The U.S. Attorney Who Has Put Corrupt Pols in Jail Does Not Understand Why the Moreland Commission Was Ended
Albany Games Corruption
U.S. Attorney Criticizes Cuomo’s Closing of Panel(NYT) A commission on public corruption, whose credibility had been questioned by watchdog groups, was disbanded by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo as part of budget negotiations. Mr. Bharara sent the commission’s chairmen and top officials a letter saying he was “disappointed to learn” of the commission’s “premature end,” acknowledging that its work was “aggressive, active and ongoing,” but incomplete, and calling its shutdown “difficult to understand.” In the letter sent April 3, Mr. Bharara asked the chairmen and the commission’s staff — all of whom were appointed by the governor — whether Mr. Cuomo had abandoned his commitment to fight corruption for a short-term political gain. Bharara will take possession of all of the panel’s case files. *Bharara: "I don't have any interest in politics" Bharara won't rule out ethics investigation into Cuomo's involvement in Moreland Commission * U.S. Attny Bharara Doesn't Rule Out Probe into Cuomo-Moreland (Audio, WNYC) * Bharara on the premature end of Cuomo’s ethics commission(Capital) * ‘Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day:’ Preet Bharara Continues Cuomo Criticism on Anti-Corr...(NYO)
Daily News Hinting Bharara Vs. Cuomo, Ben Smith Bharara and Shumer Vs Cuomo
Preet Bharara won't rule out ethics probe into Gov. Cuomo(NYDN)
US Attorney Preet Bharara of the southern district Thursday did not
rule
out investigating whether Gov. Cuomo and his aides improperly
intervened with the investigations undertaken by the governor's
anti-corruption commission. "We're going to look at the documents, we're
going to see what the facts
are, and if there are questions that are appropriate to ask, as I think
the public knows by now, there are strong-willed and aggressive--but
fair--people in my office who will ask those questions," Bharara said
during an appearance Thursday morning on WNYC public radio's "The Brian
Lehrer Show."The News also detailed last fall involvement by Cuomo and
his aides in
the operation of the Moreland Commission. Cuomo aides, the News
reported, ordered the panel to withhold certain subpoenas that were set
to go to interests with ties to the governor, including the Real Estate
Board of New York and the state Democratic Party. The News also reported
last fall that Cuomo and his staff met directly with the commission's
co-chairs last September. Bharara called such revelations troubling, if
true.* Who gets possession of the NSA analytics software? Cuomo,
Schneideman, Bharara? What's nexus btwn bills, donations, etc.?
Ben Smith
@BuzzFeedBen So Schumer & Cuomo worlds
have some overlap... but are they about to go to war? Any chance Preet
wrote that letter without consulting Chuck?*
Schumer spox@mattwhouse: "There is no way Preet would consult Chuck on something like this..." 1/2
Hidden Party Housekeeping Accounts Continue
Ending Moreland Fiction?
“Gives the appearance, although I am sure this is not the intent, that investigations potentially significant to the public interest have been bargained away as part of the negotiated arrangement between legislative and executive leaders.” Bharara
“The sequence of these events gives the appearance, although I am sure this is not the intent, that investigations potentially significant to the public interest have been bargained away as part of the negotiated arrangement between legislative and executive leaders,” he wrote.Mr. Bharara requested that commissioners and staff members preserve the panel’s investigative files.On Wednesday, in a letter addressed to the 24 members of the commission, Mr. Bharara reported that the panel’s chairmen — William J. Fitzpatrick, the Onondaga County district attorney, and Milton L. Williams Jr., a former state and federal prosecutor in Manhattan — had agreed to turn over the files. The sudden turn of events raised the possibility that Mr. Cuomo’s dealings with the commission, which once seemed likely to burnish his reputation as a reformer, could now become an embarrassment for the governor. A spokeswoman for the governor, Melissa DeRosa, said: “The Moreland Commission was designed and formed to be a short-term, temporary commission to recommend and spur legislative action, which it did successfully. The order establishing the temporary commission directed referrals upon its conclusion to the attorney general, district attorneys and U.S. attorneys and that’s what it is doing.” The move by the United States attorney, Preet Bharara, amounted to an unusual rebuke of Mr. Cuomo, a former prosecutor himself, who swept into office four years ago promising to clean up what many have called a culture of corruption in Albany. Asked to comment, Matt Wing, another spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, said, “The Times’s dependence on anonymous sources is once again turning their stories into fiction.”* * The Moreland Commission spent more than $1 million since its creation last July, but, with its disbanding through the state budget, it’s unclear what return on investment New York taxpayers will receive, the Gotham Gazette writes. And, in other news, Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s administration does not appear to be a fan of the Times, lashing out against today’s report, on criticism against his anti-corruption efforts, by declaring, “The Times’s dependence on anonymous sources is once again turning their stories into fiction.”
Why did Giuliani keep the taping of Sharpton quiet all these years?
Giuliani implies he was involved in helping wire Al Sharpton in the 80s * Rudy Giuiani Implies He Was Involved in Wiring Al Sharpton(NYO)
"Preet Bharara stands tall vs. Cuomo's Moreland Commission shutdown"
In NY Pols Kill the Corruption Investigators
Is Liu Leading the Fight To Block A CFB Investigation of the Role Citizens United PACs, Lobbyiss Played in the 2013 Campaign?
Wednesday
The Moreland Commission is quietly shutting down.
Monday Corruption Update
A PAC formed by Assemblyman Kieran Michael Lalor for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans running for Congress raised nearly $1.8 million, though just $91,500 was used for candidates, the New York Post writes:
Sunday Update
William Fitzpatrick, a co-chair of
the Moreland Commission, said the panel would refer criminal findings to
other agencies and eventually make them public if the Legislature shuts
it down, the Syracuse Post-Standard reports: *DA Bill Fiztpatrick called
Speaker Sheldon Silver’s condemnation of the Moreland Commission as a
fishing expedition “the dumbest thing I’ve heard in four decades of
public service.”* New NYPIRG analysis shows hedge fund founder James Simons legally gave $1 million to State Dem Housekeeping account in 2013.*NYPIRG: Cuomo Biggest Beneficiary of NY’s Mega Donors(YNN) * Document Drop: NY's Biggest Donors Of 2013 | New York Daily News More on Simons' Cuomo connection here:* A big part of the Cuomo legacy is tied to the fate of the Moreland Commission, will he agree to kill it?(NYDN)*Cuomo says he wants campaign reform, but then lets BIG money win yet again! (TU) * Casey Seiler explains how the 2nd Law of Cuomo came into play during the public campaign finance debate.More on the CFB PAC Investigation of the 2013 Election *Campaign Reform and Media Cover Up of Citizens United On Local 2013 Election * Lobbyists the New Permanent Government * US Attorney Preet Bharara * Moreland Investigation Updates or Media Cover-Up * Astorino: Investigate Silver(YNN)
Cuomo Moreland Will End If Albany Approves His Ethics Plan
Cuomo: Moreland panel will shut down(TU) In a 45-minute conference call with reporters, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said
his Moreland Commission panel on public corruption will be mothballed
if the state Legislature approves the ethics reform components including
in the just-struck $138 billion budget deal. Cuomo said the panel had helped bring legislative leaders to the
point where they’d agree to the package of reforms, which creates an
independent enforcement unit within the state Board of Elections, new
public corruption felonies and tougher bribery laws, and steps up
lobbying disclosure.* Gov. Cuomo is set to pull the plug on anti-government corruption commission with ethics reform package(NYDN) * Cuomo bails out on fighting corruption — Adirondack Daily Enterprise * A group is spending $300K on an ad in Syracuse & Buffalo knocking Cuomo's treatment of ethics (CS) * US Attorneys Seize Documents from Moreland Commission(City and State) * "Half a decade ago, Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo were a pair of untouchable lawmen who could do no wrong." (Politico)
Monday NYT Budget Stops the Corruption Clean-Up Tuesday AlbanyAnswers FU
Wednesday Moreland Leader Spins The budget deal contains a set of ethics laws that give real teeth to New York’s district attorneys trying to fight government corruption, former Moreland Commission Co-chairmen William Fitzpatrick and Milton Williams write in the Daily News:
@mahoneyw: 35 NYS state-level pols have now been caught up in a scandal in the past 8 years
What Happen to the Moreland Commission Investigation of Housekeeping Accounts?
Another Investigation into Campaign Funding Abuse
Donors funnel $28M to state politicians and parties(NYP)
Fat-cat contributors exploited New York’s porous election law to
shovel $28 million in campaign contributions to statewide candidates and
to political parties last year, according to a report released Tuesday.
The top 170 contributors gave more to statewide election accounts —
51.4 percent of the total — than the rest of New York’s 19.7 million
residents combined, an analysis by the New York Public Interest Research
Group found. The biggest beneficiaries were Gov. Cuomo’s re-election
campaign and the state Democratic Party.The donors showered Cuomo with
$5.2 million and the state Democratic Campaign Committee with $6.1
million. Hedge-fund king James Simon and his wife, Marilyn, led the list
with
donations of nearly $1.2 million — with $1 million going to the
Democratic Party’s “housekeeping account.”* Real-estate tycoon Leonard
Litwin was the second-biggest donor. Exploiting loopholes to get around
spending limitations, he used an
assortment of corporate subsidiaries to donate $1 million — including
$375,000 to Cuomo’s re-election campaign. Billionaire George Soros
grabbed the No. 3 spot on the top donor list
by giving $750,000 to the Democratic Party. That doesn’t count his
contributions to so-called “super PACs.”
Flashback Moreland Looking At Housekeepting Accounts
Party housekeeping accounts have come under major scrutiny because of a loophole in state campaign finance law that allows companies to funnel unlimited amounts through them. The cash is only supposed to be used for party-related issues but groups have managed to find ways to provide the cash to candidates to boost their campaigns. In February, Cuomo began raising funds through the Democratic committee to finance ads to back his budget proposal and other policies. Bill Samuels of The New Roosevelt Institute said that looking into housekeeping accounts was vitally important to the Moreland Commission. Earlier this summer,the Moreland Commission issued subpoenas to five real estate firms — including Extell Development, a group that donated $100,000 to Cuomo’s campaign days before he signed a bill that included tax breaks for their properties. The other firms that were subpoenaed are Thor Equity, Silverstein Properties, Fischer Brothers and Ann/Nassau Realty. Common Cause recently issued a report on real estate lobbying in New York and found that since 2005 REBNY and its affiliates have given $43.9 million to local and statewide candidates. Cuomo has benefited to the tune of $1.99 million in donations from REBNY.* More Moreland: Anti-corruption panel says it’s targeting ALL housekeeping accounts(LoHud) * "MorelandMonday" analysis of soft money housekeeping accounts is ripe for review byCommission(Common Cause Aug 16, 2013)
You Asked for It Confessore(NYT) and Hammond (NYDN)
@nickconfessore This gets you halfway there.
Silver, Skelso and Klein Close Down the Investigation
Cut Moreland's Funds
And what are Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate co-leaders Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein doing? The Daily News reports that they’re demanding Gov. Cuomo shut down his investigative commission as their condition for passing even watered-down ethics reforms.
Weak Ethic Panel
New York Bar Association Urges Steps to Improve Ethics Panel(NYT)
A report criticizes the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics as lacking independence from the politicians it is supposed to oversee.* The New York City Bar Association and Common Cause are expected to release a report that criticizes JCOPE and calls on the panel to adopt a series of measures that the two organizations feel will help restore public confidence in the commission* "JCOPE needs gumption." -- Evan Davis, former counsel to Governor M. Cuomo & member of the NYC Bar on Joint Commission on Public Ethics.
It's past time to revisit deeply flawed ethics watchdogs, not just JCOPE, but Legislative Ethics Csmn and SBOE too
More on the Moreland Commission and JCOPE
The demise of the Moreland Commission has angered and disappointed some government watchdogs, because while the state budget does include new ethics laws, it left intact a loophole allowing unlimited donations to housekeeping accounts
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zephyrteachout 
laura 
Hochul Discusses Moreland Commission While Campaigning in Queens(NY1)
Bill Hammond 
Fake Sheldon Silver
DavidGrandeau&Asoc
Albany Games Corruption
U.S. Attorney Criticizes Cuomo’s Closing of Panel(NYT) A commission on public corruption, whose credibility had been questioned by watchdog groups, was disbanded by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo as part of budget negotiations. Mr. Bharara sent the commission’s chairmen and top officials a letter saying he was “disappointed to learn” of the commission’s “premature end,” acknowledging that its work was “aggressive, active and ongoing,” but incomplete, and calling its shutdown “difficult to understand.” In the letter sent April 3, Mr. Bharara asked the chairmen and the commission’s staff — all of whom were appointed by the governor — whether Mr. Cuomo had abandoned his commitment to fight corruption for a short-term political gain. Bharara will take possession of all of the panel’s case files. *Bharara: "I don't have any interest in politics" Bharara won't rule out ethics investigation into Cuomo's involvement in Moreland Commission * U.S. Attny Bharara Doesn't Rule Out Probe into Cuomo-Moreland (Audio, WNYC) * Bharara on the premature end of Cuomo’s ethics commission(Capital) * ‘Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day:’ Preet Bharara Continues Cuomo Criticism on Anti-Corr...(NYO)
Daily News Hinting Bharara Vs. Cuomo, Ben Smith Bharara and Shumer Vs Cuomo
Ben Smith
Schumer spox
Hidden Party Housekeeping Accounts Continue
Ending Moreland Fiction?
