Amidst ongoing probe of Senator Dean Skelos and son, Preet Bharara delivering speech on Friday

Preet Bharara to deliver a speech at Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

First public address since reports of Skelos investigation were confirmed U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, the nation’s top federal prosecutor in New York’s southern district, is set to deliver a keynote address at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Friday. The address is the highlight of the 2015 Assembly of the Regional Plan Association, an urban research and advocacy organization of academics, real estate developers, financial interests, and other big businesses. The Friday address will be the first public appearance by U.S. Attorney Bharara since a report published by The New York Times confirmed an earlier report broadcast by WNBC Channel 4 News that federal prosecutors were investigating State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) for possible wrong-doing. The report by The New York Times added that Senator Skelos’ son, Adam Skelos, is also allegedly under investigation. Following the shocking arrest of Assemblymember Sheldon Silver (D-Lower East Side) in January on corruption charges, U.S. Attorney Bharara advised voters to “Stay tuned,” to his on-going fight against political and government corruption. One day after Assemblymember Silver’s arrest, U.S. Attorney Bharara delivered a speech at New York Law School, reinforcing his campaign against corruption. Government reform activists are eyeing whether the Friday address may be preceded by any further arrests.

RELATED Week in Review : de Blasio's non-endorsement of Hillary Clinton ; Preet Bharara's upcoming speech (Progress Queens) Michael Hayes, LMT, has practiced massage for more than 20 years as a licensed massage therapist in New York City.

Albany ethics reform proposals ignore warnings of former JCOPE commissioner Ravi Batra

Ravi Batra : Albany makes sacred honor live in a spittoon

As Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-New York) negotiate ethics reforms up in Albany, Ravi Batra, a former JCOPE commissioner, says Albany wrongly refuses to grant ethics regulators the independence they need.

“If it wasn't for U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's righteous indignation for being used as a prop to sell the public a farce by Andrew Cuomo, there would be no Shelly Silver indictment or the latest hyperventilated reform proposals by a control-infected Albany,” Mr. Batra told Progress Queens.

The "Three Men In A Room" in Albany are negotiating ethics reforms in this year's state budget as U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara is investigating Albany officials. Albany keeps proposing incremental reforms, which have enforcement mechanisms that deliberately lack independence, charges attorney Ravi Batra.

READ MORE As Cuomo negotiates ethics reforms, Albany proposals ignore warnings of former JCOPE commissioner Ravi Batra (Progress Queens)

In spite of legal troubles, Lawrence Schwartz still at Governor Cuomo's side

Lawrence Schwartz remains at governor’s side, in spite, or perhaps because, of legal problems with AEG and Moreland

Lawrence Schwartz survived Paterson's AEG scandal ; will he survive Cuomo's Moreland scandal ? Years before Cuomo aide Lawrence Schwartz became implicated in the waves of controversies that have engulfed the Moreland Commission, Mr. Schwartz was at the center of yet another Albany political controversy : the Aqueduct Entertainment Group bid to operate a racino at a Queens racetrack. “Schwartz further incredulously claimed to not recall myriad meetings he organized and attended, various e-mail correspondence between himself and other individuals, and numerous conversations in which he engaged, and claimed unawareness of the Governor’s selection of AEG despite personally engaging the Governor’s press office in a colloquy about the very subject.” -- Inspector General's report

RELATED Lawrence Schwartz remains at governor’s side, in spite, or perhaps because, of legal problems with AEG and Moreland (Progress Queens)

Twawking Tweets - Pilot Video - NY Democratic Primary for Governor

"Twawking Tweets" - Pilot Video "Twawking Tweets" is a pilot video for a TV show that gives voice to voters' concerns as expressed entirely over Twitter. In this format, tweeted messages from average voters are highlighted and discussed within the context of larger political, social, and economic issues. Entirely Twitter-driven, this show will amplify the voices of regular people, giving power to their views and opinions. For more information, contact Louis Flores at : louisflores (at) louisflores (dot) com.

Like a young Richard Nixon, Christine Quinn trying to make a political comeback

PUBLISHED : THURS, 04 SEPT 2014, 05:05 PM
UPDATED : THURS, 04 SEPT 2014, 09:10 PM

Political bloggers fear that Christine Quinn is organizing a come-back into politics after the electoral thrashing she received last year. After Richard Nixon lost embarrassing campaigns in 1960 and 1962, he finally won in 1968 and again in 1972.

