laws strictly.

...

Political observers say the investigation is a politically charged abuse of power that will backfire on the sitting Attorney General, whose central participation in the Moreland Commission debacle has raised serious ethics questions inside his office.

Pigeon is close to Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is at odds with Scheiderman. In political circles, the AG is rumored to have cut a deal with US Attorney Preet Bharara on the Moreland Commission corruption scandal. Schneiderman’s deputizing of Commission members implicates him all sorts of legal improprieties. It’s rumored that he cut a deal to insulate himself from the scandal, but that has not been confirmed by either office.

Cuomo and Schneiderman have since been feuding intensely behind the scenes. Local operatives surmise that the AG is going after Pigeon as part of the tit-for-tat back and forth with the Governor’s political machine.

Schneiderman is known to be ambitious with his eyes set on the Governor’s mansion. Operatives close to Cuomo say that Schneiderman saw an opening to scandalize the Governor and, potentially, push him out of office.

It certainly sounds like someone from Cuomo's side was trying to get out the story that the investigation into Pigeon was politically motivated and bogus, that Schneiderman is behind it.

More and more, the tension between Schneiderman and Cuomo is out in the open.

This week, Schneiderman unveiled ethics reforms in a high profile speech meant to embarrass Sheriff Andy for doing little to clean up the cesspool that is Alabny politics.

Then came the Pigeon raid.

Pigeon, as detailed here, is close to the governor, has been "taking on more assignments from Cuomo" and was described as the governor's "top political person" in Western New York.

There's also a connection to Cuomo's lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul:

U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. has recused himself from an investigation into the political activities of G. Steven Pigeon, sources close to the probe told The Buffalo News on Friday.

Because of the potential political ramifications of the probe – including the fact that Pigeon has served as a top political adviser to his wife’s boss, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo – Hochul removed himself from the case weeks ago and named his top assistant – James P. Kennedy – to oversee the investigation and coordinate with the state Attorney General’s Office, the sources said.

The U.S. Justice Department requires a prosecutor to recuse himself or herself from a case when “a conflict of interest exists or there is an appearance of a conflict of interest or loss of impartiality.”

The investigation – which became public knowledge Thursday with the execution of three search warrants – is focused on the political activities of Pigeon, former Democratic Party chairman for Erie County; Steven M. Casey, a Democrat and former deputy mayor of Buffalo; and Christopher M. Grant, a Republican who serves as chief of staff for Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence.

While Hochul’s office declined to comment on the reports of his recusal, there is a clear thicket of potential conflicts created by his wife’s career in political office:

• Lt. Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul works for and with Cuomo, and Pigeon for years has served as a top political adviser to the governor. Pigeon donated $54,000 to Cuomo’s successful re-election campaign last year.

• Grant was the campaign chairman for the candidates who opposed Kathleen Hochul in two hard-fought Congressional campaigns. In 2011, Kathleen Hochul defeated Republican Jane Corwin in a race for Congress. In 2012, Collins defeated Hochul in a run for the same seat. Grant ran both campaigns against Hochul.

• Kathleen Hochul has long been associated with a faction of the Erie County Democratic Party that has had a heated rivalry with Pigeon. Former county Democratic Party chairman Leonard Lenihan – a longtime rival of Pigeon’s – lobbied hard for Kathleen Hochul’s appointment to her first major political office, as county clerk, in 2007. That appointment set the stage for her later rise to congresswoman and lieutenant governor.

• Government records show that Pigeon gave a small campaign donation to Kathleen Hochul – $250 – in 2011.

I'm not smart enough to know if Schneiderman is looking to use this Pigeon raid to embarrass Cuomo and tie him to corruption in Western New York while also advance his own corruption-fighting credentials for a future political run (perhaps for Cuomo's current job?)

But it does seem like that was the story Cuomo wanted out there in February, before the search warrants and the raids on Pigeon, Casey and Grant.