“Gives the appearance, although I am sure this is not the intent, that investigations potentially significant to the public interest have been bargained away as part of the negotiated arrangement between legislative and executive leaders.” Bharara
“The sequence of these events gives the appearance, although I am sure this is not the intent, that investigations potentially significant to the public interest have been bargained away as part of the negotiated arrangement between legislative and executive leaders,” he wrote.Mr. Bharara requested that commissioners and staff members preserve the panel’s investigative files.On Wednesday, in a letter addressed to the 24 members of the commission, Mr. Bharara reported that the panel’s chairmen — William J. Fitzpatrick, the Onondaga County district attorney, and Milton L. Williams Jr., a former state and federal prosecutor in Manhattan — had agreed to turn over the files. The sudden turn of events raised the possibility that Mr. Cuomo’s dealings with the commission, which once seemed likely to burnish his reputation as a reformer, could now become an embarrassment for the governor. A spokeswoman for the governor, Melissa DeRosa, said: “The Moreland Commission was designed and formed to be a short-term, temporary commission to recommend and spur legislative action, which it did successfully. The order establishing the temporary commission directed referrals upon its conclusion to the attorney general, district attorneys and U.S. attorneys and that’s what it is doing.” The move by the United States attorney, Preet Bharara, amounted to an unusual rebuke of Mr. Cuomo, a former prosecutor himself, who swept into office four years ago promising to clean up what many have called a culture of corruption in Albany. Asked to comment, Matt Wing, another spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, said, “The Times’s dependence on anonymous sources is once again turning their stories into fiction.”* * The Moreland Commission spent more than $1 million since its creation last July, but, with its disbanding through the state budget, it’s unclear what return on investment New York taxpayers will receive, the Gotham Gazette writes. And, in other news, Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s administration does not appear to be a fan of the Times, lashing out against today’s report, on criticism against his anti-corruption efforts, by declaring, “The Times’s dependence on anonymous sources is once again turning their stories into fiction.”
Giuliani implies he was involved in helping wire Al Sharpton in the 80s * Rudy Giuiani Implies He Was Involved in Wiring Al Sharpton(NYO)
"Preet Bharara stands tall vs. Cuomo's Moreland Commission shutdown"
Tom Robbins
In NY Pols Kill the Corruption Investigators
Is Liu Leading the Fight To Block A CFB Investigation of the Role Citizens United PACs, Lobbyiss Played in the 2013 Campaign?
NY
is so corrupt the DAs look the other way and investigations of
political corruption are stopped in the political system with the media
looking the other way
Wednesday
The Moreland Commission is quietly shutting down.
Monday Corruption Update
A PAC formed by Assemblyman Kieran Michael Lalor for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans running for Congress raised nearly $1.8 million, though just $91,500 was used for candidates, the New York Post writes:
Sunday Update
The band plays on (NYDN Ed)
Gov. Cuomo calls in his probers, and Albany keeps dancing. Secrets and money go together in Albany — and the parties that have
traded in both can rest easier with the demise of Gov. Cuomo’s
anti-corruption commission. "Despite
the CFB’s accolades, [former city
Controller John] Liu’s lawsuit brings to the fore a larger question that has
been quietly debated by campaign finance experts and candidates for some time
now: whether the weight of carrying the campaign finance reform
banner has become too heavy a burden for the agency," C&S reports. Cuomo Moreland Will End If Albany Approves His Ethics Plan
Monday NYT Budget Stops the Corruption Clean-Up Tuesday AlbanyAnswers FU
Wednesday Moreland Leader Spins The budget deal contains a set of ethics laws that give real teeth to New York’s district attorneys trying to fight government corruption, former Moreland Commission Co-chairmen William Fitzpatrick and Milton Williams write in the Daily News:
The band plays on (NYDN Ed)
Secrets and money go together in Albany — and the parties that have traded in both can rest easier with the demise of Gov. Cuomo’s anti-corruption commission.
The governor disbanded the panel to win from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos bills that move New York toward greater transparency and tougher ethics enforcement.
While Cuomo’s advances are significant, Silver and Skelos exacted a shamefully high price that buries a multitude of sins and protects their own incomes from proper scrutiny.
The Jewish Voice on the death of the Moreland Commission: “Shame on Governor Cuomo for sending his own pet project to the gallows in exchange for yet even more political patronage.”
Budget will disband the Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, known as the Moreland commission before the very corruption issues brought up by the commission have been solved
Tuesday Update
Capitol Corruption Panel’s Demise Angers Watchdogs(NYT) Cuomo said the reforms he wanted would be accomplished by new laws that he had persuaded legislative leaders to support as part of the budget accord, including tougher laws on bribery and corruption, and improved enforcement of election law. That, he said, would eliminate the need for the panel, known as the Moreland Commission. Lawrence Norden, the deputy director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, said the commission’s most insightful observation — that many seemingly unethical acts in Albany, involving money and policy making, were technically legal — had been largely ignored by lawmakers. “What the Legislature and governor came up with did not address that at all,” he said. Advocates’ hopes for the commission had been lifted last fall, after supportive remarks by the federal prosecutors in Manhattan and Brooklyn, among others. But there was resistance from the Legislature, which refused requests for information about lawmakers’ outside income, leading to a legal battle. And there were accusations of interference by the governor’s office, which asked the panel to limit the scope of some of its investigations. Public financing advocates razz comptroller-only plan(TU0
Weak NY's Good Government Groups Enable Albany Mob Corruption, Inc
Goo Goos are Great About Getting in the Media But
Have Not Forced Any Strong Reform for or Stopped Corruption in
Decades. Does Anyone Believe the Senate and Assembly Will Agree to A
State BOE Watchdog? That Office Will Remain Vacant an So Will the
Promise Reform to the State Board of Elections. Most of the Goo Goos are
nice people who are just ineffective and clueless others are shills for
the corrupt pols. How could any anyone call themselves a good
government leader and listen to these ass holes in Albany promise
campaign reform by 2020. And redistricting reform by 2022 an not be
shamed?*Soros Son Taking Credit for What? Soros’ son pushed Cuomo, legislature into campaign funding(NYP)
Secrets and money go together in Albany — and the parties that have traded in both can rest easier with the demise of Gov. Cuomo’s anti-corruption commission.
The governor disbanded the panel to win from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos bills that move New York toward greater transparency and tougher ethics enforcement.
While Cuomo’s advances are significant, Silver and Skelos exacted a shamefully high price that buries a multitude of sins and protects their own incomes from proper scrutiny.
The Jewish Voice on the death of the Moreland Commission: “Shame on Governor Cuomo for sending his own pet project to the gallows in exchange for yet even more political patronage.”
Budget will disband the Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, known as the Moreland commission before the very corruption issues brought up by the commission have been solved
Tuesday Update
Capitol Corruption Panel’s Demise Angers Watchdogs(NYT) Cuomo said the reforms he wanted would be accomplished by new laws that he had persuaded legislative leaders to support as part of the budget accord, including tougher laws on bribery and corruption, and improved enforcement of election law. That, he said, would eliminate the need for the panel, known as the Moreland Commission. Lawrence Norden, the deputy director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, said the commission’s most insightful observation — that many seemingly unethical acts in Albany, involving money and policy making, were technically legal — had been largely ignored by lawmakers. “What the Legislature and governor came up with did not address that at all,” he said. Advocates’ hopes for the commission had been lifted last fall, after supportive remarks by the federal prosecutors in Manhattan and Brooklyn, among others. But there was resistance from the Legislature, which refused requests for information about lawmakers’ outside income, leading to a legal battle. And there were accusations of interference by the governor’s office, which asked the panel to limit the scope of some of its investigations. Public financing advocates razz comptroller-only plan(TU0
Weak NY's Good Government Groups Enable Albany Mob Corruption, Inc
Goo Goos: Reforms Have Their Press Conferences . . . And Nothing Happens
Did the Gov Create Moreland to Keep Albany in Line to Pass His Budget and Help His Re-Election Campaign?
Goo Goos Hide
A conspicuous failure in this budget package is its minimal concern about arrests, investigations, convictions and other political scandals in Albany. After months of promises from Mr. Cuomo and legislative leaders that they were truly going to clean up the statehouse, the deal announced on Saturday doesn’t do the job.The most fundamental reform — public matching funds for small donations in all state races — is missing. In its place is a very limited pilot program that provides public financing for candidates running for one office, state comptroller, and for this year only.
A conspicuous failure in this budget package is its minimal concern about arrests, investigations, convictions and other political scandals in Albany. After months of promises from Mr. Cuomo and legislative leaders that they were truly going to clean up the statehouse, the deal announced on Saturday doesn’t do the job.The most fundamental reform — public matching funds for small donations in all state races — is missing. In its place is a very limited pilot program that provides public financing for candidates running for one office, state comptroller, and for this year only.
Albany Corruption
Moreland Investigation Updates or Media Cover-Up
Dark Pools Lobbyists Campaign Consultants and Money
Moreland Ends and the Progressives Say Nothing, Busy Fighting Traffic Accidents
Are we beating Illinois yet? RT Moreland Investigation Updates or Media Cover-Up
Dark Pools Lobbyists Campaign Consultants and Money
Moreland Ends and the Progressives Say Nothing, Busy Fighting Traffic Accidents
New Kings Democrats
"Keep the pressure on us, on the mayor, on the transportation commissioner." - @StephenLevin33
Speed camera talks coming soon(NYDN)
Speed camera talks coming soon(NYDN)
What Happen to the Moreland Commission Investigation of Housekeeping Accounts?
Another Investigation into Campaign Funding Abuse
Flashback Moreland Looking At Housekeepting Accounts
Party housekeeping accounts have come under major scrutiny because of a loophole in state campaign finance law that allows companies to funnel unlimited amounts through them. The cash is only supposed to be used for party-related issues but groups have managed to find ways to provide the cash to candidates to boost their campaigns. In February, Cuomo began raising funds through the Democratic committee to finance ads to back his budget proposal and other policies. Bill Samuels of The New Roosevelt Institute said that looking into housekeeping accounts was vitally important to the Moreland Commission. Earlier this summer,the Moreland Commission issued subpoenas to five real estate firms — including Extell Development, a group that donated $100,000 to Cuomo’s campaign days before he signed a bill that included tax breaks for their properties. The other firms that were subpoenaed are Thor Equity, Silverstein Properties, Fischer Brothers and Ann/Nassau Realty. Common Cause recently issued a report on real estate lobbying in New York and found that since 2005 REBNY and its affiliates have given $43.9 million to local and statewide candidates. Cuomo has benefited to the tune of $1.99 million in donations from REBNY.* More Moreland: Anti-corruption panel says it’s targeting ALL housekeeping accounts(LoHud) * "MorelandMonday" analysis of soft money housekeeping accounts is ripe for review byCommission(Common Cause Aug 16, 2013)
"Moreland
Monday" analysis of soft money housekeeping accounts is ripe for review
by Commission - See more at:
http://www.commoncause.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=5287775&ct=13246141#sthash.qeW3LMqP.dpuf
Moreland Investigation Updates or Media Cover-Up You Asked for It Confessore(NYT) and Hammond (NYDN)
Cuomo on Moreland tampering: It's my commission(CrainsNY) Cuomo told Crain’s that because he formed the Moreland
Commission himself, his administration would have the legal leeway to be
involved in its affairs. “It’s not a legal question. The Moreland Commission was my commission,”
Mr. Cuomo explained. “It’s my commission. My subpoena power, my Moreland
Commission. I can appoint it, I can disband it. I appoint you, I can
un-appoint you tomorrow.* Gov. Andrew Cuomo said any
interference by his administration into the operations of the disbanded
commission would not be subject to investigation because he formed it
and therefore had legal leeway to be involved in its affairs* Gov. Cuomo: I didn't interfere with anti-corruption panel... but if I did, it's my prerogative (NYDN) * The Moreland Commission has officially
withdrawn its subpoenas seeking more information on Albany lawmakers’
outside income and business interests, as the panel’s work winds down, State of Politics reports * State Attorney General Eric
Schneiderman said he was “surprised” at how quickly the Moreland
Commission was shut down, the Daily News reports:
Nick Confessore
Silver, Skelso and Klein Close Down the Investigation
Cut Moreland's Funds
And what are Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate co-leaders Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein doing? The Daily News reports that they’re demanding Gov. Cuomo shut down his investigative commission as their condition for passing even watered-down ethics reforms.
