City Council staff using taxpayer resources to post the happy birthday wishes of elected officials

Join us in wishing Speaker @MMViverito​ a very happy birthday! Wishing you a day full of joy, love & celebration! pic.twitter.com/QS9J9i5gqV

— NYC Council (@NYCCouncil) April 1, 2015

Corruption of New York City Council slush funds leads to another guilty verdict, this time for Ex-Councilmember Dan Halloran

PUBLISHED : TUES, 29 JUL 2014, 09:36 PM
UPDATED : MON, 04 AUG 2014, 11:05 AM

Amongst the charges for which former Councilmember Halloran was found guilty was plotting to funnel $80,000 in City Council slush funds as bribes to others

Controversy over City Council slush funds continue under the new Council speaker, Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito Former New York City Councilmember Daniel Halloran was found guilty today by a jury, concluding a federal trial for corruption charges stemming from his arrest for participating in a scheme to buy the GOP ballot line for State Sen. Malcom Smith, a wannabe mayoral candidate in last year's municipal elections. Former Councilmember Halloran's accepted money in what was described as a bribe for his role in the corruption scheme. In exchange, he had pledged, in part, to use $80,000 in City Council slush funds for further bribes in this corruption scheme. Former Councilmember Halloran had planned to funnel the $80,000 from the monies awarded to him by the City Council speaker, who, at her discretion, awards member items to Councilmembers for further payment to various nonprofit groups. The practice of distributing member items from the speaker's discretionary fund has been a historical source of corruption in the City Council. Government reform activists also see the use of these slush funds as ways to keep community groups locked up in proverbial "veal pens," preventing, for example, some community groups, such as VOCAL-New York, from pressing for a complete overhaul to end corruption at the New York Police Department. Previously, three Councilmembers : Larry Seabrook, Hiram Monserrate, and Miguel Martinez, and two former council staffers of then Councilman Kendall Stewart : Asquith Reid and Joycinth Anderson, have been charged in connection with corruption related to the slush fund scandal. After former Councilmember Halloran's arrest, his slice of the slush funds came under review by former Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who was once the target of a federal investigation into her own, larger slush fund scandal. After the outcome of last year's municipal elections, former Speaker Quinn was succeeded by Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito as speaker. Speaker Mark-Viverito had promised to reform the politically-corrupt process of doling out the Council's slush funds. However, this year, Speaker Mark-Viverito sparked controversy when she was caught allocating millions of dollars in slush funds to a charity group founded by one of her key campaign consultants. This year's allocation of slush funds were further complicated when Councilmember Ruben Wills was arrested on unrelated corruption charges. Councilmember Wills' cut of this year's slush funds were reportedly to be divided up amongst groups in his Council district at the direction of Speaker Mark-Viverito's office and other Councilmembers of the Queens delegation, Capital New York reported. As the U.S. Attorney for New York's southern district, Preet Bharara, continues his campaign to prosecute government corruption cases, former Councilmember Halloran's conviction shows voters that federal prosecutors know where to keep looking : at the role that the Council's slush funds plays in elected officials' machinations to "sell out their offices." How many more Councilmembers and their staff must be ensnared in corruption cases by federal prosecutors before the Council's slush funds are either reformed with true integrity or ended entirely ?

RELATED Former Councilmmember Dan Halloran Found Guilty in Corruption Case (The New York Observer) Another campaign consultant tied to Council Speaker Mark-Viverito in still yet another controversy (NYC : News & Analysis) Quinn in the Slush (New York Magazine) Lulu heroes and zeroes : End the City Council’s legal bribery (The New York Daily News) City Council members can’t prove they donated bonuses to charities (The New York Post)

Another campaign consultant tied to Council Speaker Mark-Viverito in still yet another controversy

The Hispanic Federation received more than $830,000 in FY2015 City Council Slush Funds. The charity was founded and is represented by a partner of the MirRam Group political consultanting firm, which is close to Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

RELATED Charity tied to New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito quadruples its funding (Crains New York Business) More questions about Melissa Mark-Viverito's campaign finances and her lobbyists (NYC : News & Analysis)