Last September, almost 85% of Democratic Party primary voters cast their ballots against Christine Quinn After former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn suffered a humiliating defeat in last year's mayoral race, she has been in relative hiding, licking her wounds, plotting her political comeback. During that time, she's limited her public appearances. She reportedly turned down a job offer to lead the troubled AIDS services organization GMHC, and she has tested the waters by joining the boards of a couple of nonprofit organizations, an area she exploited over two decades ago to launch her political career. Although to some degree Ms. Quinn has become politically radioactive, due to a long record of community betrayals and allegations of corruption, she has managed to latch onto another failed politician, who has similarly become the target of voter anger : Gov. Andrew Cuomo. In exchange for fluffing his sagging reelection campaign, Gov. Cuomo has apparently promised to Ms. Quinn a way around the wrath of angry voters by offering her a rumored appointed commissionership after Ms. Quinn made statements to the press, offering superficial validity to the governor's astroturf political party, the Women's Equality Party. Ms. Quinn's propaganda confers to the governor some hope of tricking some voters to cast their ballots for him on the politically-expedient Women's Equality Party line. Gov. Cuomo has faced a tough reelection battle ever since his administration began a downward political following the launch of an investigation by federal prosecutors into alleged obstructive acts by the governor's office to thwart the corruption-fighting work of the now-defunct Moreland Commission after the panel began looking into some of the governor's political allies. To further Ms. Quinn's political reset, she deleted her old Twitter account and began anew, erasing the Twitter history of her failed political past. For her part, Ms. Quinn is no stranger to controversies about her political ethics. Activists and the media have drawn attention to the corruptive role of big money campaign donations in government, but no meaningful legal reforms ever came about during Ms. Quinn's 15 years in public office. In a 2008 report published by The New York Times, the two largest real estate contributors to the candidates expected to run for mayor in 2009, of which Ms. Quinn was one, were the owners of Rudin Management Company, who would become entangled in a protracted real estate battle over the fate of St. Vincent’s Hospital, and people tied to the Related Companies, one of the final two developers selected to work on the Hudson Yards project. When activists demanded that the local district attorney investigate the shady closing of St. Vincent’s, talk of an investigation went nowhere. Former Council Speaker Quinn approved the Rudin luxury condo conversion of St. Vincent’s, she approved decreased affordable housing requirements at the Hudson Yards project, and she exempted the living wage bill from applying to parts of the Hudson Yards project. Credible information exists about how a former campaign donor of former Council Speaker Quinn got access to a meeting involving the creation of legislative proposals and about how discretionary City Council funds from a secret reserve fund were steered to groups in former Council Speaker Quinn’s district. But when established patterns of political activities spanning for years potentially rise to the level of violations of law involve the potential for prosecution of significant political or government individuals, who may pose special problems for the local prosecutor, no federal prosecutor sees a special need or purpose to bring an federal indictment necessary for a successful prosecution of the government’s case against these individuals. An overhaul of this broken system is impossible when there is no fear of prosecution to create the political will to end the exploitation of this broken system. It’s a catch-22.

RELATED Back in Politics, Quinn Will Be Adviser on Abortion-Rights Strategy (The New York Times) ''Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn'' by Louis Flores (Scribd)

After early ridicule, Tim Wu calls out de Blasio as "accomplice" in Hochul's voter deception

Gov. Cuomo's running mate, Kathy Hochul, supports the Keystone XL energy pipeline, which the fracking industry needs to keep expanding their water-poisoning extraction across North America

The Cuomo administration is under federal investigation for reportedly obstructing the anti-corruption work of the now-defunct Moreland Commission, and Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito don't care. They're endorsing the Cuomo-Hochul ticket. Once it became clear that the self-anointed progressive Mayor Bill de Blasio was going to endorse former Rep. Kathy Hochul for lieutenant governor in this year's Democratic Party primary, the first reaction from the Teachout/Wu campaign was to give Mayor de Blasio and his enablers the room to double-cross progressive voters. Many government reform activists see Mayor de Blasio's endorsement of Ms. Hochul's campaign as a betrayal of voters' progressive sensibilities. Not only is Ms. Hochul a supporter of the fracking industry, but she has also voted to limit or roll back regulations under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. She once earned the endorsement of the N.R.A., and she also voted to repeal Obamacare while she was in Congress. Even the specter of a federal investigation into the Cuomo administration's role in reportedly obstruction the corruption-fighting work of the now-shuttered Moreland Commission hasn't stopped Mayor de Blasio and his cronies from propping up the Cuomo/Hochul ticket. Nevertheless, the Teachout/Wu campaign initially didn't want to publicly question Mayor de Blasio's motivations for planning to endorse such an abysmal and conservative record as Ms. Hochul's. However, once government reform activists began to question the Teachout/Wu's silence, the Teachout/Wu campaign took a different approach. BdB sucks. RT @Taniel: Ah what government does to you: de Blasio endorses Kathy Hochul for Lieutenant Governor. http://t.co/tPYdtVcRcF — Doug Henwood (@DougHenwood) September 3, 2014 This right here is one of biggest reasons why we never get reforms, bc politicians are situational/sleazy when it comes to elections. @Azi — Louis Flores (@maslowsneeds) September 3, 2014 Pressure on the Teachout/Wu campaign kept building this morning, especially after some wise political reporters began to notice the blatant contradictions in Mayor de Blasio's spin, leading Ms. Hochul's opponent, Tim Wu, to call out Mayor de Blasio for his duplicity. Tweetdeck makes sense of NY politics. cc @superwuster @KathyHochul @MMViverito @BilldeBlasio pic.twitter.com/f4Vzx5LB5h — Azi (@Azi) September 3, 2014 In a press conference this morning, Mr. Wu reacted to news of Mayor de Blasio's impending endorsement of Ms. Hochul with some of the harshest words yet expressed of Mayor de Blasio's dishonest portrayal of Ms. Hochul as a "progressive." "When it comes down to it, Kathy Hochul's record is out there. No one can look honestly and deeply at that record and say she's a progressive Democrat," Mr. Wu said at his press conference, adding that Mayor de Blasio was "serving as an accomplice" in "misrepresenting her record." .@superwuster says De Blasio is serving as 'accomplice' to Hochul http://t.co/1GMcgNaYgn via @conorskelding — Reid Pillifant (@reidpillifant) September 3, 2014 For her part, Zephyr Teachout, Mr. Cuomo's opponent in the gubernatorial race, said, "I'm thrilled that Bill de Blasio's my mayor, I supported him, but he's wrong on this. Kathy Hochul's a conservative."