Weak Ethic Panel
New York Bar Association Urges Steps to Improve Ethics Panel(NYT)
A report criticizes the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics as lacking independence from the politicians it is supposed to oversee.* The New York City Bar Association and Common Cause are expected to release a report that criticizes JCOPE and calls on the panel to adopt a series of measures that the two organizations feel will help restore public confidence in the commission* "JCOPE needs gumption." -- Evan Davis, former counsel to Governor M. Cuomo & member of the NYC Bar on Joint Commission on Public Ethics.
It's past time to revisit deeply flawed ethics watchdogs, not just JCOPE, but Legislative Ethics Csmn and SBOE too
blair horner
More on the Moreland Commission and JCOPE
The demise of the Moreland Commission has angered and disappointed some government watchdogs, because while the state budget does include new ethics laws, it left intact a loophole allowing unlimited donations to housekeeping accounts
NYT's Fake Tears . . . If the NYT Just Went After Albany Corrupt Like They Gone After Christie, Spitzer, Liu or Grimm
New York’s Unfinished Budget(NYT) There are enough flaws in the deal that was just announced that state lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo should take the time to get this right The budget agreement announced Saturday also threatens to chip away at the mayor’s ability to control city schools. Having the mayor fully in charge of public education in the city has mostly worked over the last dozen years. This is no time to start diluting that authority and responsibility over the largest system in the country. * The New York Times writes that the state won’t suffer from a budget that is a little late, so lawmakers should take the time to address flaws in the spending plan
Corrupt Albany Cuts Moreland's Budget
Some
of the district attorneys serving on Gov. Cuomo’s anti-corruption
commission are not happy their work may be cut short if any ethics
reform package is included in the upcoming state budget.
Moreland Reporting Missing for Months
The chief investigator for Gov. Cuomo's anti-corruption commission is set to become the panel’s second high-profile departure in recent weeks
Chief Prober For Gov. Cuomo's Anti-Corruption Commission Stepping Down(NYDN) Danya Perry, a former assistant US attorney who was
hired by the commission last summer to root out legislative corruption,
is ready to resign from the panel on Friday. Sources familiar with her thinking
said she only planned to stay in the job through the end of 2013, but
added that her time at the commission left her “frustrated"over
interference from the governor's office and commission infighting. After initially refusing to comment when
asked about frustrations dealing with Team Cuomo, Perry emailed a
statement later Thursday saying that “my departure is unrelated to the
governor's office or the operation of the commission, and I was not
frustrated with the governor's office during my time at the commission.” She will be replaced by Robert
Addolorato, a retired NYPD detective who has been part of the commission
staff since its inception.*The new chief of investigations for Cuomo’s Moreland Commission, Robert Addolorato, has spent the last seven years working for entities controlled by the governor.
* In praising the state Board of Elections investigation of political operative Steven Pigeon’s WNY Progressive Caucus, state Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox criticized the Moreland Commission for ignoring complaints about the fundraising committee, the Buffalo News reports:
Feds and AG Go After Moreland Target None Profit
The Moreland Commission has referred its findings about a Brooklyn charity with ties to New York politicians to U.S. Eastern District Attorney Loretta Lynch and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for potential prosecution
____________________________________________
Moreland, JCOPE Updates
Moreland Commission Lawsuit Pushed Back To April(YNN) A lawsuit filed by state lawmakers seeking to quash subpoenas from Gov.
Andrew Cuomo’s Moreland Commission on Public Corruption has been pushed
into April, according to court documents filed this week.
* In praising the state Board of Elections investigation of political operative Steven Pigeon’s WNY Progressive Caucus, state Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox criticized the Moreland Commission for ignoring complaints about the fundraising committee, the Buffalo News reports:
Feds and AG Go After Moreland Target None Profit
The Moreland Commission has referred its findings about a Brooklyn charity with ties to New York politicians to U.S. Eastern District Attorney Loretta Lynch and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for potential prosecution
Lawyers For Moreland And Legislature Debate Over Briefs(YNN)
2 probes against ‘charity’(NYP) Cuomo’s commission to combat public corruption referred its investigative findings about Relief Resources Inc. — a Borough Park-based storefront charity that took in nearly $3 million in legislative grants but did not seem to provide many services — to US Eastern District Attorney Loretta Lynch and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for potential prosecution, sources close to the commission said. The group has received legislative grants from two heads of the state Senate — $250,000 from ex-GOP Majority Leader Joe Bruno and $300,000 from former Democratic leader Malcolm Smith, as well as backing from Brooklyn lawmakers Martin Golden and Simcha Felder. Bruno was convicted of fraud in 2009, but the case was overturned on appeal. Smith was indicted earlier this year for allegedly trying to bribe his way onto the Republican line for mayor.* One of the TU’s top stories of 2013: Public corruption scandals.*Albany Pro: Another JCOPE resignation(Capital) * Assemblyman Tony Jordan has dropped a challenge against a Moreland Commission subpoena requesting documents related to his law firm, making the firm the first to drop its subpoena challenge, Capital New York reports: * A move for transparency before JCOPE shuts its doors (Capital) * The state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics, long criticized by good-government groups for its closed-door sessions, is agreeing to open up a little bit.* Former A.I.G. executive Maurice “Hank” Greenberg has filed another ethics complaint with JCOPE against Schneiderman, this time accusing the AG’s top spokesmen of prejudicial public statements.* DavidGrandeau&Asoc @DaveGrandeau
Lovett announces appointment to JCOPE He is married to an Assembly staffer and is from New Jersey Discord within JCOPE spilled into
a public session in which some commissioners complained about recent
secret meetings they felt violated state law and the board’s pledge for
transparency.* A JCOPE commissioner called
the body’s handling of exemptions to rules that require donor
disclosures by nonprofit groups that engage in lobbying “an
embarrassment.”
2 probes against ‘charity’(NYP) Cuomo’s commission to combat public corruption referred its investigative findings about Relief Resources Inc. — a Borough Park-based storefront charity that took in nearly $3 million in legislative grants but did not seem to provide many services — to US Eastern District Attorney Loretta Lynch and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for potential prosecution, sources close to the commission said. The group has received legislative grants from two heads of the state Senate — $250,000 from ex-GOP Majority Leader Joe Bruno and $300,000 from former Democratic leader Malcolm Smith, as well as backing from Brooklyn lawmakers Martin Golden and Simcha Felder. Bruno was convicted of fraud in 2009, but the case was overturned on appeal. Smith was indicted earlier this year for allegedly trying to bribe his way onto the Republican line for mayor.* One of the TU’s top stories of 2013: Public corruption scandals.*Albany Pro: Another JCOPE resignation(Capital) * Assemblyman Tony Jordan has dropped a challenge against a Moreland Commission subpoena requesting documents related to his law firm, making the firm the first to drop its subpoena challenge, Capital New York reports: * A move for transparency before JCOPE shuts its doors (Capital) * The state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics, long criticized by good-government groups for its closed-door sessions, is agreeing to open up a little bit.* Former A.I.G. executive Maurice “Hank” Greenberg has filed another ethics complaint with JCOPE against Schneiderman, this time accusing the AG’s top spokesmen of prejudicial public statements.* DavidGrandeau&Asoc
____________________________________________
Moreland, JCOPE Updates
The Moreland Commission has referred its findings about a Brooklyn charity with ties to New York politicians to U.S. Eastern District Attorney Loretta Lynch and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for potential prosecution
JCOPE: if lawyers want to hide their secret payments and clients, then don't run for public office. Simple.
____________________________________________
Moreland, JCOPE Updates
The Moreland Commission has referred its findings about a Brooklyn charity with ties to New York politicians to U.S. Eastern District Attorney Loretta Lynch and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for potential prosecution
2 probes against ‘charity’(NYP) Cuomo’s commission to combat public corruption referred its
investigative findings about Relief Resources Inc. — a Borough
Park-based storefront charity that took in nearly $3 million in
legislative grants but did not seem to provide many services — to US
Eastern District Attorney Loretta Lynch and state Attorney General Eric
Schneiderman for potential prosecution, sources close to the commission
said. The group has received legislative grants from two heads of the state
Senate — $250,000 from ex-GOP Majority Leader Joe Bruno and $300,000
from former Democratic leader Malcolm Smith, as well as backing from
Brooklyn lawmakers Martin Golden and Simcha Felder. Bruno was convicted of fraud in 2009, but the case was overturned on
appeal. Smith was indicted earlier this year for allegedly trying to
bribe his way onto the Republican line for mayor.* One of the TU’s top stories of 2013: Public corruption scandals.*Albany Pro: Another JCOPE resignation(Capital) * Assemblyman Tony Jordan has dropped a
challenge against a Moreland Commission subpoena requesting documents
related to his law firm, making the firm the first to drop its subpoena
challenge, Capital New York reports: * A move for transparency before JCOPE shuts its doors (Capital) * The state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics, long criticized by good-government groups for its closed-door sessions, is agreeing to open up a little bit.* Former A.I.G. executive Maurice “Hank” Greenberg has filed
another ethics complaint with JCOPE against Schneiderman, this time
accusing the AG’s top spokesmen of prejudicial public statements.* DavidGrandeau&Asoc
@DaveGrandeau
Lovett announces appointment to JCOPE He is married to an Assembly staffer and is from New Jersey
More on the Moreland Commission
Moreland Mystery None Profit Possibility II
Brooklyn agency fits description of mystery nonprofit in Moreland probe(NYP)
The state’s Moreland Commission, in a report issued last week,
described
its surveillance of a questionable storefront in New York City that
received almost $3 million in pork-barrel funds to provide various
medical services “with little scrutiny and no medical oversight.” The
money came from a “geographically and politically diverse group of some
of the state’s most powerful lawmakers.” Relief Resources Inc. occupies
a storefront at 5904 13th Ave. in
Borough Park, a location it shares with the group Refuah Resources.
There is a telephone pole directly outside that would provide an ideal
location for a camera. A Post investigation based on public records
suggests Relief Resources might be the unnamed nonprofit described in
the Moreland Commission report, but officials have not confirmed this.
Relief Resources, according to its Web site, provides referral services
aimed at helping those in the Jewish community cope with mental-health
issues. It has offices in two other countries — Canada and Israel — as
well as in New Jersey and upstate Monroe. The agency has used the
services of the Albany lobbying firm Malkin
& Ross to seek state funding, state records show. The Moreland
Commission’s unnamed nonprofit uses “a top-shelf outside lobbying firm.”
Relief Resources has taken in $2,901,000 in state funding since 2005,
state records show. Lawmakers have sponsored seven member-item grants
totaling $1,275,000 since 2006, according to the state attorney
general’s Open Government Web site. Shiya Ostreicher, a board member of
Relief Resources, is a lobbyist for
Agudath Israel of America, a powerful Orthodox Jewish organization.
____________________________________________________
Moreland Mystery None Profit
MORE FROM MORELAND A MUST: The
Moreland Commission on Public Ethics’ report was intended to be
preliminary, and there is still a lot to be done, writes City &
State’s Morgan Pehme * Fellow Dems question how
Moreland Has Put A Series of Interconnecting Jewish Social Service None Profits Under the Spot Light
Rabbi’s web of charities under investigation(NYP)
Rabbi, lobbyist and charity chieftain Shiya Ostreicher is one of New
York’s most powerful political players — and now, thanks to state
investigators, one of the most scrutinized. He has a hand in five
Brooklyn nonprofits that pull down millions of dollars in taxpayer cash
and private donations. One is under state probe. Another’s murky
paperwork has raised questions about its legitimacy. The president of
that group says he didn’t know that he was on the board — let alone
that he was its president.
Jewish ‘wedding’ group shares space with probed nonprofit(NYP) The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty has agreed to reform its internal controls in the wake of a bribery scheme involving its former executive director, state officials announced.