IN THE NEW CITY BUDGET, the New York City Council, headed by Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, has steered over $830,000 to a charity with close ties to one of her chief campaign consultants, Crains New York Business reported. The charity, the Hispanic Federation, was founded and is represented by Luis Miranda, a partner of the MirRam Group. The MirRam Group advised Councilmember Mark-Viverito's reelection race for her City Council seat, and it "quietly provided assistance in the midst" of Councilmember Mark-Viverito's speakership race, according to the Crains New York Business report. The disclosure of expenditures of Councilmember Mark-Viverito's speakership race fails to show that the speakership campaign committee ever paid the MirRam Group for their services, an apparently similar arrangement that Councilmember Mark-Viverito's speakership campaign had with The Advance Group. A potential conflict of interest comes to the fore with respect to the City Council allocation of slush funds to the Hispanic Federation in that the MirRam Group lobbied the City Council, including Speaker Mark-Viverito, for the funding. Moreover, the large allocation to the Hispanic Federation may invoke "veal pen" concerns. The Hispanic Federation is a fund of funds-type structure, which means it uses its resources to fund other Hispanic charities. Will the Hispanic Federation only fund groups that express their loyalty to Speaker Mark-Viverito ? Furthermore, the slush fund allocation to the Hispanic Federation has a potential to move circuitously back to the MirRam Group, according to the Crains New York Business article. The Hispanic Federation retains the MirRam Group on an $8,500 monthly arrangement. Over the years, the Hispanic Federation has paid over $600,000 to the MirRam Group and to another firm "registered to Mr. Miranda and his wife," according to a 2012 report by The New York Post. The circuitous flow of slush funds that "pass through" charities and into the pockets of lobbyists with close ties to the Council Speaker. Former Speaker Christine Quinn began earmarking slush funds to the High Line park before she became Council Speaker, and those and other budget allocations overlapped with the High Line park retaining the lobbying services of Bolton-St. Johns, a firm headed by former Speaker Quinn's best friend, Emily Giske. To close the circuitous loop of money, real estate developers, who stood to make tens of millions of dollars, if not more, from the gentrification that the High Line park ushered in, turned around and made large campaign contributions to Speaker Quinn's campaign committee accounts. For years, good government groups have asked that the City Council slush funds either be eliminated entirely or to be reformed to prevent the politicization of the controversial budget allocations, so that there are no pay-to-play, conflicts of interest, or quid pro quo aspects to how the slush funds are divided up by the Council Speaker. Now that Crains New York Business has brought the role of campaign consultants to the fore, the city's Campaign Finance Board and the Department of Investigation must investigate the appearances of corruption. If the potential established pattern of criminality in these cases consist of violations of local or state law but involve the investigation and prosecution of significant political or government individuals, who may pose special problems for the local prosecutor, then federal prosecutors must lead the charge.

VOCAL-NY amongst CPR community groups receiving over $7 million in FY15 City Council slush funds

Despite cheap "progressive" talk from mayor and new Council speaker, New York City Council is still disbursing speaker slush funds, even as one sitting Councilmember's funding had to be supervised due to pending corruption charges.

New York City Council Divvies Up $50 Million in Speaker Slush Funds http://t.co/jUmrGwJxMb via @WSJ

— Informed Voting (@informedvoting) June 25, 2014

RELATED New York City Council Divvies Up $50 Million in Speaker Slush Funds (The Wall Street Journal) Queens Councilman Ruben Wills arrested by Attorney General’s office in corruption probe (UPDATE) (Metro New York) MMV Slush Funds Report For Fiscal Year 2015 Adopted Expense : Budget Adjustment Summary / Schedule C (New York City.gov)

Slush funds allocated to VOCAL-NY include $25,000 for anti-Stop-and-Frisk workshops, even though Mayor Bill de Blasio campaigned to end the "Stop-and-Frisk" era in NYPD policing. Following the Veal Pen Workshop for police reform at the Left Forum 2014, some of the member groups belonging to a coalition known as Communities United for Police Reform, or CPR, were shown to have influence over the stalled social movement to press the New York City government to deliver police reforms. When one of the stalling member groups in the CPR coalition, VOCAL-NY, was pressed about their role in deliberately deescalating public pressure for police reforms, a VOCAL-NY director, Jennifer Flynn Walker, had a meltdown on Twitter after activists pressed whether City Council slush funds played a role in CPR easing off pressure on the de Blasio-Mark-Viverito administration. "Professional" activists like Ms. Walker get a "seat at the table" next to powerholders, precisely because these "professional" activists accept government funding from the very politicians, who grassroots activists are targeting for legal reforms. Those government funding allocations come with implicit strings attached to not embarrass the politicians publicly, to not create any "scandals," and to settle for the low-bar "politics of the possible" that politicians, like Mayor Bill de Blasio, can deliver without upsetting his big money campaign donors. Some police reform activists believe that the mayor announced his controversial pick for NYPD commissioner to placate nervous billionaire real estate developers, who want to keep seeing escalating New York City real estate prices. The only way real estate prices can keep spiraling up out of control is by keeping all the youths and people of color either locked up in school or locked up in jail. Making do by accepting Mayor de Blasio's appointment of William Bratton as the new commissioner of the New York Police Department means that the City Council has to keep funding community programs to deal with police brutality and the violation of innocent people's rights. Indeed, the slush funds allocated to VOCAL-NY include $25,000 that are intended to "provide Know Your Rights workshops to inform people of their legal rights during police encounters (including stop, question and frisk) and role play de-escalation strategies in order to stay safe and calm." (Emphasis Added)

CPR member groups receiving FY15 slush funds are :   -  Bronx Defenders : $1,636,000   -  Legal Aid Society : $5,865,750   -  New York City Anti-Violence Project : $186,755   -  Streetwise & Safe : $10,000   -  VOCAL-NY : $62,000   -  Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice : $24,000 The controversial City Council practise of doling out slush funds was a hallmark issue in last year's mayoral campaign, and the slush fund allocations were used as an accusation of corruption against former Council Speaker Christine Quinn. According to her campaign promises, the new Council speaker, Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito, promised to bring reforms to the City Council never made possible under former Speaker Quinn's leadership. Alas, Speaker Mark-Viverito is using the shady distribution of slush funds to control strategic community groups for political reasons, which is no different from the motivations of her her predecessor. It's not known why VOCAL-NY still needs $25,000 for workshops that will train people how to deal with police use of "Stop-and-Frisk," if Mayor de Blasio campaigned to end the "Stop-and-Frisk" era at the NYPD. The right thing for VOCAL-NY to do is to come forward to press the mayor to deliver the full range of reforms at the NYPD that he supposedly gave lip service to in last year's mayoral election. Unless, of course, some of the CPR community groups are afraid to pressure the de Blasio-Mark-Viverito administration for the full range of legal reforms needed to end police brutality, violations of the Handschu Agreement, and other infringements of civil liberties and civil rights of innocent New Yorkers. For years, activist have wondered how could the City Council fund, on the one hand, police procedures that violate the Civil Rights Act protections of it citizens, at the same time when, on the other hand, the City Council is funding community groups for protection from police brutality ? What kind of duplicitous City Council budget are elected officials adopting ?