RELATED Tim Wu: Mayor de Blasio serving as ‘accomplice’ to Hochul (Capital New York) Cuomo, de Blasio Panic As Progressive Candidate Tim Wu Gains Traction (The Gothamist) Activists fear Teachout will back Cuomo in General if she loses in Primary (NYC : News & Analysis)

His political and legal problems mounting, Cuomo now blames Hochul

Having turned on itself, the ‘‘System’’ is becoming more and more unpredictable

Waiting in the wings : Preet Bharara Ever since news broke of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's admitted interference with the Moreland Commission's anti-corruption investigations, the Cuomo administration has been in a downward spiral. An egotistical fuck, Gov. Cuomo has tried to deflect blame, pretend like everything is normal, gone into hiding, and now, in a final act of sexist desperation, is looking to make somebody the fall gal. Due to rising discontent amongst Democratic Party primary voters, Gov. Cuomo is reportedly examining the scorched earth option of dumping his running mate, former Rep. Kathy Hochul, candidate for lieutenant governor, in order to substitute Lt. Gov. candidate Tim Wu as his running mate, if Mr. Wu wins the Sept. 9 primary. Gov. Cuomo has until Sept. 16 to make this substitution. Motivating this substitution is the fact that many Democrats have become angry at the conservative bent in Gov. Cuomo's economic and social policies, and although Gov. Cuomo's opinion poll ratings remain high, word on the street is that his pick of former Rep. Hochul for lieutenant governor is vulnerable. Obsessed with winning by a huge margin of victory, Gov. Cuomo is taking drastic measures as his political and legal future becomes bleak. Following revelations that top ranking officials in the Cuomo administration reportedly obstructed the work of the Moreland Commission's anti-corruption investigations, Gov. Cuomo faces the fallout of a federal investigation into obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and possibly other crimes. As it stands, three officials connected with his administration or the Moreland Commission should have already met with federal prosecutors, to discuss their activities in the alleged obstruction : Larry Schwartz, the highest ranking aide to Gov. Cuomo, voluntarily agreed to meet with and be interviewed by federal prosecutors in August about his involvement with the doomed Moreland Commission ; Mylan Denerstein, official counsel to Gov. Cuomo, voluntarily agreed to meet with and be interviewed by federal prosecutors in early August about her involvement with the doomed Moreland Commission ; and Heather Green, the former assistant to Moreland Commission Executive Director Regina Calcaterra, testified before a Manhattan federal grand jury on July 28. As Gov. Cuomo becomes more and more desperate, he appears to be looking to blame others for his impending political and legal downfall. Whilst Gov. Cuomo tries to shore up his trouble reelection campaign, some political bloggers and government reform activists privately speculate whether federal prosecutors will be able to hand down criminal indictments before the primary and general elections, further adding to Gov. Cuomo's political and legal troubles.

RELATED ‘‘Wu is me’’ : Cuomo may dump Hochul, fearing a Tim Wu primary win (The New York Post) Afraid to come out of his cave, Cuomo is told by the Editorial Board : ‘‘Debate them, governor’’ (The New York Post)

de Blasio continues support of Cuomo reelection, in spite of NYTimes non-endorsement

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio today reiterated his continued support for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's reelection campaign, even though the governor was denied the endorsement of the powerful Editorial Board of The New York Times in the upcoming Democratic Party gubernatorial primary.

"I don't conjecture about any editorial board and what it does...I'm strongly supporting Gov. Cuomo"-@BilldeBlasio on Times non-endorsement

— Dana Rubinstein (@danarubinstein) August 28, 2014

For months, Gov. Cuomo has appeared to be a person of interest to federal prosecutors, as the U.S. Attorney's Office for New York's southern district investigate the unfinished files of the now-defunct Moreland Commission and the role of Cuomo administration officials in thwarting the panel's investigations. In July, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara issued a warning letter to Moreland Commission members, asking that his office be kept informed if Gov. Cuomo or other administration officials try to influence the public statements by former commissioners in respect of the panel's record of performance.

In the time since Gov. Cuomo took action regarding the Moreland Commission to "shut the whole thing down," political bloggers and government reform activists have been expecting that possible federal criminal charges could be brought against senior Cuomo administration officials, if not against Gov. Cuomo himself. It remains to be known how could Mayor de Blasio continue to support Gov. Cuomo's campaign if Gov. Cuomo is potentially exposed to impending federal criminal charges, some political bloggers wonder.

Cuomo "Too Damn High" to debate other 2014 gubernatorial candidates

Unsure about how democracy works, Cuomo says that he will let "campaigns" decide if there will be debates

Besieged by a federal investigation into the Cuomo administration's obstruction of the Moreland Commission, Gov. Cuomo is trying to avoid debate scrutiny of his ethical and legal lapses With less than three weeks to go before the Democratic Party's primary election to decide the gubernatorial candidate for the November general election, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) is refusing to commit to a debate with his Democratic Party challengers. Moreover, he has refused to commit to any debates with the Republican Party and Green Party candidates, as well. Earlier today, Gov. Cuomo was pressed to agree to a debate with his political rivals, but he refused, saying, "I’d leave that to the campaigns to work out, whatever they decide," suggesting that he doesn't believe that debates are an important platform to educate voters about candidates and their policy platforms. For weeks, Gov. Cuomo has been avoiding calls by his opponents, the Fordham Law School professor Zephyr Teachout, activist Randy Credico, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, and Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino for debates. In 2010, when Mr. Cuomo was running for the governorship, he participated in a debate with his Republican opponent Carl Paladino and with the major third-party candidates, including Mr. Hawkins and the "Rent is Too Damn High" party candidate, Jimmy McMillan, amongst others. This year, however, it remains unknown why Gov. Cuomo is so afraid of debating the other candidates, except that Gov. Cuomo is presently under federal investigation for possibly obstructing the administration of the corruption-fighting Moreland Commission.

RELATED Gov. Cuomo won't commit to debating Zephyr Teachout, saying it's up to the campaigns (The New York Daily News) Hawkins to Astorino : How about our debate ? (The Times Union) Cuomo won't say if he'll participate in debates (LoHud)

VINE Video : Cuomo calls Moreland Commission an "overwhelming success" because "it's mine"

Gov. Andrew Cuomo calls his Moreland Commission an "overwhelming success," because "it's mine."