____________________________________________________
Another Gov Cuomo Moreland Report
In a long-awaited report, Governor Cuomo’s anti-corruption panel made a series of sweeping recommendations to stem the tide of misconduct in Albany, including an overhaul of the state’s lax election laws and who enforces them. The year was 1990. The governor was Mario Cuomo. And not much has changed. The state Board of Elections, the report concluded at the time, was no longer fit for the job of enforcement, lacking the “wherewithal to enforce existing limits on campaign contributions.” * William Fitzpatrick, co-chairman of the Moreland Commission, said if the state Legislature does not agree to the suggested campaign fiance reforms, he could become a champion for term limits for state lawmakers, the Syracuse Post-Standard reports:
Moreland: BOE Only Opened 1 Investigation In 5 Years of Voter Irregularities
* Cuomo: BOE Doesn’t ‘Do Enforcement’(YNN)
Dark Pool Campaign $$$
Dark Poll Consultants Moves to Kill Moreland Subpoena
Strategic Advantage International President Daniel Odescalchi, a consultant tied to a sketchy nonprofit that targeted Senate Democrats with attack mailings, is fighting a subpoena from the Moreland Commission. Consultant Tied To 'Ghost Company' Files Challenge To Anti-Corruption Panel Subpoena(NYDN) A consultant tied to a sketchy non-profit organization that targeted state Senate Democrats with attack mailings is fighting a subpoena from Gov. Cuomo’s anti-corruption commission. Strategic Advantage International President Daniel Odescalchi filed the legal challenge to quash the subpoena in Manhattan state Supreme Court on Tuesday. The group worked with Virginia-based non-profit Common Sense Principles in targeted various state Senate Democrats in the 2010 and 2012 elections. Kevin Wright and Chris LaCivita, who is a GOP strategist tied to Swift Boat Vets. Democrats have raised the possibility that Common Sense Principles was working in cahoots with the Senate GOP, something the Republicans deny. The commission in its recent preliminary report highlighted the Virginia-based Common Sense Principles and its attack ads against Senate Democrats in 2012 as part of the problem with “independent expenditure” groups that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money as long as their efforts are not coordinated with a specific campaign. “This daisy chain of out-of-state corporations and ‘ghost companies’ appears to exist for one reason: to hide the source of money used to fund negative advertising and influence our local elections,” the commission report said. “Even this commission, armed with subpoena power, still has been unable to track down the sources of the torrent of money flowing into and within our state.”* Judge Signs Off On March 17 Adjournment For Moreland Case(YNN)
A nonprofit that says its mission is to “help defray the cost of weddings” for poor Jewish couples paid $400,000 in rent last year, even though it shares space with another government-funded group that is under investigation. Records show Students Link reported the enormous rent bill while in the same humble Brooklyn building at 5904 13th Ave. in Borough Park with Relief Resources, a health-referral service being probed by the anti-corruption Moreland Commission panel appointed by Gov. Cuomo. The tax return for Students Link says it helps disadvantaged children. But its main program over the past three years was intended “to help defray high costs of weddings in the Jewish community.” Brooklyn state Sen. Simcha Felder, who steered funding to the group when he served on the City Council, defended the work of Relief Resources and Ostreicher. They have an exemplary record in helping thousands of people with mental-health issues,” he said
Brooklyn agency fits description of mystery nonprofit in Moreland probe(NYP)
The state’s Moreland Commission, in a report issued last week,
described its surveillance of a questionable storefront in New York City
that received almost $3 million in pork-barrel funds to provide
various medical services “with little scrutiny and no medical
oversight.” The money came from a “geographically and politically
diverse group of some of the state’s most powerful lawmakers.” Relief
Resources Inc. occupies a storefront at 5904 13th Ave. in Borough Park,
a location it shares with the group Refuah Resources. There is a
telephone pole directly outside that would provide an ideal location
for a camera. A Post investigation based on public records suggests
Relief Resources might be the unnamed nonprofit described in the
Moreland Commission report, but officials have not confirmed this.
Relief Resources, according to its Web site, provides referral services
aimed at helping those in the Jewish community cope with mental-health
issues. It has offices in two other countries — Canada and Israel — as
well as in New Jersey and upstate Monroe. The agency has used the
services of the Albany lobbying firm Malkin & Ross to seek state
funding, state records show. The Moreland Commission’s unnamed
nonprofit uses “a top-shelf outside lobbying firm.” Relief Resources has
taken in $2,901,000 in state funding since 2005, state records show.
Lawmakers have sponsored seven member-item grants totaling $1,275,000
since 2006, according to the state attorney general’s Open Government
Web site. Shiya Ostreicher, a board member of Relief Resources, is a
lobbyist for Agudath Israel of America, a powerful Orthodox Jewish
organization.
Malkin & Ross Connected to Catskills Gambling Interests
The lobbying push has continued as the Nov. 5 casino referendum nears. Foxwoods, which is hoping to build a casino adjacent to the former Grossinger’s resort in the Catskills, hired the lobbying firm Malkin & Ross on Sept. 16, agreeing to pay it $50,000 to represent it for the seven weeks leading up to Election Day.
_______________________________
Moreland Fakeout
Moreland Goes Nowhere At the Same Time Bharara Arrests the NY's Political Infrastructure
The Chairman of Moreland Said If We Find Any Corruption
MAPPING OUT MORELAND — Subpoena deadline passes, angling begins on anti-corruption panel's coming report — Capital's Jimmy Vielkind: “It's a tricky game,” Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat and former state senator, said on the radio. “You want to investigate everything that relates to reforms, but you have to do it with the understanding that the reforms are going to have to be passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor.” http://goo.gl/5jvy2H One Brooklyn Democrat got a poll call about where Moreland should go, the Daily News' Ken Lovett reports: “One question was what recommendations she thought the Moreland Commission should make. It gave her five or six choices, including whether public financing of campaigns should make the list. Others were whether donation limits should be lowered and whether there should be a separate independent enforcement unit within the Board of Elections.” http://goo.gl/taWDdq*
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I want ethics reform … that's what the Moreland Commission is all about.” – Gov. Andrew Cuomo, via Capital New York.
.________________________________________________________________________________
More Moreland Crap
Is Transparency of Corruption Enough to Reform the BOE?
Board of Dereliction (NYDN Ed)
The
state's elections panel desperately needs a thorough fumigation. Gov.
Cuomo’s
anti-corruption commission has finally done real good — by exposing the
state Board of Elections as the do-nothing patronage dump that it is.
Under three hours of sharp questioning at a public hearing, three
sad-sack board officials admitted that they have opened just six
investigations since 2008, and only one since 2009. That their sole
staff investigator — who has since quit — resorted to
playing solitaire at his desk after begging for work and being given
none. That the board waited two years to probe a serious allegation of
voting fraud— then dropped the case after losing a boxful of records.
That the board’s former chief enforcement counsel ducked a subpoena to
testify by retiring and moving out of state.* Corrupting Influence of Money and Lobbyists in NY(Video)* AND A WARNING SHOT — Legislators threaten probe of Cuomo lieutenant — Post's Fred Dicker: Members of Klein's Independent Democratic Conference, as well as Democrats who dominate the Assembly, may ask the state's ethics watchdog JCOPE to probe Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy's dealings with the Rochester Business Alliance, and seemingly contradictory statements by him and others. http://goo.gl/fRdCB) * Assembly’s Moreland Law Firm’s Role Defined(YNN) * * The law firm representing the Assembly in its dealings with the Moreland Commission on Public Ethics has broad parameters, including assisting in writing potential legislation, State of Politics reports:
Albany Bad Boys of the Executive Branch
Moreland Exempted
Wrongdoing Not Just In the NYS Legislature; Executive Branch Employees Also Get In Trouble(NYDN) Records show that the executive branch of state government has hardly been scandal-free. Nearly 300 state executive agency employees were arrested, hit with ethics charges or investigated by the state inspector general’s office since 2005 — including 123 since Cuomo took office. The most familiar names linked to wrongdoing are ex-Govs. Eliot Spitzer, who became the first governor to resign in scandal since 1913 after getting caught up in a hooker scandal, and David Paterson, who at the time was hit with the largest state ethics fine in history for improperly accepting free World Series tickets, as well ex-Controller Alan Hevesi, who pleaded to two separate felonies and spent time in prison.
From@klnynews on 9/30/2013: "Cuomo grabs greater control of anti-corruption commission" …
Albany's 3 Leaders Uses Separation of Powers to Protect Their Criminal Behavior. Half + of Their Members Disagree
They’re hiding something (NYDN)As they stonewall what could be the last, best chance to clean up state government for this generation, the top bosses of the Assembly and Senate claim that they are sticking up for the interests of the entire Legislature. It’s a matter of principle, they declared as they went to court to battle Gov. Cuomo’s Commission to Investigate Public Corruption. We’re standing for the constitutional balance between the executive and legislative branches, they said in trying to quash subpoenas for details of the outside income they collect for doing who-knows-what for who-knows-whom. Hogwash. Albany's legislative bosses cover their backsides in subpoena fight* Only ten of the 25 members of the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption have filed financial disclosure forms with the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics, and the panel’s three chairpersons are among those who have not, the Times Union’s James Odato writes: * Silver, Skelos and Klein join law firms' legal fight against Moreland
Silver, Skelos and Klein Uses Nixon's Watergate Separation of Powers Argument to Kill Subpoenas
More
than half of the 32 chose to cooperate by turning over such basic
information as the nature of their work and the names of their
nonconfidential clients. That leaves no more than 15 holdouts — at most,
a mere 7% of the Legislature. But that small group happens to include
all three of the Legislature’s
leaders — the only ones who matter in the boss-dominated Capitol.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver collects as much as $450,000 a year —
more than triple his state salary — from the trail lawyer firm Weitz
& Luxenberg. Senate GOP leader Dean Skelos
receives as much as $250,000 a year from the Long Island firm of Ruskin
Moscou Faltischek. And Senate Independent Democratic Conference chief
Jeff Klein, who
shares power with Skelos, garners as much as $85,000 from his own firm
in the Bronx.
The
ethics laws they wrote require them to disclose only the rough
amount of their outside income and the name of their official employer.
But what, if anything, do they do for the money is a blank. Do they
represent clients with business before the state? Are they rainmakers
cashing in on their government titles? In fact, the commission asked
nothing from the Legislature as a body —
only from a relative handful of its members, who are independently
elected and independently accountable. Most appear to have done what’s
right for the state and its citizens. Silver, Skelos and Klein are doing
what’s right for them. On Wednesday, the Senate GOP’s fund-raising arm
backed down from its
part of the subpoena fight, wisely choosing to compromise and cooperate
rather than stand in the way of openness and reform. The Legislature’s
leadership must do no less.* In the days before the election, @ShellySilver's law firm gave $50K to the PAC backing judicial retirement increase (Capital) * Klein, law partner tag-team to score big on appointments(Riverdale Press)
________________________________________
CityTime Trial
Gonzalez: Alleged CityTime crooks demanded fast payment for fake invoices of more than $5M per month, witness says(NYDN)
________________________________________
BOE Moreland Fall Out
The BOE lone investigator sat at his computer playing Solitaire, asking for work until 2012
While the commissioners acknowledged the deficiency, they
clearly did not buy it wholly as an excuse, pointing out through
questioning the failure of the Board to fill numerous job vacancies in a
timely manner—if at all—and pointing to the deposition of an
investigator who worked for the agency that he had repeatedly requested
cases to pursue, and yet was given nothing to do. Despite bemoaning a
large backlog of complaints the Board’s officials admitted that from
2008 through 2013 the agency has voted to open just 5
investigations—including only 1 since 2009.
As for why the Board didn’t
use the extensive free resources available to it in order to lighten its
load, such as deploying state troopers to help with investigations, the
officials explained that the Board did not have the resources to employ
all the resources available to it. In withering questioning, Moreland
Commissioner Kathleen Hogan, the Warren County district
attorney, tore into the Board’s tortured logic, asking with evident
exasperation, “You can talk resources all you want, but isn’t it true
that you didn’t want to look at these cases with a critical eye?” The
other commissioners were no more tolerant of the Board’s stock
explanation. After bringing to light that the Board does not prioritize
the complaints it receives, Commissioner Daniel J. Castleman,
a former chief assistant district attorney in Manhattan, said, “It’s
just common sense… How can you not say this [complaint] goes to the
front of the pile, and this one goes to the back?”(City and State)* Moreland Commission Grills State Board Of Elections Over Investigations -- Or Lack Thereof(NYDN) * Cuomo anti-corruption panel targets elections board(NYDN)
AMENDING A PRESS RELEASE — JCOPE's Marvin Jacob writes letter after contentious vote — Times Union's Jim Odato: “In the past we have precleared press releases when dealing with high profile announcements. This one should have been as well. It inaccurately leaves the impression that the ED vote was unanimous and as we all know it wasn’t. This needs to be corrected. You should describe the Commission vote as 9-5 or, at least, as a majority, but let’s try to be accurate about what happened yesterday. It’s quite enough that that we have again done in executive session what clearly could and should have been done in public (had Ellen’s motion not been mischaraterized as a personnel matter compounded by the inaccurate assertion that all personnel matters must be conducted in executive session). John, you can do this or I will. Please let me know.”