2014-05-31 Veal Pen (Left Forum) Contact Sheet (Twitter Handles) (FINAL)(2014-06-25 FY15 Schedule C Slush F... by Connaissable

Schneiderman Scrambling To Arrest Corrupted Officials Before Federal Prosecutor Hands Down Embarrassing Grand Jury Indictments [UPDATED]

PUBLISHED : WED, 07 MAY 2014, 05:54 PM
UPDATED : SUN, 11 MAY 2014, 06:00 AM

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman Finally Gets Around To Arresting Councilmember Ruben Wills On Investigation That Is Over Two Years Old

With federal prosecutors hot on a corruption crackdown across New York state, the state's attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, today arrested New York City Councilmember Ruben Wills on a charge of misusing some of the proceeds of a $33,000 state grant to New York 4 Life, a charity the councilmember managed.

• RELATED : Councilmember Ruben Wills was charged with misuing tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds -- even spending some of the money on a $750 Louis Vuitton designer handbag. (Ruben Wills, Queens city councilmember, busted in corruption investigation * The New York Daily News)

The $33,000 grant to Councilmember Wills' charity was sponsored by former New York State Sen. Shirley Huntley in 2008. Two years ago, Councilmember Wills' charity refused to fully comply with a subpoena issued by the state's top prosecutor's office, forcing state prosecutors to file a court motion to compel the charity to comply. After that, the state's case went dormant. During this time, Gov. Andrew Cuomo formed an anti-corruption panel to great fanfare, but the governor ditched the panel as soon as it appeared that the panel would investigate the governor's own questionable political supporters. Recently, the outrage by good government groups and government reform activists reached such a fevered pitch at the government's inept prosecution of corruption that the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, took over the corruption investigations of the now-defunct anti-corruption panel, known as a Moreland Commission. In the time since the feds took over, Mr. Bharara has empaneled a grand jury, obtaining subpoenas for corruption records. As government reform activists await possible grand jury indictments, all of a sudden the state's attorney general has begun to look busy. One fruit from Mr. Schneiderman's scurrying efforts was today's arrest of Councilmember Wills.

Ruben Wills Arrested : Best comment : "You know election day is getting closer. @AGSchneiderman did something." https://t.co/8qWDK3nwhc

— Informed Voting (@informedvoting) May 7, 2014

But Councilmember Wills' corruption arrest is complicated by many factors. One of the publicly-elected officials, who State Sen. Shirley Huntley was asked to wiretap and photograph as part of an undercover FBI sting operation on political corruption, was Councilmember Wills, according to Politicker. Prior to that, former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn endorsed Councilmember Wills for re-election one day after he had appeared in court to face a misdemeanor stealing charge. Councilmember Wills earned his incumbency on the City Council in a special election in southeast Queens in 2010 to succeed Thomas White, who died in August in 2010, and Councilmember Wills was re-elected in 2011 to continue to serve the remainder of White’s four-year term. Councilmember Wills later appeared in court in March 2011 on charges in connection with a 1996 incident. He was accused of damaging a wall and removing a fan and track lighting at a downtown business.

After Councilmember Wills' March 2011 court appearance, Speaker Quinn defended Councilmember Wills. "I'm extraordinarily proud of my City Council and proud of the members that I get to serve with every day on behalf of the people of the City of New York," she told The New York Daily News at the time.

In spite of Councilmember Wills' troubles, Speaker Quinn had awarded Councilmember Wills $584,000 in discretionary funding in the city's 2012 budget.

That Councilmember Wills is being singled out in the attorney general's sudden efforts to catch up with the state's long backlog of corruption investigations is troublesome. As has been noted by others, it can sometimes appear that state and federal prosecutors seem to obsess with the petty crimes of minority politicians, which conveniently allows larger corruption scandals to go uninvestigated and unprosecuted. It doesn't help when the media portrays the political corruption problem as only being isolated to Queens, for example. Corruption is a bigger problem, and the bigger corruption scandals rarely receive the kind of scrutiny as petty crimes. Councilmember Wills was arrested for allegedly misusing the proceeds of a $33,000 state grant. Former Sen. Huntley is serving a one-year prison sentence in connection with the misuse of $80,000 in tax payer money. Meanwhile, there's still no update on whatever happened to the corruption probe into how Aqueduct Entertainment Group landed a multibillion-dollar casino contract. But in that AEG probe, two more black leaders, State Sens. John Sampson and Malcolm Smith, appear to be targets. Each of Sens. Sampson and Smith are also being investigated in connection with still yet other corruption charges. Another possible corruption scandal in Queens, a questionable $20 million construction project by the Queens Public Library, will probably drag on for years before any indictments or arrests are made. State Sen. Jose Peralta, another minority leader from Queens, is the subject of a possible corruption investigation that is almost five years old involving over $500,000 in taxpayer money that was funneled to Corona-Elmhurst Center for Economic Development, a dormant non-profit organization. No arrest or indictment has yet to be made in connection with state Sen. Peralta's non-profit. Moreover, there's also been no update into an alleged investigation into the awarding in January 2010 of a $50 million voting machine contract to Election Systems & Software by New York City election officials. The new voting machines turned out to be an embarrassment to city officials, when it was revealed that the new machines would be unable to timely tally votes for the primary and general elections, even though they are "electronic" machines, forcing New York City elections officials to drag out clunky voting booths that work with levers, pulleys, and wheels in the last mayoral primary election. Even after the $2 billion fiasco that is the ECTP 911 emergency call EMS system that keeps crashing over and over -- and over again -- there's still no investigation into cost over-runs, failures, or other possible wrong-doing. Also pending is the outcome of the city's investigation into the corrupt campaign spending by Super PAC's administered by one lobbying firm, The Advance Group. And all there is, is silence about the other corrupt Super PAC's from last year's municipal elections.