USAO mum on new revelation about Cuomo's e-mail deleting policy

PUBLISHED : TUES, 12 AUG 2014, 11:21 AM
UPDATED : TUES, 12 AUG 2014, 02:41 PM

As Gov. Cuomo was forming the Moreland Commission, he instituted a new policy that would purge state employees' e-mails

Did Gov. Cuomo have something to hide ? In a shocking new report, ProPublica reporter Theodoric Meyer raises new questions about an e-mail deletion policy instituted by the Cuomo administration for state employees. The new policy, rolled out last year, automatically deletes state employees' e-mails after 90 days if they are not deliberately and methodically saved for various reasons. Under new rules for archiving e-mails as records, if state employees don't make the extra, tedious effort to code e-mails under a maze of classification options, then state e-mails are left to be automatically purged, a default move that violates the spirit of government transparency and public records access that are intended to keep elected officials and state government accountable to voters. The revelation of the e-mail deleting policy comes atop of known Cuomo administration paranoia over the use of electronic communications. Two years ago, The New York Times reported that top Cuomo aides routinely communicated with the governor through unarchivable Blackberry PIN messages, to enshroud the work of running the state government's business in secret. In an Orwellian move, the New York State Archives under the Cuomo administration determined that most e-mails "are not records in need of preservation." The timing of the new e-mail deleting policy, announced under a memorandum, which the Cuomo administration kept secret for over one year, is suspect. The memorandum was dated June 18, 2013 -- just two weeks before Gov. Cuomo announced on July 2, 2013 the formation of a corruption-fighting panel named the Moreland Commission. The Moreland commissioners were deputized as assistant attorneys general and were conferred subpoena power to investigate corruption across New York state government. That Cuomo accelerated the state's e-mail deleting policy just as he was launching the doomed Moreland Commission has raised concerns amongst government reform activists. Gov. Cuomo disbanded the Moreland Commission after a host controversies, chief amongst them the coordinated activities by his own top aides to obstruct the investigative work of the Moreland commissioners and their staff, earning the ire of the powerful federal prosecutor, Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for New York's southern district. Mr. Bharara sent a warning letter to Gov. Cuomo after it appeared that Gov. Cuomo was possibly engaging in witness tampering. A press official in Mr. Bharara's office was asked this morning how could voters count on the integrity of the federal investigation into the Cuomo administration's controversial acts that led to the premature closing of the Moreland Commission if Gov. Cuomo instituted a policy of deleting e-mails, but the press official refused to comment.

RELATED Why is the Cuomo Administration Automatically Deleting State Employees’ E-mails ? (ProPublica) New Cuomo e-mail retention policy kills e-mails after 90 days (The Times Union) E-mail retention memo raises new questions about the state's rationale for its deletions policy (ProPublica) Michael Hayes, LMT, has practiced massage for more than 20 years as a licensed massage therapist in New York City. The offices of Flatiron Massage are located in the Flatiron District of Manhattan.

Voters not keeping up with Moreland scandal, and some sick reporters celebrate this as good news for Gov. Cuomo

PUBLISHED : MON, 11 AUG 2014, 12:21 PM
UPDATED : TUES, 12 AUG 2014, 06:40 AM

A new poll shows that 86% of voters say that corruption in government is out of control.

However, 67% of people polled claimed that they were uninformed about the federal investigation into Gov. Cuomo's obstruction of the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, perhaps the state's biggest corruption scandal of the last decade.

Many high profile political reporters keep defending Gov. Cuomo's obstruction of justice. Others predict that Gov. Cuomo will easily win reelection -- all, in contradiction to the legal realities of a federal criminal investigation into the apparent coordinated activities of the Cuomo administration that may add up to obstruction of justice charges, or worse. With a wayward press, it should come as no surprise that voters keep reelecting corrupt incumbents.