JCOPE Cavity Search for A New Leader
After a nationwide recruitment effort,
the Joint Commission on Public Ethics announced the hiring of Letizia
Tagliafierro, a protégé of Cuomo’s from his tenure as governor and
attorney general, as its new executive director, the Times Union writes:
Wow JJOKE is exciting I love watching lawyers discuss definitions in regulations that no one cares about. Jcope says after a Nationwide search and 70 resumes, it picked former Cuomo aide Letizia Tagliafierro as its ex dir * Alb ethics commish suggests hiring a search firm for new exec director, shot down by chair. Ex-Cuomo aide gets job: http://bit.ly/1azMpDj * JCOPE member to resign after executive director fracas(lohudblogs) JCOPE, yikes MT@JonCampbellGAN A Shelly Silver appointee says she is resigning* Moreland Madness(YNN) * JCOPE Names Ex-Cuomo Aide New Executive Director(YNN) * Cuomo said not all lawmakers are
corrupt but the state needs a system people trust in defending the
Moreland Commission’s efforts to seek details about lawmakers’ outside
income, Gannett Albany writes:
* JCOPE, again, confronts a leadership issue * JCOPE CAN'T MEET WITHOUT A CLOUD: The state's ethics watchdog group convened on Tuesday for a regularly scheduled meeting, but punted on most of its serious business and, after a secret vote, approved an administration-connected leader. The appointment of Letizia Tagliafierro as executive director was opposed by some legislative commissioners because of her ties to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
And before Casey gets his Proust in an uproar it a line from Talladega Nights in other words its a joke JJOKE MOREJOKE and now MYJOKE* Moreland hearing update: Current campaign finance enforcement structures are failing.#moneyinpolitics #fairelex * Three organizations that lobby on
abortion issues have requested an exemption from the Joint Commission on
Public Ethics to keep their major donors private, Gannett Albany writes:
_____From
___________________________________
Albany Fish Stinks At the Head Albany's 3 Leaders Uses Separation of Powers to Protect Their Criminal Behavior. Half + of Their Members Disagree
They’re hiding something (NYDN)As they stonewall what could be the last, best chance to clean up state government for this generation, the top bosses of the Assembly and Senate claim that they are sticking up for the interests of the entire Legislature. It’s a matter of principle, they declared as they went to court to battle Gov. Cuomo’s Commission to Investigate Public Corruption. We’re standing for the constitutional balance between the executive and legislative branches, they said in trying to quash subpoenas for details of the outside income they collect for doing who-knows-what for who-knows-whom. Hogwash. Albany's legislative bosses cover their backsides in subpoena fight* Only ten of the 25 members of the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption have filed financial disclosure forms with the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics, and the panel’s three chairpersons are among those who have not, the Times Union’s James Odato writes: * Silver, Skelos and Klein join law firms' legal fight against Moreland
Silver, Skelos and Klein Uses Nixon's Watergate Separation of Powers Argument to Kill Subpoenas
________________________________________
CityTime Trial
Gonzalez: Alleged CityTime crooks demanded fast payment for fake invoices of more than $5M per month, witness says(NYDN)
________________________________________
BOE Moreland Fall Out
The BOE lone investigator sat at his computer playing Solitaire, asking for work until 2012
AMENDING A PRESS RELEASE — JCOPE's Marvin Jacob writes letter after contentious vote — Times Union's Jim Odato: “In the past we have precleared press releases when dealing with high profile announcements. This one should have been as well. It inaccurately leaves the impression that the ED vote was unanimous and as we all know it wasn’t. This needs to be corrected. You should describe the Commission vote as 9-5 or, at least, as a majority, but let’s try to be accurate about what happened yesterday. It’s quite enough that that we have again done in executive session what clearly could and should have been done in public (had Ellen’s motion not been mischaraterized as a personnel matter compounded by the inaccurate assertion that all personnel matters must be conducted in executive session). John, you can do this or I will. Please let me know.”
JCOPE Cavity Search for A New Leader
Wow JJOKE is exciting I love watching lawyers discuss definitions in regulations that no one cares about. Jcope says after a Nationwide search and 70 resumes, it picked former Cuomo aide Letizia Tagliafierro as its ex dir * Alb ethics commish suggests hiring a search firm for new exec director, shot down by chair. Ex-Cuomo aide gets job: http://bit.ly/1azMpDj * JCOPE member to resign after executive director fracas(lohudblogs) JCOPE, yikes MT
DavidGrandeau&Asoc
* JCOPE, again, confronts a leadership issue * JCOPE CAN'T MEET WITHOUT A CLOUD: The state's ethics watchdog group convened on Tuesday for a regularly scheduled meeting, but punted on most of its serious business and, after a secret vote, approved an administration-connected leader. The appointment of Letizia Tagliafierro as executive director was opposed by some legislative commissioners because of her ties to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
And before Casey gets his Proust in an uproar it a line from Talladega Nights in other words its a joke JJOKE MOREJOKE and now MYJOKE* Moreland hearing update: Current campaign finance enforcement structures are failing.
_____________________________________
Moreland Uncovers Criminal Activity
Moreland Co-Chair: We’ve Uncovered Criminal Activity(YNN)
More ________________________________
Moreland Uncovers Criminal Activity
Moreland Co-Chair: We’ve Uncovered Criminal Activity(YNN)
In
a public radio interview that will air in full this weekend, one of
the three Moreland Commission co-chairs, Onondaga County DA William
Fitzpatrick, says the anti-corruption commission has uncovered criminal
activity during its investigation of New York’s Byzantine campaign
finance system and will be referring its findings for prosecution.* Moreland Commission Leader Says They Have Found Criminal Behavior(NYDN)
More ________________________________
Moreland
The Moreland report reveals new details of a financial relationship involving an unnamed state legislator and his for-profit company that mirror reports about Assemblyman Dov Hikind’s ad business and a hospital in his district.
The Moreland report reveals new details of a financial relationship involving an unnamed state legislator and his for-profit company that mirror reports about Assemblyman Dov Hikind’s ad business and a hospital in his district.
Newsday’s Dan Janison writes that the report issued by the Moreland commission on corruption could have also delved into how stockpiling cash allows legislators to pre-empt serious challenges to their incumbent
Did Moreland Report Help or Hurt Supporters of Public Financing?
Corruption probe appears to target Hikind, Maimonides (Crains NY)
Corruption probe appears to target Hikind, Maimonides (Crains NY)
Moreland Mystery None Profit Possibility II
A nonprofit that says its mission is to “help defray the cost of weddings” for poor Jewish couples paid $400,000 in rent last year, even though it shares space with another government-funded group that is under investigation. Records show Students Link reported the enormous rent bill while in the same humble Brooklyn building at 5904 13th Ave. in Borough Park with Relief Resources, a health-referral service being probed by the anti-corruption Moreland Commission panel appointed by Gov. Cuomo. The tax return for Students Link says it helps disadvantaged children. But its main program over the past three years was intended “to help defray high costs of weddings in the Jewish community.” Brooklyn state Sen. Simcha Felder, who steered funding to the group when he served on the City Council, defended the work of Relief Resources and Ostreicher. They have an exemplary record in helping thousands of people with mental-health issues,” he said.
Brooklyn agency fits description of mystery nonprofit in Moreland probe(NYP) The state’s Moreland Commission, in a report issued last week, described its surveillance of a questionable storefront in New York City that received almost $3 million in pork-barrel funds to provide various medical services “with little scrutiny and no medical oversight.” The money came from a “geographically and politically diverse group of some of the state’s most powerful lawmakers.” Relief Resources Inc. occupies a storefront at 5904 13th Ave. in Borough Park, a location it shares with the group Refuah Resources. There is a telephone pole directly outside that would provide an ideal location for a camera. A Post investigation based on public records suggests Relief Resources might be the unnamed nonprofit described in the Moreland Commission report, but officials have not confirmed this. Relief Resources, according to its Web site, provides referral services aimed at helping those in the Jewish community cope with mental-health issues. It has offices in two other countries — Canada and Israel — as well as in New Jersey and upstate Monroe. The agency has used the services of the Albany lobbying firm Malkin & Ross to seek state funding, state records show. The Moreland Commission’s unnamed nonprofit uses “a top-shelf outside lobbying firm.” Relief Resources has taken in $2,901,000 in state funding since 2005, state records show. Lawmakers have sponsored seven member-item grants totaling $1,275,000 since 2006, according to the state attorney general’s Open Government Web site. Shiya Ostreicher, a board member of Relief Resources, is a lobbyist for Agudath Israel of America, a powerful Orthodox Jewish organization.
Malkin & Ross Connected to Catskills Gambling Interests
The lobbying push has continued as the Nov. 5 casino referendum nears. Foxwoods, which is hoping to build a casino adjacent to the former Grossinger’s resort in the Catskills, hired the lobbying firm Malkin & Ross on Sept. 16, agreeing to pay it $50,000 to represent it for the seven weeks leading up to Election Day.
Did Albany Corruption Fund a City Nonprofit? (WNYC) In the Senate Bruno, Smith and Golden gave money to Relief Resouces
__________________________________________________________________________________
Ethic Reform
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Moreland Legal Pushback Expected
A Lawyer's Retainer is A Legal Bribe
Moreland To Focus On Campaign Finance Reform Next Week(YNN)
Fitzpatrick says Moreland Commission wants to know about the retainers
lawmakers receive. Fitzpatrick: Moreland wants info on "six-figure
retainers" paid to legislators by clients who seemingly never go to
court. Fitzpatrick: “We simply want to know, what do you do for these
retainers? … from people who, far as we know, never go to court."*
A bill with bipartisan support would require
businesses seeking state agency contracts to make public a list of all
contributions made to Cuomo and others in the executive branch.JCOPE Disclosure Exemptions
NYFC Hopes 2nd Time’s A Charm On Donor Disclosure Exemption(YNN)JCOPE has proposed changes
to its donor disclosure rules, and is requiring all those organizations
seeking exemptions – including New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms –
to refile their requests.
Moreland co-chair: Legislative surrender 'did not pan out'(Capital) The co-chair of the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public
Corruption said today that legislative negotiations over a new ethics
law have sputtered, and reports of gubernatorial interference are
greatly exaggerated.
Moreland Leakers Attacked
Moreland Leakers Attacked
Fitzpatrick Bemoans Moreland Leaks(YNN)
n an interview on WCNY’s Capitol Pressroom, Fitzpatrick called the
leaks of subpoenas and rescinding of subpoenas “unfortunate.”
Moreland Commission co-chairman William Fitzpatrick strongly denied interference from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office and said that no one has ordered subpoenas to be killed, The Daily News reports:
Moreland Commission co-chairman William Fitzpatrick strongly denied interference from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office and said that no one has ordered subpoenas to be killed, The Daily News reports:
Law Firms Subpoenaed Contributed 2 MorelandMembers
The Moreland Commission will subpoena several law firms across New York, though some of the firms have been on good terms with the co-chairs of the commission, Kathleen Rice and William Fitzpatrick, the Times Union writes: Law firms that will be receiving subpoenas from the Moreland Commission in search of lawmakers’ client lists have ties to commission members, having contributed thousands worth of political cash to their respective campaigns.
The latest Siena College poll finds that nearly three-quarters of voters have no opinion about the Moreland Commission to investigate public corruption, but 72 percent of voters think the commission should continue:
Daily News Takes Well Deserved Create For Making Moreland More Real But Forget About Bloggers and Other Papers Who Also Pushed
Silver Still Controls JCOPE Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver wasted no time in replacing JCOPE member Pat Bulgaro, naming former Surrogate Court Judge Renee Roth to the state ethics commission, the Times Union writes:
Moreland Commission warned that the panel would make “appropriate referrals” to the criminal justice system
Why is the media not connecting the dots to expose the corrupt pols and lobbyists not name in the report?
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Moreland War, JCOPE Civil War
Cuomo Reform or Pay the Price in 2014
Cuomo called on state lawmakers to take up ethics reform legislation and warned that they will be held accountable in 2014, when he will make the case to voters about the need to clean up Albany from public corruption, the New York Post reports:
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Legislature's 90% re-election rate mitigates against Cuomo's overheated rhetoric. http://nypost.com/2013/10/31/cuomo-on-ethics-reform-ill-hammer-state-lawmakers-at-the-polls/ …
Michael Benjamin
Lawyers for Lawmakers Sue Moreland Over Separation of Powers to Hide the Corruption
ANONYMITY REVEALED: Exhibit A in the Moreland Commission’s criticism of the State Board of Elections' policy of refusing to accept complaints submitted anonymously, was a case that sounded particularly well substantiated. In the hearing, the Commission kept the names involved confidential; City & State reveals them(City and State) * Who were the subjects of the anonymous complaint focused on by the Moreland Commission?