• RELATED : The Advance Group Federal Complaint Referred To Moreland Commission (NYC : News & Analysis)
• RELATED : Roger Bennett Adler, a special prosecutor investigating the Working Families Party's corrupt relationship with Data & Field Services, a corporation formed by the left-leaning party to provide its candidates with get-out-the-vote staffing and expertise at possibly illegal discounts, has sought an interview with one of Mayor Bill de Blasio's highest-ranking aides, Emma Wolfe, people familiar with the matter said. Data & Field Services, a corporation formed by the left-leaning party to provide its candidates with get-out-the-vote staffing and expertise. Mr. de Blasio was elected in 2009 to become the city's public advocate thanks to, in part, the deeply discounted services of Data & Field. (Prosecutor in Working Families Corruption Case Seeks Interview of de Blasio Aide, Emma Wolfe * The Wall Street Journal)

While the attorney general follows up on the missing $33,000 that Councilmember Wills cannot fully explain, there are millions and billions of taxpayer dollars in outstanding corruption investigations, and allegations that may call into question the integrity of our entire election system, that appear to be going cold. This pile-up of corruption cases proves that city and state prosecutors are inept at fully investigating political corruption. Instead, state and local prosecutors just looked the other way, and the incidence of corruption just kept piling on up until nothing less than a dedicated Moreland Commission would be needed to flush all this corruption out of the system. But since Gov. Cuomo scuttled the Moreland Commission, now the task of prosecuting all this corruption lands on the laps of the U.S Attorney's Office. Indeed, federal prosecutors received the files of about two dozen possible investigations from the now-defunct Moreland Commission that city and state investigators never got around to worrying about before now. When the governor first formed the Moreland Commission, the press never asked why lazy city and state prosecutors had allowed corruption to grow to become a stage 4 cancer on our government. Once the feds excise this cancer of corruption from our body of government, will we have enough good officials left to right this ship ? After all this is over, one of the first things voters should demand is for the elected officials to determine why did the state's attorney general and all of the district attorneys let corruption become so out-of-control in New York in the first place. Prosecutors should also determine the legality of allowing government officials to subvert the conduct of the public's business by elected officials, who use private e-mail services to hide the government's official work from the reach of sunshine laws, a tactic embraced by Gov. Cuomo. The shady use of private e-mail accounts to subvert the reach of freedom of information laws or the discovery process of litigation is a practise typical on Wall Street and their big money law firms. Now, Gov. Cuomo has apparently rolled out this shadowy machination to New York state government. Gov. Cuomo's pattern of political subterfuge may have contributed to the failure of the Moreland Commission to refer any criminal case for prosecution before its disbanding, and the appearance of sabotage is said to be being the focus of federal prosecutors. Government reform activists privately hope that Gov. Cuomo's interference with the doomed Moreland Commission can meet the legal definition of obstruction of justice, opening the door to a political pressure point to force government reforms, if not at least to give federal prosecutors additional evidence to hand down indictments against more crooked politicians, who are responsible for enabling political corruption in New York state government.

• RELATED : After Pledge of Sunlight, Gov. Cuomo Officials Keep Their E-mail in the Shadows (ProPublica)
• RELATED : Good government group calls for investigation of Cuomo administration's e-mails (The New York Daily News)
• RELATED : Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington requests that New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman investigate the Cuomo administration's controversial use of private e-mail accounts and Blackberry PIN messages to deliberately hide official government business (CREW Letter to Schneiderman)

In the meantime, Speaker Quinn's successor, Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito has indicated that she will not allow Councilmember Wills to decide the fate of his slice of this year's City Council slush funds. Instead, her office will decide where his allocation of the discretionary funding will go, in consultation with the chair of the Queens Councilmembers' delegation. At all costs, the Council Speaker's office is intent on keeping its councilmember slush fund. Even though many officials have been charged with fraud in connection with the misuse of the City Council's discretionary funds, the corrupted elected officials are too addicted to the power that comes from doling out these grants.