A top incumbent party leader, like Gov. Cuomo, oversees a state-wide army of elected officials, their staff, permanent government insiders, and other political operatives to work in orchestrated efforts to deceive the press, and, by extension, the voters. The bias in the media favoring Gov. Andrew Cuomo's reelection is becoming more and more apparent, as the legal and political risks of a federal investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office into the Cuomo administration's obstruction of the Moreland Commission shows no sign of ending. Yesterday, former Missouri state Sen. Jeff Smith wrote in Politico that federal prosecutors are seeking Gov. Cuomo's scalp, in stark contrast to many high-profile press reports that predict no legal ramifications for the corrupt governor. Besides meddling in the Moreland Commission's investigation of political and campaign corruption cases, the Cuomo administration has overseen a corrupt state government that has been rocked by seemingly endless indictments of state politicians. Mr. Smith, who himself had to serve a prison sentence in connection with charges of obstruction of justice for an underlying campaign finance violation, has courageously provided a public service to voters by speaking truthfully about the complexities of federal criminal law. Before Mr. Smith's editorial, many of New York's political bloggers have complained that voters have been being kept in the dark about Gov. Cuomo's legal and political scandals. Mr. Smith's editorial for Politico was released on the eve of a new Siena College poll showing that only a scant percent of voters are closely following the governor's Moreland scandal. Only 11% of voters have been closely following Gov. Cuomo's Moreland Commission scandal. That number has to radically increase by multiples, in order for voters to cast informed ballots. Will the press do its job ? The low number of voters paying attention to Gov. Cuomo's legal and political scandals inspired Capital New York's Blake Zeff to celebrate that the Moreland scandal had done "little significant damage to Cuomo’s re-election effort." Last month, Maggie Haberman concluded that the federal investigation into the Cuomo administration "may ultimately amount to nothing." A misled public undermines the foundation of America's republican form of democratic government, which relies on its citizens to cast informed votes. This year, more and more citizens are scaling up their blogging activities, like the publisher behind the Perdido Street School blog, in order to independently inform voters by circumventing the compromised, corporate-controlled media. Last year, the major New York City-based political reporters admitted during a post-Democratic primary forum that they had failed to scrutinise the then-presumed mayor-elect Bill de Blasio. This failure to vet for the city's electorate the eventual winner of last year's mayoral election may explain why Mayor de Blasio rapidly lost support from White voters after only a few months in office. Now, Mayor de Blasio is on the verge of seeing his last base of polling support, the minority community, turn their back on him. With Gov. Cuomo and his top aides facing the very real prospect of federal criminal indictments, will New York's political press fail voters again ? Will Gov. Cuomo be investigated for campaign finance corruption ? About two weeks ago, The New York Daily News reported that in preparing his legal responses to the on-going federal investigation into the Cuomo administration's reported obstruction of the Moreland commission, Gov. Cuomo had "sought advice from several lawyers." Frightened at the prospect that voters would retaliate if taxpayers had to foot the bill for Gov. Cuomo's own criminal defense attorneys, the governor indicated that his campaign committee would pay to defend Executive Branch officials in the federal investigation into the Moreland scandal. However, in his campaign committee's latest finance filing with the state's corrupt Board of Elections, only one legal invoice, in the amount of $10,000, was submitted by only one attorney, Elkan Abramowitz. What happened to the legal invoices of the "several lawyers" with whom the governor consulted ? Many political bloggers also point out that the amount of experienced lawyering needed by Gov. Cuomo to fight back the serious charges being reportedly pursued by the U.S. Attorney's Office could not reasonably be performed for $10,000. The complexities of possible federal criminal charges range from plain witness tampering to the seriousness of obstruction of justice to, some political bloggers believe, racketeering, under which witness tampering, obstruction of justice, and now possible campaign finance violations could be added as lesser, included charges. In the past weeks, the governor has seen Heather Green, the assistant to the former executive director of the Moreland Commission, testify before a sitting Grand Jury. Larry Schwartz, the hand of the governor, has negotiated a voluntary appearance before federal prosecutors conducting the investigation into the Cuomo administration's obstruction of the Moreland Commission. And the governor was the target of a warning letter issued by federal prosecutors after one of the governor's staff members reportedly cajoled former Moreland commissioners into issuing controversial statements to possibly undermine the federal investigation. As these and other legal proceedings move forward, Gov. Cuomo faces a steady drip of embarrassing political setbacks that require the need for multiple legal consultations, research, analysis, and second opinions, given federal prosecutors' legal practice closing in around Gov. Cuomo. It's inconceivable that the cost of all of the necessary criminal defense work the governor needs right now could be done for only $10,000. Under state law, any discounts or gifts of services to campaign committees must be recorded as in-kind campaign contributions, something that wasn't reflected in the governor's last in-kind contribution schedule of his campaign committee's finance disclosure statement.

RELATED MEDIA BIAS : With shoddy legal analysis, Blake Zeff somehow concludes that Cuomo’s obstruction of Moreland acts as a prosecutorial gift to Bharara (Capital New York) MEDIA BIAS : Besmirching U.S. Attorney as rogue cowboy, Wall Street reporters describe Bharara as "confrontational" (The Wall Street Journal) MEDIA BIAS : Easily manipulated by Cuomo operatives, one columnist predicts that Cuomo will probably walk (The New York Daily News) PAYING OFF MEDIA : Fending off Moreland scandal, Cuomo campaign spent more than $1.1 million on TV ads (The New York Daily News) REAL TALK : Cuomo’s Slow-Mo Disaster : The New York governor is in deeper legal trouble than other press is willing to admit (Politico)

Broken Windows focuses law enforcement resources on 50 cent cigarettes, meanwhile Moreland Commission gets disbanded

Mayor de Blasio defends the NYPD's controversial and discriminatory approach to policing, known as "Broken Windows," whilst federal investigators probe whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo intentionally obstructed the work of a corruption fighting panel's investigations of political corruption.