Albany Leaders Arrogance of Power(NYDN Ed)
What the Albany LawBreakers Are Fighting For
To protect two semi-official
rackets that are as much a part of the Albany's culture as the Pledge of
Allegiance: outside compensation from firms who profit up their government stature,
and the ability to accept unlimited campaign money and spend it however they
please.
Lawsuit to Block Release of Personal Income
Republican Dean Skelos and Independent Democrat Jeff Klein — joined Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in fighting to quash subpoenas from Gov. Cuomo’s Commission to Investigate Public Corruption. The commission, true to its charge, was trying extract facts about the hefty incomes that Skelos, Klein, Silver and other lawmakers pocket from outside sources.Law Firms File To Quash Moreland Subpoenas Aimed At Lawmakers (Updated)(YNN) * Lawsuit over anti-corruption ‘witch hunt’(NYP) * Document Drop: NY Pols V. Moreland Subpoenas(NYDN) * Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver called the executive branch’s investigation of state lawmakers an inappropriate attempt to pass legislation in an email informing members of efforts to quash subpoenas, The Daily News writes: * Skelos, Klein, Silver file their own motion to quash subpoenas(TU) Despite seeing many of its members hauled away in handcuffs, the state Legislature acts as if it should be immune from outside investigation. The arrogance is astounding. On display Friday was stonewalling of a bipartisan nature rarely seen on policy matters: The co-leaders of the Senate* Silver at center as Albany scandals swell on his watch(NYDN)
Journalists Copy Boys for Corrupt Albany Moreland Attacks
Press Corruption Patsy
The anti-corruption Moreland Commission is negotiating with legislators to settle legal challenges to the commission’s subpoenas, according to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
Did William Fitzpatrick – Onondaga County district attorney and co-chair of Cuomo’s anti-corruption Moreland Commission – get a free pass from the same state Board of Elections he’s now criticizing for being inefficient?
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Moreland Attacks
Did William Fitzpatrick – Onondaga County district attorney and co-chair of Cuomo’s anti-corruption Moreland Commission – get a free pass from the same state Board of Elections he’s now criticizing for being inefficient?
Back when he was state attorney general, Gov. Andrew Cuomo passed on a probe into a complaint against Ondondaga County DA William Fitzpatrick – the man who now co-chairs Cuomo’s anti-corruption commission.* * Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, a co-chair of Cuomo’s anti-corruption Moreland commission, has criticized the state Board of Elections in the past, but the Board closed a 2009 complaint against him due to a lack of
resources, the Daily News writes:
Assembly: DACC Separate From Government(YNN) *Skelos: Separation Of Powers Argument Not Baloney(YNN)QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I think it's a terrible mistake for the Legislature to be fighting with the Moreland Commission in complying with the subpoena. People believe that if you refuse to comply with a subpoena, you have something to hide.” – Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the Senate Republican Campaign Committee’s decision to release documents to the Moreland Commission, via Capital New York. * Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos said that the Legislature’s legal challenge to the Moreland Commission’s subpoena power will still go forward because it violates the separation of powers, State of Politics writes:
* The state Senate Republican Campaign Committee will release a limited set of documents after reaching an agreement with the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption, Capital New York writes:
Update on Subpoenas Moreland Commish spox Michelle Duffy "pleased" SRCC has withdrawn imotion to quash subpoenas. "Cooperation and reason prevailed."* State legislators will still fight the Moreland Commission, regardless of deal w/ the
Source: Majority Of NYS Lawmakers Complying With Anti-Corruption Panel's Requests For Info 32 subpoenaed lawmakers have complied or are in the process of doing so.
* NYPIRG: Overhaul JCOPE, Limit Transfers Of Cash To Federal Level(YNN) * Cuomo said that the Legislature’s legal attempts to quash subpoenas seeking information on outside income is not about separation of powers because half of the Legislature willingly complied, State of Politics writes:
Cuomo turns up the heat on opponents of his anti-corruption commission(NYDN) Cuomo
said a Daily News report that a majority of lawmakers are complying
with the panel’s requests for information “made a mockery” of
legislative leaders’ contention that the fight is a matter of principle.* SRCC Will Release ‘Limited Set Of Documents’ In Moreland Probe(YNN)
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Poll Asked Voters What They Think Gov. Cuomo's Moreland Commission ShouldRecommend
An unknown pollster has been asking New York voters what recommendations the Moreland Commission on Public Ethics should make, including public financing of campaigns or contribution limits -
@klnynews Legislature will only pass what voters embrace; no prize for goo-goo edit bd ideas that don't pass bc no public backing/interest
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ken lovett
Ryan Karben
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United Term Limits Quinn Show Us the Money
3 Papers That United to Offer Us Quinn Unite Again to Demand Albany Show Us the Money
And Albany Times Union Also Blasts the Lawmakers
The
Cuomo offered words of support to his Moreland Commission after the Legislature refused its request for disclosure of lawmakers’ sources of outside income, and also predicted the casino gaming referendum would pass, the Times Union writes:
Albany Member Items By Another Name
A study by Citizens Union suggests that up to $3 billion of New York’s budget is set aside, some of which goes to the “Community Projects” fund, only to be doled out in a process that’s done out of the public view, the Times Union reports:
Moreland Report Out
Moreland Report Link
Gov. Cuomo's Anti-Corruption Commission Blasts Albany's 'Pay-To-Play' Culture (NYDN)
Moreland report blasts Albany ethics
Panel Appointed by Cuomo Calls Corruption Commonplace in Albany (NYT)
Moreland and the Media Must Take Into Account How Consultant Lobbyist Have Gamed NYC CFB System
Breaking The Moreland Commission has "uncovered clear relationships between cash and legislative actions," according to one of its co-chairs
A Bandage Fix Without Uncovering Corruption
The Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption's commissioners will vote this morning whether to approve the final draft of its preliminary report before releasing its recommendations to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but sources with inside knowledge of the report have disclosed to City & State that it will call for New York State to adopt a system of publicly financed elections modeled after the New York City Campaign Finance Board. Cuomo was rebuffed by the state Legislature when he pushed for a public campaign finance system in the final days of the last legislative session. The Assembly has already passed a bill that would put in place such a system, but the bill’s prospects for passage in the state Senate died with steadfast opposition from Republicans. A spokesperson for the Moreland Commission did not immediately respond for comment.(City and State) * Dissenting Opinion On Public Financing Expected In Anti-Corruption Panel Report(NYDN) * The not-so open Moreland Commission (TU) * Just 10 of the 25 Moreland Commission members have filed financial disclosure forms with JCOPE. They aren’t required to do so, and those who did it acted out of an “abundance of caution.” * Moreland Madness(YNN)
Charges fly over Moreland Commission(NYP) Cuomo pooh-poohs this excuse, and he’s right to do so. He notes that numerous lawmakers are cooperating with the panel. That, he says, makes a mockery of the idea that opposition here is based on principle. The governor implies that those legislators who aren’t cooperating with the panel are just trying to keep hidden embarrassing — perhaps even incriminating — information.
But the lawmakers are just as correct in their criticism of Cuomo. They claim, for example, that the Cuomo administration convened the Moreland Commission less out of any desire to clean up corruption in New York than to pressure members into passing some of the governor’s legislation they have opposed (e.g., public financing of political campaigns). They further accuse the Democratic governor of trying to push the Moreland Commission to target selected pols, especially Republicans.
Lawmakers Attempt to Quash Subpoenas
One bill, initially co-sponsored by Savino of Staten Island, would have made future commissions impaneled under the Moreland Act to be independent of the governor’s office.
A second measure would require firms seeking state agency contracts to provide a list of political contributions made in the past 18 months to the governor and and the executive branch.* * A pair of law firms that employ state lawmakers filed court papers on Friday to quash subpoenas from Cuomo’s anti-corruption commission, with attorneys from the state Legislature expected to file objections as well, Gannett Albany writes * It's clear what the Moreland Commission is looking for: We found Hiscock & Barclay/Harris Beach clients who lobby NYS * The Moreland Commission is poised to report recommendations this week, setting the stage for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to try to use the findings to push lawmakers to agree to change campaign-finance and other laws.* The Auburn Citizen would like the Moreland Commission to take a “hard look” at executive agencies, especially (in light of recent headlines) DOCCS.* The TU says Cuomo “needs to fight for campaign reform at least as hard as he campaigned on it.”
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Silver Moreland Threat
Silver Sends A Message to the Gov, Then Says Nevermind
"We have not contemplated nor are we considering calling for any action regarding the Lieutenant Governor," Whyland said.
keeping Secrets About Where Lawmakers Make Their Money
Transparency
Albany Style
State Legislators Refuse to Disclose Income Information to Corruption Panel(WSJ) The New York state Legislature has refused a request by a state investigative commission to disclose detailed information about the sources and amount of outside income earned by lawmakers, according to a letter sent jointly on Friday by attorneys for the Senate and Assembly. * Scurrying for cover (NYDN Ed) Albany lawmakers refuse to come fully clean about their outside income* NY corruption panel not transparent on spending (TU * JCOPE is debating whether to change the disclosure exemption threshold from a "reasonable probability of harm" to a "substantial likelihood"
Moreland Meets, Albany Edition(YNN)
Negative Research Done By Those in Albany Trying to Stop Moreland
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Moreland Issues New Subpoenas
Separation of Powers looming Lawmakers Vs Moreland Commission
Breaking ThurPM
Moreland Commission now serving subpoenas on NYS legislators. Huge important legal battle re: separation of powers looming.
The founder of the firm hired by the anti-corruption Moreland Commission to use counter-terrorism software to probe state lawmakers finances donated $10,000 to one of the commission’s co-chairs, Capital New York writes
The founder of the intelligence firm that is finalizing a contract with the Moreland Commission has given $20,000 in campaign contributions to one of its co-chairs, Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice.
Anti-Corruption Commission Co-Chair Received Donations From Firm Set To Be Hired By Panel (NYDN) * Cuomo's anti-corruption commission turns sights on itself and its allies(NYDN)
EXCLUSIVE: Anti-Corruption Commission Sending Subpoenas To Gov. Cuomo-Tied Entities(NYDN)
Commission probes NY lawmakers’ outside income(NYP)
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The Moreland Commission should make clear how they chose this particular company. Government contracts are big business and making huge campaign contributions is a time-tested marketing strategy.” – NYPIRG’s Bill Mahoney on reports that the founder of a firm hired by the Moreland Commission gave campaign donations to one of the co-chairs, via Capital New York. * The founder of the firm hired by the anti-corruption Moreland Commission to use counter-terrorism software to probe state lawmakers finances donated $10,000 to one of the commission’s co-chairs, Capital New York writes: http://bit.ly/GSGQqd
Lovett: Cuomo doing damage-control over anti-corruption commission that held back subpoenas to Cuomo friendlie(NYDN) * Schneiderman: Moreland Must Be Independent (Updated)(YNN) * Inbox: After legis leaders "refused to cooperate," Moreland Commission
votes to "aggressively move forward in compelling production" of info * Moreland Commission To Issue Subpoenas To NYS Lawmakers For Info On Outside Income(NYDN) QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Our
investigation includes examining New York State legislators and their
connections to outside business practices. On August 27, we requested
information to be submitted by certain legislators. Leaders of the
legislature for both the Assembly and Senate refused to cooperate. The
Commission voted today to aggressively move forward in compelling
production of information into specific matters that the Commission is
investigating.” – The Moreland Commission to Investigate Public
Corruption, via the Daily News.* JCOPE Mid-Year lobbying data is out * Sources: the Moreland Commission voted today to subpoena the State Democratic Party, among other political committees.* .@JeanneZaino on @RoadToCityHall: Lhota didn't attack @deBlasioNYC for lack of experience. #nyc2013
Bharara: New Media End NYC's Journalism of Sheep
Quotes Murrow 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 * U.S. Attorney To Commission: Political Corruption Is Out Of Hand In N.Y. State(WCBS)* Top Lobbyist Patricia Lynch Sees Income Loss Since 2011(NYDN)
Judge Sullivan Does Not Like Bharara Press Operation
Lawmakers High Costs of Living
Legislature spends $102M in latest report, lawmakers with influence receive the most
The truism that money follows power remains at work in the state Senate, where IDC leader Jeff Klein has reported office expenditures of $5.7 million over the past six years.