• RELATED : Rigging Campaign Finance to Rig Elections (The Wall Street Journal)
• RELATED : Mark-Viverito spent big on speaker race (Crains Insider)
• RELATED : The lobbying firm, Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, which helped Melissa Mark-Viverito win her races for City Council and Council speaker, has now lobbied her on behalf of four clients. (The New York Daily News)

Last year, former Council Speaker Quinn approved the disbursement of $3.2 million in member items requested by Councilmember Dan Halloran, even though the councilmember had been charged in a conspiracy and bribery scheme relating to his member items. In the criminal complaint against him, Councilmember Halloran suggested to an undercover FBI agent that Councilmember Halloran could increase the size of the discretionary funds he was using as a bribe by calling in favours from other councilmembers. For all the corruption that the City Council did to hide the speaker's multimillion-dollar slush fund, former Speaker Quinn herself was never prosecuted.

Lazy @AGSchneiderman hustling to arrest backlog of corrupteds before @SDNYnews hands down indictments. http://t.co/BNrkY2cSl6 #Moreland

— Informed Voting (@informedvoting) May 7, 2014

With millions and billions in taxpayer dollars at stake in uninvestigated political corruption, law enforcement under the de Blasio administration continues to focus on NYPD Police Commissioner William Bratton's obsession with his "broken windows theory" of policing. Instead of focusing on the "criminal networks" of political corruption and corporate corruption, law enforcement instead over-police the poor and people of color, targeting them, amongst other places, on public transportation systems of subways and buses, a regressive move that may violate the Civil Rights Act.

Daily News Editorial Calls For End of Speaker Mark-Viverito's Slush Fund

Even though many politicians have been arrested and gone to jail for fraud, bribes, and other federal corruption charges, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito still wants to keep the practise of doling out slush funds.

The Editorial Board of The New York Daily News has pressed Mayor Bill de Blasio to use "his mayoral powers to abolish the Council practice of dividing up some $400 million annually in so-called member items. He has the authority. He must use it, simply to be true to his word," adding that Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito has no intention of closing down the slush fund, "No surprise, Quinn, and now Mark-Viverito, love the power that comes with dispensing member items."

Mayor de Blasio already kicked sand in the eyes of the Editorial Board of The Daily News over his support of Ms. Mark-Viverito's scandal-plagued speakership campaign.

Will he dare defy The Daily News on the lingering slush fund scandal ?

U.S. Attorney Bharara is Being Pressed to Help Uncover Corruption

What Happen to the BOE Machine Count Due Out Sunday Night ? Where Is the City Council Hearing On the Missing Vote Count ?

Where's the demand that @ChrisCQuinn hold @NYCCouncil hearings on @BOENYC broken lever voting machines and botched vote counting ?

— Informed Voting (@informedvoting) September 18, 2013

Preet Bharara Begs the New Media Companies to Do What the Old Media Has Not Done, Investigate Corruption

From True News From Change NYC :

Bharara: New Media End NYC's Journalism of Sheep

• Public corruption, based on all evidence, appears rampant,” Bharara told the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption at its first public hearing. “And the ranks of those convicted in office have swelled to absolutely unacceptable levels.” \Earlier in the day, Bharara’s office moved to take away the pensions of state officials convicted of corruption. The office filing seeks to include pensions as part of the property It comes in the case against state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Queens), who stands accused of scheming with officials in New York City and Rockland County to raise funds for his one-time attempt to switch parties and run for mayor as a Republican. Letting felons collect state pensions is a “a galling injustice that sticks in the craw of every thinking New Yorker,” Bharara planned to say Tuesday night in a speech before Gov. Cuomo’s new anti-corruption Moreland Commission.
• Bharara planned to say Tuesday night in a speech before Gov. Cuomo’s new anti-corruption Moreland Commission. * Preet Bharara hopes for more muckraking in Albany (Capital New York) Albany has been fertile ground for investigative journalists in recent years, with two governors embroiled in ethical woes, and a number of legislators either indicted or forced to resign. With each press outlet that closes or downsizes, opportunities to ferret out fraud and waste and abuse are lost.
• Preet Bharara: “fresh news outlets like BuzzFeed … bent on doubling down on political investigations will provide grist” 4 corruption probe Bharara, SDNY US Atty, bullish on @buzzfeed, @politico/@ capitalnewyork, & new @WashingtonPoint, in testimony tonight to Moreland Commission * In testimony, Bharara laments loss of investigative journalists, and puts high hope in new outlets and revived old. * Bharara says pensions of corrupt officials should be tapped (Capitol Confidential) * U.S. Attorney To Commission : Political Corruption Is Out Of Hand In N.Y. State (WCBS)
• While Bharara Was Speaking Last Night At the Moreland Commission Hearing This Is What the Political Director of the Times Was Tweeting :

My goodness. Among blacks, de Blasio leading Joe Lhota 86 to 3 percent. http://t.co/ChGwIdUwBz

— carolynryan (@carolynryan) September 17, 2013

---

Carolyn Ryan Update

SIDE BAR : Is it me, or do other folks agree that Carolyn Ryan doesn't get it ? Do you think she never will ? She reminds me of some of the people, who I saw promoted at my last job, who were given supervisory roles, because they were dumb or were known to fold, and they could be counted on to let the power players have their way.

It's in a lot of powerful people's best interests to install a weak link in a powerful post, so that the powerful people can run roughshod over the system. Having somebody disconnected from the serious problem of corruption be installed as the politics editor of The New York Times sure seems to help propagate corruption. Imagine their delight at the prospect of installing Ms. Ryan as executive editor of The New York Times ?