There has been at least $1 billion in cost overruns on New York City's failed ECTP 911 emergency call system upgrade project, bringing the total cost to over $2 billion, and the system still doesn't work as it was envisioned. City officials find no criminal fraud in this failed $2 billion project, but NYPD administer an instant death penalty to Eric Garner for allegedly selling 50 cent cigarettes ? Political blogger and artist Suzannah B. Troy, who holds the world record of writing blog posts about the CityTime technology contract scandal, which cost the city over $600 million in cost overruns for an employee timekeeping system that failed to work, again leads local journalists in drawing the public's attention to the city's failed ECTP 911 emergency call system upgrade, which has now cost taxpayers over $2 billion, even though that technology system, too, still does not work. In her latest YouTube video, Ms. Troy compares and contrasts the scandalous ECTP 911 cost overruns against each of the death of Eric Garner, which has been ruled as a homicide by the city's Medical Examiner's office, and her own case of injustice in an attack, in which she was assaulted and battered, in the SoHo medical offices of Dr. Andrew Fagelman. Ms. Troy asks : Why does law enforcement forcus on ridiculousness -- and overlook major crimes ? In the broken justice system in New York, as pointed out by community activists and by activists informed by the Occupy Wall Street movement, cost overruns on a $2 billion failed IT project do not result in fraudulent criminal charges just like the corruption of Wall Street, which caused the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the resulting global recession. Yet, the police can apparently instantly murder Eric Garner on the scene, according to some activists, for reportedly selling single cigarettes for 50 cents a piece in "untaxed transactions," and Ms. Troy's attacker can go unprosecuted. One day after Ms. Troy posted her video on YouTube, the growing outrage over this "tale of two justice systems" has driven Mayor Bill de Blasio and his NYPD Commissioner William Bratton to throw Police Chief Philip Banks III under the bus in an apparent attempt to make him the fall guy for the community anger over Mr. Garner's murder. Selling a cigarette for 50 cents in an untaxed transaction is justification for police to administer a death-inducing chokehold, the police union head says, but the corrupt $2 billion ECTP 911 emergency call system upgrade escapes prosecutors. Adding to the controversy of Broken Windows policing is that the big money crimes are not being committed by people of color or people with low incomes ; rather, the crimes that rob society of its resources are being committed by Big Businesses and corrupt politicians and their lobbyists-enablers, which do not receive the scrutiny that they really deserve. Extell Development Company paid over $300,000 to Gov. Cuomo's campaign committee in apparent exchange for $35 million in tax breaks for a luxury condo skyscraper worth $2 billion. Big Businesses and special interests seeking similar or larger favors from New York State government have contributed to Gov. Cuomo a $35 million war chest. How large is the corruption at stake for Big Businesses if $35 million is the down payment for anticipated favours ? Against the backdrop of the injustice, and, ultimately, the murder, Mr. Garner endured, is a political "Game of Thrones" playing out up in the state's capital. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who oversees a cesspool of political and campaign corruption in Albany, apparently commissioned a panel of corruption-fighting prosecutors to investigate criminal conduct by elected officials only to decommission the panel, once the panel, known as the Moreland Commission, began to investigate the apparent pay-to-play of his own campaign donors. Using corrupting political machinations to steer a state investigation commission away from his own political supporters, Gov. Cuomo has been thwarting law enforcement probes into corporate and campaign corruption, while NYPD Commissioner Bratton is left unchecked to over-police the sale of untaxed cigarettes for 50 cents. In respect of Gov. Cuomo's role in corrupting the state's law enforcement, the U.S. Attorney's Office, led by Preet Bharara, is reviewing the unfinished investigations by the Moreland Commission and is also examining the governor's machinations that may have obstructed the Moreland Commission from its critical work. What has yet to happen, Ms. Troy has been pointing out for years, is for federal prosectors, such as Mr. Bharara, to examine the corruption in the CityTime and ECTP 911 projects for criminality by elected officials. Ms. Troy and other activists in New York City have been raising the issue that real estate interests may be behind the spree of hospital closings that have taken place in New York City, even as state health officials do everything in their power to sabotage the fragile economics of hospitals in a scorched earth campaign to make radical cuts to the state's Medicaid program. In respect of Mayor de Blasio, the civil rights and activist communities have begun to lose patience with the mayor's close alliance with Big Money real estate donors, who apparently are keen on keeping the Broken Windows policing tactics, as it directly supports real estate developers' goals of further driving up escalating real estate prices by forcing people of color and low-income communities out of neighborhoods intentionally targeted for gentrification by developers. Activists have called out the corrupt use of nonprofit and government grants and other political machinations, which deescalate community pressure for a complete overhaul of the corrupt police department, effectively locking these community groups in what has been referred to as "veal pens," and by the duplicitous racial politics now at play by the de Blasio administration, which aims to steer the public away from any serious roll-out of reforms that have been long called for by such civic leaders as Margaret Fung, Michael Meyers, and Norman Siegel, whose past work on overhauling the NYPD are once again coming back into focus. The calls for reforming law enforcement go unheard, meanwhile, White Collar pay-to-play corruption continues in government. Former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn received approximately $30,000 in campaign contributions from the Rudin family, owners of Rudin Management Company, in the time leading up to the city's approval of Rudin's $1 billion luxury condo conversion of St. Vincent's Hospital. Similarly, Gov. Cuomo received campaign contributions from the Kestenbaum family, founders of the Fortis Property Group that won the bid to convert Long Island College Hospital into a luxury condo complex, of at least $17,500. Allegations have been made that each of St. Vincent's and LICH, as Long Island College Hospital is known, had been intentionally driven into the ground to facilitate billion-dollar luxury condo conversions. The Fortis-LICH scandal comes atop of the $300,000 that another developer, Extell Development Company, made in campaign contributions to the governor in exchange for $35 million in tax breaks for one of Extell's projects, media reports indicate. The appearance pay-to-play is everywhere in government. If federal prosecutors are aiming to stop public officials from selling out our government in exchange for campaign contributions, then let's hope that the federal corruption investigations look to elected officials, and their corrupt lobbyists, for full accountability of these massive scams of public resources : from CityTime, the ECTP 911 project, to what happened at each of St. Vincent's, LICH, and other hospitals, to other alleged campaign corruption involving The Advance Group, which has already been referred to the U.S. Attorney's Office. In post-Occupy America, voters want to see a complete overhaul of government that goes to the very roots of corporate and campaign corruption.