Moreland Issues New Subpoenas
Separation of Powers looming Lawmakers Vs Moreland Commission
Breaking ThurPM
Moreland Commission now serving subpoenas on NYS legislators. Huge important legal battle re: separation of powers looming.
The founder of the firm hired by the anti-corruption Moreland Commission to use counter-terrorism software to probe state lawmakers finances donated $10,000 to one of the commission’s co-chairs, Capital New York writes
The founder of the intelligence firm that is finalizing a contract with the Moreland Commission has given $20,000 in campaign contributions to one of its co-chairs, Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice.
Anti-Corruption Commission Co-Chair Received Donations From Firm Set To Be Hired By Panel (NYDN) * Cuomo's anti-corruption commission turns sights on itself and its allies(NYDN)
EXCLUSIVE: Anti-Corruption Commission Sending Subpoenas To Gov. Cuomo-Tied Entities(NYDN)
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The Moreland Commission should make clear how they chose this particular company. Government contracts are big business and making huge campaign contributions is a time-tested marketing strategy.” – NYPIRG’s Bill Mahoney on reports that the founder of a firm hired by the Moreland Commission gave campaign donations to one of the co-chairs, via Capital New York. * The founder of the firm hired by the anti-corruption Moreland Commission to use counter-terrorism software to probe state lawmakers finances donated $10,000 to one of the commission’s co-chairs, Capital New York writes: http://bit.ly/GSGQqd
Governor
Andrew Cuomo's anti-corruption commission decided to reverse its stance
and subpoena the state Democratic Party among other entities tied to
the Governor. * Make them come clean (NYDN Ed) Subpoena-slapping is about to befall the top bosses and moneymakers of
the state Legislature. It couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch. Cuomo, under pressure on casino money and Moreland, meets the 'Times' * Moreland Commission targets NY's limitless campaign accounts
Albany Rats Shaking in Their Boots
Some lawmakers are shaking in their boots over Tuesday's abrupt announcements by the Moreland Commission suggesting it will subpoena legislators, as well as examine all soft money “housekeeping” accounts, including one linked to Gov. Andrew Cuomo that the commission had reportedly balked at subpoenaing. Those actions followed a meeting yesterday that one source described as a “fresh start.” The commission's new boldness was announced just before Cuomo sat down with the Times' and Daily News' editorial boards.
Commission Says It Will Compel Legislature To Turn Over Records(YNN)
Albany Rats Shaking in Their Boots
Commission Says It Will Compel Legislature To Turn Over Records(YNN)
Lovett: Cuomo doing damage-control over anti-corruption commission that held back subpoenas to Cuomo friendlie(NYDN) * Schneiderman: Moreland Must Be Independent (Updated)(YNN) * Inbox: After legis leaders "refused to cooperate," Moreland Commission
votes to "aggressively move forward in compelling production" of info * Moreland Commission To Issue Subpoenas To NYS Lawmakers For Info On Outside Income(NYDN) QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Our
investigation includes examining New York State legislators and their
connections to outside business practices. On August 27, we requested
information to be submitted by certain legislators. Leaders of the
legislature for both the Assembly and Senate refused to cooperate. The
Commission voted today to aggressively move forward in compelling
production of information into specific matters that the Commission is
investigating.” – The Moreland Commission to Investigate Public
Corruption, via the Daily News.* JCOPE Mid-Year lobbying data is out * Sources: the Moreland Commission voted today to subpoena the State Democratic Party, among other political committees.* .
Quotes Murrow 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
Judge Sullivan Does Not Like Bharara Press Operation
Federal Judge Chides Bharara for ‘Tabloid’ Press Operation(Law Blog) At a recent panel discussion in Manhattan, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan said the U.S. attorney’s office press releases
had assumed a “tabloid” tone. The judge questioned whether Mr. Bharara
was casting too much judgment on public officials who stand accused of
corruption, but have not been convicted.
Lawmakers High Costs of Living
Legislature spends $102M in latest report, lawmakers with influence receive the most
The truism that money follows power remains at work in the state Senate, where IDC leader Jeff Klein has reported office expenditures of $5.7 million over the past six years.
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A Moreland WFP 1600 Re-election
Will the Working Family Party Go After Cuomo's Governing IDC GOP Senate Coalition?
Gov. Andrew Cuomo should have let the Working Families Party die in 2010 by rejecting their ballot line, but he didn’t, and now the party is as powerful as ever and could haunt Cuomo especially if he runs for President, Bill O’Reilly writes for Newsday: * CUOMO HIT FROM THE LEFT — Times Union's Rick Karlin: Writer and longtime activist Jonathan Kozol said he considers Gov. Andrew Cuomo a friend, but he was “utterly shocked” by the governor’s comments back in August that schools which are exhibiting poor academic
performance should face a “death penalty.” … “Governor Andrew Cuomo has
been kind and friendly to me for many many years as was his father,”
Kozol told a rapt audience which had gathered for an anti-poverty
conference sponsored by the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, a
prominent Albany organization. But he added, “I was utterly shocked,”
by the death penalty comments.Poll Asked Voters What They Think Gov. Cuomo's Moreland Commission Should Recommend
NEW WATCHDOG? —Moreland Commission co-chair previews recommendations in interview —Capital’s Jessica Alaimo: In an interview with WRVO Syracuse, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick hinted the special panel to investigate public corruption might recommend a new entity to investigate election law complaints. http://goo.gl/TdXduT
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Moreland Uncovers Criminal Activity
Moreland Co-Chair: We’ve Uncovered Criminal Activity(YNN)
In
a public radio interview that will air in full this weekend, one of
the three Moreland Commission co-chairs, Onondaga County DA William
Fitzpatrick, says the anti-corruption commission has uncovered criminal
activity during its investigation of New York’s Byzantine campaign
finance system and will be referring its findings for prosecution.* Moreland Commission Leader Says They Have Found Criminal Behavior(NYDN)
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Moreland Fakeout
Moreland Goes Nowhere At the Same Time Bharara Arrests the NY's Political Infrastructure
The Chairman of Moreland Said If We Find Any Corruption
MAPPING OUT MORELAND — Subpoena deadline passes, angling begins on anti-corruption panel's coming report — Capital's Jimmy Vielkind: “It's a tricky game,” Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat and former state senator, said on the radio. “You want to investigate everything that relates to reforms, but you have to do it with the understanding that the reforms are going to have to be passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor.” http://goo.gl/5jvy2H One Brooklyn Democrat got a poll call about where Moreland should go, the Daily News' Ken Lovett reports: “One question was what recommendations she thought the Moreland Commission should make. It gave her five or six choices, including whether public financing of campaigns should make the list. Others were whether donation limits should be lowered and whether there should be a separate independent enforcement unit within the Board of Elections.” http://goo.gl/taWDdq*
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I want ethics reform … that's what the Moreland Commission is all about.” – Gov. Andrew Cuomo, via Capital New York.
Silver Moreland Threat
Silver Sends A Message to the Gov, Then Says Nevermind
"We have not contemplated nor are we considering calling for any action regarding the Lieutenant Governor," Whyland said.
The Moreland Act Has Become A Campaign Tool
If Andrew Cuomo means to undermine the credibility of his new corruption-fighting Moreland Commission, he couldn’t be doing a better job. Cuomo’s campaign committee took to the airwaves this week — 16 months before the next election for governor — with commercials touting the new commission. “The politicians,” says the ad, “won’t like it.” Neither will the voters, at least if they suspect that the commission is little more than a re-election gimmick. At the least, the governor’s campaign ad is a trifle premature. The commission is just getting started and has held one (closed-door) meeting. If the governor is going to trumpet his corruption-fighting, wouldn’t it be better to wait until he has something to show for it? * The NY Post slams Cuomo for using campaign funds to pay for TV ads touting his Moreland Commission created to investigate public corruption and the state’s notoriously lax campaign finance system.* A history lesson on the Moreland Commission(NY Now)
Moreland Commission Update
- A corruption commission has issued subpoenas to three real-estate developers, seeking information related to tax breaks they received in legislation, according to people informed of the subpoenas. Sources say the state Moreland commission investigating corruption issued subpoenas to three major New York City real estate developers over tax breaks granted via legislation.
- Moreland Update
The TU says Cuomo “should be prepared to own a failure as embarrassing as the system he vowed to fix” if the Moreland Commission gives up its work after proposing a constitutional amendment on campaign finance reform.
Looks Like the Moreland Commission About to Get Fucked
Members of a state panel investigating New York political corruption are involved in talks between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders to craft a new package of ethics laws, said people familiar with the discussions.- Moreland Commission Goes After the Board of Elections
Moreland Commission Grills State Board Of Elections Over Investigations -- Or Lack Thereof(NYDN)
In Pay-to-Play Albany, Contributors Win Favors(NYT) State Senator Jeffrey D. Klein, leader of the breakaway faction of Democrats that has aligned with the Republicans, and Senator Martin Golden, a Brooklyn Republican. Together, they crafted a lovely little strudel of a bill last summer.
Moreland Update: Lawmakers Say Abuse of Power
NYS Legislature to Argue Gov. Cuomo's Moreland Commission Is Abuse of Power: Sources(NYDN)
The state Legislature plans to argue in court that Gov. Andrew Cuomo abused his power by using the anti-corruption Moreland Commission to force a deal on ethics reform, with some sources likening his tactics to “McCarthyism”* MORELAND MEETS TONIGHT — Public hearing in Manhattan will focus on elections officials — Capital's Jessica Alaimo: Good-government groups who had been on the speakers list were disinvited to keep the program
shorter, Moreland Commission officials said. The hearing will be held
at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, a venue choice that
drew concern from an upstate lawmaker. http://goo.gl/Ca55jN * The State Legislature seems to be acting like they have something to hide from Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s
anti-corruption commission: “A second source with knowledge of the
developing legal strategy likened the tactics to ‘McCarthyism’ while a
third plugged-in source questioned ‘how do you legislate under
threats?’”
![[image]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NY-CM703_MORELA_C_20130806214700.jpg)
Is The Moreland Commission For Real?
Bracing for a potential bruising battle with Gov. Cuomo’s anti-corruption Moreland Commission, the Assembly has hired a prominent outside law firm to push back. Cuomo aides fret that bigwigs on Moreland anti-corruption panel are publicity hounds
Fredric U. Dicker Cuomo duo runs amok(NYP)Senior aides to Gov. Cuomo are increasingly worried that the Moreland Act Commission named by the governor two months ago to investigate corruption in state government is getting out of control. Sources describe commission co-chair Kathleen Rice, the Nassau County district attorney and failed candidate for state attorney general in 2010, and executive director Regina Calcaterra as “loose cannons” directing the operations of what one called a “runaway commission.’’ Some aides to Cuomo were described as “furious’’ that a series of subpoenas were recently issued by the commission for campaign-finance records without any advance notice to the governor’s office. ast week, despite the behind-the-scenes tensions, Cuomo publicly declared that the commission could investigate him or anyone else in his administration if it decided it had reason to do so.* Ex-senator, AG Commish Aubertine reportedly set to resign, tired of being told what to do by
Government By Fool, Crooks and Unintelligent People
A Very Foolish Situation Developing in New York’s Anti-Corruption Investigations(foolocracy)
Corruption is rife in Albany. New York state lawmakers have been carted off in handcuffs on bribery and corruption charges. In response, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the forming of a 25-member anti-corruption commission. The commission is headed by Kathleen Rice, Nassau County District Attorney, who lost to Schneiderman in the Democratic primary in the attorney general race and is a close ally of Cuomo.
Moreland Update
The Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption is in the process of hiring consulting firms to help crunch loads of financial and other data, and is negotiating contracts through the state Division of the Budget, the Times Union writes: * NY Assembly, Senate: "Separation Of Powers" Prevents Moreland From Demanding Info(NYDN)
Albany's Acting Like They Have Something to Hide
Asssembly Lawyering Up Against Moreland Commission
GOP Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin is upset with Speaker Sheldon Silver’s pick of a law firm with close ties to Democrats to represent the Assembly before the new Moreland Commission and suggested the GOP should have its own lawyer, the Times Union writes * The state Board of Elections is moving to freeze bank accounts of campaign committees that have broken election law until they have settled their debts or a judge orders otherwise, the Times Union writes: * Prosecutors tell Gov's anti-corruption panel how to stop scourge: shine light on politicians' nonprofit business(NY World)
MORELAND + JJOKE + CUOMO = Failure
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I think it was 2006 when Fran Lebowitz said that President Bush appointing an Iraq study group was like studying for a 3rd grade math test 3 years after it was given. And then followed up by wondering where that study group would meet . . . at Windows on the World?
lets just keep on making believe that if we do enough study groups on corruption in Albany somehow magically we will discover a magic bullet piece of legislation to cure the problem.