Christine Quinn - 8 Years of City Budget Slush Funds @NYCCouncil Schedule C

Fake Charity Groups that Christine Quinn Used in 2007 to Hide Her Political Slush Fund (@NYCCouncil Schedule C) http://t.co/gjcG4HXCv7

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) September 1, 2013

Some of the fake charity groups Christine Quinn used to divert discretionary funds for personal political gain.

• American Association of Concerned Veterans received $422,763 in slush funds.
• Association of Community Partners received $400,000 in slush funds.
• Coalition for a Strong Special Education received $400,000 in slush funds.
• Community Development for Stronger Neighborhoods received $300,000 in slush funds.
• Firewood Senior Services Center received $300,000 in slush funds.
• Immigration Improvement Project of NY received $300,000 in slush funds.
• Rockwood Regional Development Foundation received $300,000 in slush funds.
• Moving Up, Building Bridges received $250,000 in slush funds.

FY 2007 City Council Adopted Expense Budget Schedule C

As a follow-up to yesterday's post (that FY 2007 Schedule C was missing), we have turned up a copy, and now all eight years' worth of Schedules C's during Christine Quinn's speakership of the New York City Council are now uploaded onto Scribd. These are public documents, yet FY 2007 was not publicly available. Maybe it was because the FY 2007 Schedule C was used by The New York Post to expose the fact that Speaker Quinn had used fake charity groups to hide a political slush fund to dole out to her supporters. (This $$ Is Hers For The Faking * NYPost)

FY 2008 City Council Adopted Expense Budget Schedule C

FY 2009 City Council Adopted Expense Budget Schedule C

FY 2010 City Council Adopted Expense Budget Schedule C

FY 2011 City Council Adopted Expense Budget Schedule C

FY 2012 City Council Adopted Expense Budget Schedule C

FY 2013 City Council Adopted Expense Budget Schedule C

FY 2014 City Council Adopted Expense Budget Schedule C

Christine Quinn Returns $25,000 In Donations From Firm Tied To William Rapfogel Scandal

Christine Quinn illegal William Rapfogel Century Coverage Met Council slush fund campaign donations left out : http://t.co/ywcjNLLLKQ

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) August 26, 2013

How about other campaign donations tied to Christine Quinn @NYCCouncil slush funds ? @klnynews @CharmianNeary http://t.co/FfOiSZSQxf #Preet

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) August 12, 2013

Quinn donations by Century Coverage don't add up to $25,000 @unitedNYblogs @klnynews @CharmianNeary http://t.co/lfvfJx24wB @NYCCFB

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) August 12, 2013

Daily News Daily Politics : Christine Quinn Returns $25,000 In Donations To Firm Tied To William Rapfogel Scandal

Hours after we blogged that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn had allotted New York City Council discretionary funds to the Metropolitan Council, Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign announced that they were returning $25,000 in campaign donations at the center of the William Rapfogel scandal.

Mr. Rapfogel was terminated today as executive and president of the Met Council after revelations of financial irregularities. Initial reports showed that Met Council might have been using city or state funding to funnel money to an insurance company named Century Coverage Corporation, which would, in turn, funnel that money through employees to a/some 2013 New York mayoral candidate(s). But then later reports alleged that Mr. Rapfogel was taking kickbacks from an insurance company, which he would then funnel as campaign donations to a/some 2013 New York mayoral candidate(s). But a Campaign Finance Board report run today for all election cycles showing employers beginning with Century Coverage turned up no 2013 campaign donations.

2013-08-12 Century Coverage All Election Cycles CFB Advanced Search - New York City Campaign Finance Board by Connaissable

Three glaring problems exist with Speaker Quinn's announcement that she is returning $25,000 in campaign donations tied to the William Fogel-Met Council-Century Coverage scandal :

(i) The previous Campaign Finance Board doesn't show $25,000 in recent disclosed campaign donations to Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign ;

(ii) The following Campaign Finance Board report shows all Rapfogel donations made for all election cycles, and Mr. Rapfogel is not shown as having made any campaign donations to Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign ; and

2013-08-12 RAPFOGEL All Election Cycles Donations Quick Search - New York City Campaign Finance Board

(iii) In a Crain's report, it was reported that "Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran political operative and prominent member of the city's Jewish community, said Mr. Rapfogel's legal predicament will likely make more trouble" for New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. (Met Council head fired amid probe) If Speaker Quinn was returning $25,000 in untraceable donations, does this mean that Speaker Silver is going to be expected to return tainted donations, too ? And why did Mr. Sheinkopf say that political backsplash was going to splish splash only on Speaker Silver, when within hours of our first blog post it was Speaker Quinn, who was rushing to unload $25,000 in undocumented campaign donations ?

Christine Quinn Slush Funds William Rapfogel Met Council Corruption Investigation ?

Christine Quinn illegal William Rapfogel Century Coverage Met Council slush fund campaign donations left out : http://t.co/ywcjNLLLKQ

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) August 26, 2013

Joseph Ross admitted that William Rapfogel, the former head of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, told him to make contributions to various politicians and political organizations using money from their $7 million kickback scheme, The Daily News reports.