RELATED City Investigation Finds Faults, But No Crime, In $1 Billion In Cost Overruns On NYC ECTP 911 Upgrade Project (CBS 2 New York) The Moreland Commission had 15 cases pending against lawmakers when Gov. Cuomo pulled the plug on it (The New York Post) Shocker : How SUNY lost more than $100M mismanaging LICH, but SUNY Trustees face no criminal investigation (The Brooklyn Daily Eagle) HOMICIDE: Medical examiner says NYPD chokehold killed Staten Island dad Eric Garner (The New York Daily News)

Department of Justice had to approve federal investigation into Cuomo's interference with Moreland Commission

Department of Justice had to sign-off on Cuomo investigation : NYPOST

Preet Bharara’s investigation of Gov. Cuomo needed pre-approval from the Justice Department in Washington. In today's column, Michael Goodwin of The New York Post reminded New Yorkers that U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's investigation into the Cuomo administration's reported obstruction of the Moreland Commission needed to be signed-off by the Justice Department. "Bharara’s office is sending public signals that the governor might even have a legal problem, a move the prosecutor wouldn’t make without a green light from the Justice Department, which holds veto power over high-profile criminal cases." Mr. Bharara, who is leading the charge on a once-in-a-lifetime renewal of government integrity, testified last year before the first hearing of the Moreland Commission, a corruption-fighting panel appointed by Gov. Cuomo and deputized by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Mr. Bharara's testimony before the Moreland Commission took place one month after Kenneth Lovett of The New York Daily News reported that Gov. Cuomo's campaign committee had received $100,000 in campaign contributions from Extell Development Company in the time leading up to the governor signing into law tax breaks worth $35 million for one of the developer's projects. Eventually, Extell was reported to have contributed over $300,000 to the governor's campaign committee. These and other revelations forced the Moreland Commission to issue subpoenas to Extell and four other developers. Even before Mr. Bharara delivered his testimony before the Moreland Commission on the evening of Sept. 17, 2013, the stage was set by journalists and Moreland commissioners, who had already begun to draw attention to Gov. Cuomo's involvement in the unscrupulous machinations that makes Albany a cesspool of corruption. Leaving the only unanswered question : when did Mr. Bharara seek approval from upper level Department of Justice officials in Washington, DC ? Was it last September, as he walked into the Moreland Commission to make his entry of appearance, by which point it was already know that Gov. Cuomo was playing dirty, or was it only very recently, based on Gov. Cuomo's alleged witness tampering of Moreland commissioners, by which point it was already known that Gov. Cuomo was playing even dirtier ? As Mr. Bharara proceeds full-speed ahead on completing his office's due diligence of the unfinished Moreland Commission investigations and the separate investigation into the Cuomo administration's reported obstruction of the Moreland Commission's investigations, he has the full faith and support of the Washington office of the Department of Justice, meaning that Gov. Cuomo has no friends in D.C. to whom he could possibly appeal to, in turn, tell Mr. Bharara, "Pull it back."

RELATED Latest governor poll shows Albany needs to address the sleaze (The New York Post) A government attorney should seek pre-approval if a case consists of violations of State law, but involves prosecution of significant or government individuals, which may pose special problems for the local prosecutor. (9-110.310 Considerations Prior to Seeking Indictment) Michael Hayes, LMT, has practiced massage for more than 20 years as a licensed massage therapist in New York City.

Mayor de Blasio "too busy" to follow Moreland Commission scandal, even as it may yet ensnare him

Should Mayor de Blasio worry about The Advance Group federal complaint that was referred to the Moreland Commission ?

In Orwellian twist, Mayor de Blasio professes Gov. Cuomo's "integrity," even though the Cuomo administration is under federal investigation over the corrupt closure of the Moreland Commission When asked earlier today by reporters about the Moreland Commission scandal engulfing the Cuomo administration, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, "I'm not following it, because I have a lot of other things to do." The mayor, just back from a 10-day vacation to the Italian Riviera, is acclimating himself to a new political landscape upended by an ethics controversy that may claim the political career of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who disbanded a corruption-fighting panel known as the Moreland Commission at the end of last March. In the wake of protestations by government reform activists, who opposed Gov. Cuomo's unseemly closure of the Moreland Commission, Mayor de Blasio strong-armed the Working Families Party two months ago into endorsing Gov. Cuomo's reelection campaign. Now that Mayor de Blasio is vulnerable to a political backlash for having endorsed a candidate under possible federal investigation, the mayor is trying to distance himself from the governor's scandal. However, as federal prosecutors conduct their promised due diligence of the unfinished Moreland Commission's corruption investigations, amongst the information that prosecutors will be reviewing is the federal complaint against The Advance Group, which was referred to the Moreland Commission after it was filed with the U.S. Attorney's Office. Last year was the first time when the corrupt Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case allowed big money campaign contributors to compromise the integrity of New York's municipal elections, ensnaring the de Blasio mayoral campaign in the activities of a controversial Super PAC managed by The Advance Group.

RELATED Mayor de Blasio is too busy to follow Moreland Commission brouhaha, but hails Cuomo's "integrity" (The New York Daily News) The Advance Group Federal Complaint Referred To Moreland Commission (NYC : News & Analysis) Mayor de Blasio privately asks Working Families Party to back Gov. Cuomo for reelection (The New York Daily News)

Cuomo and de Blasio : Give Back Extell Campaign Donations

Petitioning Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio

Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio profited from huge campaign contributions from a wealthy real estate developer now being engulfed in scandals. Following controversies that Extell Development Company had been subpoenaed by the Moreland Commission and that Extell won approval from City Hall to legally segregate low-income residents to use a separate "poor door" building entrance, why are Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo keeping campaign contributions from Extell ? Sign the Petition : Cuomo and de Blasio : Give Back Extell Campaign Donations (Change.org) By some estimates, Mayor de Blasio accepted over $18,000 in campaign contributions from Extell, related entities, or related individuals. For his part, Gov. Cuomo accepted over $300,000 in campaign contributions from Extell-related donors, according to some press reports. If not for the reason that Extell was the target of investigation by the Moreland Commission before the panel was disbanded, then for the reason that Extell is forcing low-income residents to use a segregated entrance -- Mayor de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo need to disgorge Extell's campaign contributions.

RELATED Petitioning Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio : Give Back Extell Campaign Donations (Change.org)

Bill de Blasio voted for "poor door" before he was against it

Extell Development Company, the developer behind the building that won permit to operate segregated entrances based on tenant income, was the target of a subpoena of the now-defunct Moreland Commission.

Now that the U.S. Attorney's Office possesses the Moreland Commission's investigation files, will it expand inquiry into how Extell won approval for de jure segregation at its building at 40 Riverside Blvd. ? One of the wealthy real estate developers that was the target of a subpoena issued by the now-defunct Moreland Commission was Extell Development Company, a developer with notoriously close ties to the administration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY). Extell is also the developer of the controversial building in the Upper West Side of Manhattan that now segregates tenants to use different entrances, based on income. The use of the "poor door" was approved by the Democratic Party-controlled City Council in a 2009 vote. In a report in The New York Post, it was said that Mayor Bill de Blasio voted for the provision that allowed Extell to force low-income tenants to use the "poor door." During last year's mayoral race, Mayor Bill de Blasio reportedly accepted over $18,000 in campaign contributions from Extell, according to calculations prepared by Mayor de Blasio's rival, Sal Albanese. Mr. Albanese's calculations were published last year by Crain's New York Business. Last year, Extell became the subject of interest for Moreland Commissioners investigating the pay-to-play corruption in Albany. It was reported that Extell made over $300,000 in related campaign contributions to the campaign committee of Gov. Cuomo in the time leading up to when Gov. Cuomo signed into law tax breaks reportedly worth $35 million over a ten-year span for another of Extell's developments, the $2 billion super luxury condominium tower on West 57th Street known as One57. If the corruption-fighting investigators of the Moreland Commission were interested in the corrupt pattern of pay-to-play in politics that invited large campaign contributions to fix legislative outcomes, then will the way Extell won its de jure segregating "poor door" provision approved by the City Council merit the same kind of scrutiny as did the $35 million tax breaks signed into law by Gov. Cuomo ?

RELATED Bill de Blasio voted for luxury building ‘poor door’ (The New York Post) Sal Albanese Blasts Rivals For Accepting Corrupt Real Estate Donations (Crain's New York Business) In Mayoral Race, Attacking Real Estate Industry but Taking Its Cash (The New York Times) Extell, Silverstein, Thor hit with subpeonas over tax breaks (The Real Deal) Extell upped Cuomo donations during tax bill talks : State law granting One57 an abatement could shave $35M in costs (The Real Deal) Michael Hayes, LMT, has practiced massage for more than 20 years as a licensed massage therapist in New York City. Flatiron Massage offers gift certificates, and their massage studio is located in the Flatiron District of Manhattan.

Former Moreland Commission co-Chair William Fitzpatrick Issues Statement to Press

Former co-chair of the now-defunct Moreland Commission, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, issued a press release Monday morning, addressing various issues over the premature closing of the troubled anti-corruption investigation panel. Federal authorities are investigating allegations that officials with the Cuomo administration steered investigators away from the questionable fundraising and other activities of some of the governor's big money campaign contributors.

For Immediate Release From Da Fitzpatrick 7-28-14 by Nick Reisman

Cuomo to be in Buffalo today, as ex-Moreland Commission figure testifies before a federal grand jury

Andrew Cuomo's obstruction of the Moreland Commission : a moment of truth for New York's political reporters

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is scheduled to speak at 10 a.m. this morning at the University of Buffalo, his first public appearance since a damning article in The New York Times last week accused the governor of directing criminal investigations away from his political allies. The governor's appearance is timed to overshadow the Grand Jury testimony of Heather Green, who was the assistant to the former Executive Director of the now-defunct Moreland Commission, Regina Calcaterra.

To further establish Gov. Cuomo's obstruction of the Moreland Commission's investigations, will the media examine allegations of corruption by Cuomo allies : the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), the Partnership for New York City (PFNYC), and the now-shuttered Committee to Save New York (CSNY) ? If Gov. Cuomo truly obstructed the corruption investigations by the Moreland Commission, what were his motivations ? By all accounts, the media has reported that Gov. Cuomo was acting to hide the questionable fundraising and other activities of his big money campaign contributors and other political supporters -- people, who had business before the state. If true, the actions of Cuomo administration officials to carry out Gov. Cuomo's obstructive orders will undoubtedly become the focus of some of today's Grand Jury testimony. What light can Health Green show on Cuomo administration officials' backchannel communications with Ms. Calcaterra, the former Moreland Commission executive director, who was Gov. Cuomo's plant on the investigative panel ? Whose pay-to-play activities were the governor trying to hide ? So far, we know that the Cuomo administration was sensitive to the activities of REBNY, the Extell Development Company, the campaign commercial-related firm Buying Time, and the Committee to Save New York (and its funders) from coming under scrutiny. As the press looks for angles to keep alive this complicated story of obstruction of justice, will the press have the guts to further investigate the apparent pay-to-play implications of the questionable fundraising and other activities of Gov. Cuomo's big money campaign contributors ? We know how whistleblowers have had to deal with intimidation and retaliation from the Cuomo administration. How do intimidation and retaliation of the press factor into allegations of obstruction ? In a roundtable of reporters on last Friday's Inside City Hall on NY1, Senior editor for Politics and Policy at WNYC Radio, Andrea Bernstein, spoke about the hostility that reporters must put up with from Cuomo administration officials over criticisms in the press. Will reporters back down under the Cuomo's retaliatory mode in the fallout of the Moreland Commission scandal, or will reporters find the courage to finally report the whole truth about the years of pay-to-play corruption in New York State politics ? Stay tuned.

RELATED Cuomo’s Office Hobbled Ethics Inquiries by Moreland Commission (The New York Times) Cuomo should shoulder blame for defunct anti-corruption panel, say irate commission members (The New York Daily News) Cuomo, Astorino to Be in Western New York as Fallout from Corruption Report Continues (Time Warner Cable News)