Are mayoral candidate donations by Century Coverage tied to Met Council ? http://t.co/lfvfJx24wB @NYCCouncil #Preet @AGSchneiderman

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) August 12, 2013

BREAKING : The leader of yet another charity group that receives discretionary funds from Christine Quinn's political slush fund has resigned today from an organization due to an impending investigation into financial improprieties. This morning, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty issued a statement announcing the immediate termination of its chief executive and president, William Rapfogel. (Attorney General Investigating Power Broker William Rapfogel) Under Mr. Rapfogel, Speaker Quinn has consistently funneled money to the Met Council, even when those allocations came under scrutiny for their regularity. (Christine Quinn Grants Slush Funds to Metropolitan Council) According to WNBC, "Sources familiar with the investigation said the probe is examining what happened to some of the organization’s funds and whether any of that money might have been improperly funneled into the political campaigns of some New York City mayoral candidates." (William Rapfogel Jewish Charities Metropolitan Council Investigation) We know from prior reports from the Daily News that Speaker Quinn has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in discretionary funds to nonprofit groups that have helped her mayoral campaign. (Christine Quinn Grants Slush Funds To Nonprofits Which Donated Campaign Contributions To Her Political Campaign)

Indeed, just last month, when Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign was in trouble because of Anthony Weiner's ascendant, insurgent campaign, Speaker Quinn's closest political advisers were invited to an emergency strategy meeting to help fluff up her then-troubled mayoral campaign. The invitees to this emergency strategy session included Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty CEO William Rapfogel. (Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty CEO William Rapfogel Participated In Emergency Secret Strategy Session To Fluff Christine Quinn's Struggling Mayoral Campaign) What kind of role was Mr. Rapfogel and the Met Council playing as a result of Speaker Quinn's emergency campaign strategy session ? How could there be an arm's length distance between Speaker Quinn and the Met Council if the charity group was helping her strategize her electioneering strategy ? Were slush funds payments or kickback campaign donations part of this emergency strategy ? Hmmmmmmmm......?

According to The New York Times, "Investigators are, among other angles, looking at the relationship between Mr. Rapfogel and Century Coverage Corporation, an insurance company based in Valley Stream, N.Y., according to people familiar with the investigation. Investigators are focusing in particular on generous contributions that the company’s chief executive, Joseph Ross, and other employees have made to candidates for New York City offices. The company’s employees have given almost $120,000 to various candidates since the late 1990s, including $26,175 to several candidates in 2013. Company officials could not immediately be reached for comment."

But a report generated today from the Campaign Finance Board shows no campaign donations from 2013. This report was generated from a search by employer that begins with, "Century Coverage." Were the 2013 campaign contributions deliberately not fully disclosed to the Campaign Finance Board ?

2013-08-12 Century Coverage All Election Cycles CFB Advanced Search - New York City Campaign Finance Board by Connaissable

Quinn Approves Halloran's City Council Member Items Following His Arrest For Member Item Bribe Attempt

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn approved the disbursement of $3.2 million in member items requested by Councilmember Dan Halloran, even though the Councilmember was charged in a conspiracy and bribery scheme only three months ago relating to his member items. In the criminal complaint against him, Councilmember Halloran suggested to an undercover FBI agent that Mr. Halloran could increase the size of the discretionary funds he was using as a bribe by calling in favours from other councilmembers. ("Halloran's participatory budgeting projects will be funded" * Queens Crap)

Six More Years Of Christine Quinn's Slush Fund Scandal

Christine Quinn and Her On-Going Slush Fund Scandal ... Six Years Later

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s opponents in the mayoral race are trying to resurrect the “slush fund scandal”, when the Council allegedly assigned millions of dollars to fictitious organizations, The Wall Street Journal writes (via City & State) : Campaigns Hit Quinn on 'Slush Fund'

. @ChrisCQuinn's Quid Pro Quo : Slush Funds In Exchange for Campaign Donations http://t.co/fT05HkE4nj #Preet #corruption #indictment

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) July 3, 2013

Fake Twitter Accounts Reminiscent Of Fake Slush Fund Charity Accounts

Last week, in a sign of desperation, Christine Quinn's Twitter account jumped by 20,000 followers overnight. City & State reviewed the sock-puppet Twitter accounts, and this was their analysis before Quinn's campaign people were forced to get rid of these fake followers after the negative publicity.

Some of the fake Twitter accounts, which was pointed out by City & State, included "Mary DeBoos (@deecohunk0106), Sergio Andres (@deecohunk0105), Tiffany Stone (@deecohunk0104), Quy Sin (@deecohunk0102), Osmany Adrian (@deecohunk0100), Mukhtar Bako (@deecohunk0099), Nick Afriza (@deecohunk0098), et cetera, ad infinitum. Then there is the whole series of followers who coincidentally picked some permutation of @byhnoleda0080 as their user name like Rona Ghotra (@byhnoleda0078), Vija Kumar (@byhnoleda0074) and Kelly Batista (@byhnoleda0072)."

The 20,000 fake Twitter accounts is reminiscent of the umpteen fake charity accounts, which Speaker Quinn used to use, to divert her slush funds for years, until her shady practise was exposed.

At the time the slush fund scandal broke, The New York Post reported about the fake slush fund charity account names used by Speaker Quinn : "Among the dozens of fabricated groups that were slated to receive funds were the Immigration Improvement Project of New York ($300,000), the Coalition for a Strong Special Education ($400,000) and the American Association of Concerned Veterans ($422,763)."

Sheldon Silver Ambushed On Corruption By Suzannah B. Troy

One day after New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver defended his speakership from the spectacular corruption scandal arrests of last week, the blogger and artist Suzannah B. Troy confronted the Assembly Speaker on Centre Street in Manhattan.

Ms. Troy asked Speaker Silver for comment about the corruption up in Albany. When Speaker Silver said nothing, Ms. Troy asked Speaker Silver, "Are you part of the corruption ?"

Suzannah B. Troy "Leave Britney Alone!" Christine Quinn Parody

Mayor Bloomberg-Christine Quinn-Britney Spears "Stop Picking On Me" parody!

After Mayor Michael Bloomberg begged for people to "Leave Christine Alone !", the blogger-activist-artist Suzannah B. Troy has produced a hilarious parody YouTube video based on Chris Rocker's "Leave Britney Alone !" video.

Suzannah B. Troy dressed up in drag, first as Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and then as New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. In a hilarious send-up of the "Leave Britney Alone !" video, Ms. Troy weeps and whines the way that Mr. Rocker did, only the subjects of Ms. Troy's complaints have to do with serious public issues, like the closing of St. Vincent's Hospital and the massive fraud in connection with the doomed CityTime project.

From The New York Post :

The mayor yesterday launched an impassioned defense of his longtime ally and suggested she was getting unfairly pounded for a corruption scandal involving another member of the council.

“I’ve always said that I think Speaker Quinn, who is getting criticized for this, is a person of enormous integrity, and I think she has done an excellent job of running the city,” Bloomberg declared.

“It’s not an easy job, and I think she’d done it well.”

Mayor Bloomberg was angry at critics of Speaker Quinn, like Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who has called for the elimination of Speaker Quinn's slush fund after Queens Republican Councilmember Daniel Halloran was arrested in bribery and corruption charges in connection to Speaker Quinn's slush fund.

Related : Read Chapter 1 of ''Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn'' on Scribd.

Bill Thompson Political Advisor Attacks Quinn's Critics

Hank Sheinkopf, an advisor to Bill Thompson, predicts that the growing grassroots movement against Christine Quinn, and her political doctrine of corruption and neoliberalism, will fail. What do you think ?

Democratic Party political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said that he thinks most of the protesters’ arguments against Christine Quinn are bogus.

Among the lone few truly real Progressive voices in New York City, one person spoke up to question the outrageous statements by Mr. Sheinkopf. Gerson Borrero took to Twitter to express his dissent to Mr. Sheinkopf's lack of any political ethics.

WHO IS HANK SHEINKOPF WORKING FOR? Anybody But Quinn | City & State: cityandstateny.com/anybody-but-qu…

— Gerson Borrero (@GersonBorrero) January 30, 2013

From City & State :

Despite the ongoing protests, political insiders say the [growing grassroots] movement [against Christine Quinn] probably won’t gain enough traction to affect the November mayoral primary.

“There’s always unusual things that occur in every mayoral election, and this is the first unusual thing that’s occurring here,” said Democratic Party political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who added that he thinks most of the protesters’ arguments are bogus.

“The speaker makes deals,” he said. “That’s the nature of legislative government. Her job is to make deals.”

Sheinkopf, who is serving as an advisor to mayoral candidate Bill Thompson, also downplayed Quinn’s status as the Democratic front-runner. A recent poll has her far ahead of the pack, with 35 percent of likely voters pulling the lever for her as compared with 11 percent for Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and 10 percent for Thompson.

Have we reached a low point in New York City politics, where campaign consultants cannot attach the most corrupt mayoral candidate for fear of exposing the shared, underlying political corruption that exists amongst all of the mayoral candidates ?

Hank Sheinkopf defends @chriscquinn against protests. Really? @ows_getmoneyout @occuvote cityandstateny.com/anybody-but-qu… @gersonborrero @ny1thecall

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) January 31, 2013

Quinn Plaza Hotel Protest

Christine Quinn - Plaza Hotel - Gays Against Quinn (Protest Video)

Over 20 activists gathered outside the Plaza Hotel in a demonstration against City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Watch as protesters speak against Christine Quinn to former Mayor David Dinkins' entourage and hand anti-Quinn literature to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Some of us were there because of Speaker Quinn's use of a $50 million slush fund during a time when we live under constant threat by Mayor Bloomberg, that he is going to lay off teachers and close down fire houses. Others were there, because Speaker Quinn pushed through a controversial extension of term limits, allowing Mayor Bloomberg, herself, and others, to run for a third term in office. Still yet others were there because of Speaker Quinn's complete abdication of full civil rights for LGBT New Yorkers, do-nothing record over hospital closings, horrible animal rights record, and use of city staff for campaign work.

Please join us for a Third Anniversary Protest of the Term Limits Extension at 2 pm on Sunday, October 23, at City Hall.

Please also join our Facebook group : Gays Against Christine Quinn.

Stringer Slush Fund Report

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer Blasts Mayor's Race Opponent Chris Quinn

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer took an apparent swipe at his mayor's race opponent, calling for an end to pork spending by local lawmakers.

JULY 20, 2011 4:09 PM

Our Reuven Blau reports:

Stringer criticized City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and the other 50 members for their $49 million in earmarks that neglects to reach the city's poorest neighborhoods.

"We have a system where some districts get a lot more than others and politics is the only reason," Stringer told reporters yesterday.

Quinn is an early frontrunner in the mayoral election with the largest war chest of more than $4 million. Yet one of her major challenges in her expected run is the so-called slush fund scandal that erupted in 2007.

-- Excerpted from the Daily Politics blog by Celeste Katz on The New York Daily News.

2011 07 Xx Christine Quinn Slush Fund Member Items Report