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DavidGrandeau&Asoc
The NYS BOE gets Serious After Moreland Commission said they did not go after committees that did not file committee report for the board
Board of Elections gets serious about scofflaw committees
Moreland Commission Politics
Cuomo's Moreland Creation Could Hurt Him
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Can't Anyone Investigate Corruption Anymore?
Daily News Says Moreland's Commissioners Should Stop Making Noise and Build A Case Like the Senator Sam Ervin Hearing Did. Forcing Nixon to Resign After They Exposed the Watergate Scandal
Gov. Cuomo’s anti-corruption commission has so far delivered a head-spinning exercise in government by subpoena. Can’t anyone there play this game? Fitzpatrick — the Syracuse district attorney — charged that the Legislature is plagued by “systemic corruption” and spoofed its ways: “Go to a yacht and have champagne and hors d’oeuvres being served, and people smoking cigars. . . and bags of cash being left around, and not-for-profits that actually don’t exist or health clinics that haven’t served a dog, never mind a human being, in their entire existence.” In its first big move, the panel asked lawmakers to voluntarily turn over details of their outside incomes — and got skunked. Next, the commission set out to subpoena a real estate industry lobbying group and party fund-raising operations — but pulled back under pressure from Cuomo’s office. Hours after the governor’s caution, the panel voted to reissue cancelled subpoenas and to serve formal demands on legislators’ outside employers, including their law firms. Fitzpatrick then confirmed that he had discussed a package of possible reform legislation with the Legislature. Watergate Hearings
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Lawmakers Moreland Push Back
Moreland Commission and Cuomo's Reelection - Cuomo seeks, legislators hide
Legislative insiders warn that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s anti-corruption commission could threaten his 2014 election year agenda because of anger among lawmakers about the demands of the commission, the Daily News’ Ken Lovett reports
Sources say that Michael Garcia, a Republican former U.S. attorney, has decided not to run for state attorney general next year against incumbent Eric Schneiderman, but has not ruled out a run for a different statewide office, the Daily News writes:
Cuomo’s controlling instincts(NYDN) In probing corruption and pushing gambling, Cumo imposes his will. The Daily News’ Bill Hammond explores how Cuomo has “imposed his will” by interfering with the supposedly independent anti-corruption Moreland Commission and the ballot referendum on casino gambling: One case in point: the revelation that the governor has been interfering in the operations of his supposedly independent Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption. Multiple sources tell the Daily News’ Kenneth Lovett that Cuomo and his staff have quietly pressured his own anti-corruption panel into dropping certain lines of inquiry — including canceling a planned subpoena of the Real Estate Board of New York. The REBNY query was expected to shed light on an infamous backroom deal that awarded massive tax breaks to five luxury highrises in Manhattan. The board and its members had lobbied hard for the breaks for billionaires while doling out million in contributions to various lawmakers — making it just the sort of situation a serious probe of Albany sleaze should examine.
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Moreland Update
Moreland Lawmakers Corrupt; Lawmakers Not Just Us
Cuomo said he does not know if his anti-corruption Moreland Commission has uncovered any possible illegal activities by state lawmakers, but feels legislators are making a mistake if they challenge the commission’s decision to subpoena information about outside income.
The co-chair of the Moreland Commission escalated tensions at the Capitol when he said yesterday there is “systematic corruption” in the Legislature. Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick justified his plan to subpoena legislators by citing the 30 lawmakers who “walked out in handcuffs in the last five years." Legislators shot back that it wasn't just them. “It would be fair to point out that the last two governors have been swept up in scandal, with Spitzer being forced to resign, and that Hevesi left office facing criminal charges,” a legislative source said. “This is NOT just the Legislature.” Cuomo on Moreland Update Cuomo backed up the harsh criticism of legislators offered by the co-chair of his anti-corruption panel earlier this week, and said they should comply with the commission's requests for records. ”I think they're compounding the public sense that they have something to hide,” Cuomo said after a storm recovery event in Albany. “Perception can become reality. If I feel like I can't trust you, I can't trust you.” The governor said a constitutional amendment to establish a system of public financing for campaigns was “an option,” but doubted that even that could pass the Legislature.
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Moreland War, JCOPE Civil War
Cuomo Reform or Pay the Price in 2014
Cuomo called on state lawmakers to take up ethics reform legislation and warned that they will be held accountable in 2014, when he will make the case to voters about the need to clean up Albany from public corruption, the New York Post reports:
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Legislature's 90% re-election rate mitigates against Cuomo's overheated rhetoric. http://nypost.com/2013/10/31/cuomo-on-ethics-reform-ill-hammer-state-lawmakers-at-the-polls/ …
Lawyers for Lawmakers Sue Moreland Over Separation of Powers to Hide the Corruption
ANONYMITY REVEALED: Exhibit A in the Moreland Commission’s criticism of the State Board of Elections' policy of refusing to accept complaints submitted anonymously, was a case that sounded particularly well substantiated. In the hearing, the Commission kept the names involved confidential; City & State reveals them(City and State) * Who were the subjects of the anonymous complaint focused on by the Moreland Commission?
Leaders of the Legislature are acting as if they and their colleagues have something to hide
Attorneys for the state Legislature want more time to gather info for the Moreland Commission (by 
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Absolutely! Corrupt officials should lose their pensions. NY should also pass the recall bill that
@JamesTedisco and I have sponsored.
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Moreland Update
Why Doesn't the Moreland Commission Call the Lawmakers to Testify? . . . Silver Should be First, Or They Can Read the Indictment Report on William Rapfogel
Really, Moreland Commission Links Member Items to Corruption-Waste of Time
At a hearing held by the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption, members of the panel questioned the persistence of pork-barrel “member item” grants that have played a central role in recent corruption cases against elected officials, the Times Union r*
The Albany Empire Uses Press Puppets to Attacks Moreland
Members of the Moreland Commission’s six-member staff are earning near or above six figures, all of which is funded with taxpayer dollars* The Utica Observer-Dispatch calls for more transparency from Cuomo’s anti-corruption Moreland Commission.* Cuomo's anti-corruption commission "is apparently being funded through the state budget from existing funds, about $270,000 so far, and it has a six-member staff—all making near or above six figures, state records show." [Joseph Spector]
Good Govt Groups Get Media Attention But What Goes Is Their Testimony
After hearing testimony from good government advocates on the vestiges of Albany’s member item system, the commission’s co-chair, Onondaga County DA William Fitzpatrick, declared: “You’ve got to be kidding me that this is legal.”
Good ex of why NYS lawmakers want to keep sources of income secret; leak of subpoeana shows why they're angry.
Maimonides subpoenaed in Hikind probe(CrainsNY) Maimonides Medical Center has been subpoenaed by JCOPE in a state probe of advertising payments made to a company owned by Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a hospital spokeswoman confirmed. The anti-corruption Moreland Commission is investigating longtime Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind and the thousands of dollars Maimonides Medical Center paid to Hikind’s ad company for Hikind’s radio show, the Daily News writes * Garcia: I’m Not Running For Anything… Now(YNN)
Albany Dem Senate Leader Stewart-Cousins Says Show Moreland Your Money
Then there was one: Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins tells colleagues to go public with outside income(NYDN) “We believe that the request made by the Moreland Commission regarding client disclosure was a reasonable request which should be answered,” says Stewart-Cousins.
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Stewart-Cousins and Moreland Request for Members Financial Info Move, It Is Now Clear Cuomo Wants Silver Out
Moreland Commission's battle with legislators threatens Cuomo's agenda(Dem and Chronicle) The Moreland Commission of district attorneys and law-enforcement officials tapped by Cuomo to ferret out government corruption finds itself locked in a battle with the state Legislature. Lawmakers continue to balk at complying with a broad request for documents and records related to their outside income and clients. * LINDA STASI: Judy Rapfogel had to know alleged-embezzler husband was stashing cash(NYDN)
Silver Staff Wants A JCOPE Cover Up
No Wonder Why This Report Has Not Been Released
NYT: Legislature demands ethics regulators edit Assembly Speaker’s staff out of Lopez sex harassment report. (NYT)
Steve McLaughlin
Cuomo's No Way Out
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As Goo Goos Stand Up For Moreland Commission Independence. . . Cuomo Looks for Exit
The state Legislature and the
governor’s office have interfered with the Moreland Commission’s efforts
to investigate corruption in Albany, and sources say that Gov. Andrew
Cuomo is considering an exit strategy from the commission, The New York Times reports* “(A)ccording to
people familiar with the commission’s work, the effort to investigate
corruption in Albany is burdened by resistance from the Legislature,
which has refused requests for information about lawmakers’ outside
income, and by unexpected involvement by the governor’s office, which
has leaned on the commission to limit the scope of its investigations.”
*Government Reformers To Gov. Cuomo: Let Anti-Corruption Commission Work Independently(NYDN) Here is the expanded version of the second item from my "Albany Insider" column today: A leading government reform group has a strong message
for Gov. Cuomo--keep your hands off the supposedly independent
commission looking into government corruption. In a letter sent Friday to Cuomo and state Attorney
General Eric Schneiderman, who deputized the 25 commission members,
Common Cause/New York expressed “alarm” over reported “interference and
micromanagement” by the governor’s office.
Goo-Goos Write To Moreland(YNN) * Moreland Commission claims independence, but reports “on a weekly basis” to Cuomo, AG(LoHud) * A 'disheartened' advocate on Cuomo's role in steering an anti-corruption panel (Capital)* State Sen. Neil Breslin says he's willing to compromise w/ the Moreland Commission re: releasing names of his clients * Cuomo is discussing a ballot measure on public financing, but gov't reformers, mindful of redistricting, are wary * AG Eric Schneiderman subpoenaed
the apartment-share company Airbnb to force the owners to disclose who
rents rooms in private homes to New York City tourists, shirking hotel
taxes. * If Governor Andrew Cuomo's aides blocked the Moreland Commission from
sending subpoenas, that should be investigated, said State Senator Liz
Krueger. [Jesse McKinley and Thomas Kaplan] * A spokesperson for the Moreland Commission said they were reporting their activities to the Cuomo administration. [Jimmy Vielkind]* Aides to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Moreland
Commission members may propose a constitutional amendment for a public
financing system, although it is unclear which side brought the idea up,
Capital New York writes:Glen Falls Newspaper Demand Vs NYT Silence On Moreland Commission for details of outside work legislators do
Moreland's Geppetto
Patrick
Barrett, while serving on anti-corruption panel, also is a member of
'NY Jobs Now,' which is pressing for a constitutional amendment to
permit gambling* Patrick Barrett, a member of Cuomo’s
Moreland Commission, is also pushing casino gambling legalization, a key
priority of the governor’s, as a member of a coalition called NY Jobs
Now.
One Firday True News Reported Moreland Subpoenas and That the Investigators Were Not Going After the Thugs Who Run Politics
No Wonder Cuomo Stopped the Subpoenas for the Real Estate Board
So-called super PAC Jobs for New York could drop some serious cash on state races in 2014
The big question is how is Parkside going to work for the democrats and the Job4NY PAC when they have opposite goals.
Silence of the Assemblymembers On Silver's Crimes Is Anti-Democratic - Lopez's Hush Fund to the Rapfogel Family
Reward: Call the Albany's Tip Line
Sheldon Silver’s many scandals(NYP) 1. Silver pal William Rapfogel, the hubby of his longtime chief of staff, Judy Rapfogel, is arrested Sept. 24. and charged with stealing $1 million from the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. 2. Silver signed off on a secret $103,080 payout to two sexual-harassment victims of disgraced Assemblyman Vito Lopez last year in an effort to keep a lid on the scandal. 3. Three of Silver’s children used his Grand Street address to vote in his district even though they had long ago moved away — one to New Jersey. 4. The speaker callously ate a snack while Elizabeth Crothers alleged that Michael Boxley, Silver’s chief counsel, raped her in 2001. Silver backed Boxley.
"The truth is that legislators don’t want to lose their ability to trade on their official status to make more money"BN
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Moreland Report Response
The Journal News writes that in considering the recommendations made by the Moreland Commission on public corruption, Albany should separate out some of the proposed reforms to insure they pass, instead of getting stuck as part of a big package of legislation:
Thursday UpdateThe Moreland Commission's GOP co-chair says it DID look into Cuomo, and did not find anything 'improper'
There are no recommendation to do anything significant about nonprofit skimming in the first Moreland Report
"If prosecuting corruption cases were fishing, Albany would be considered a trout farm."
Legislator questions why commission isn't looking at Cuomo, Schneiderman(NYDN)
Corruption Panel’s Report Offers Look at the Payback Culture in Albany(NYT) The panel appointed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said it had found possible sham nonprofit groups funded with public money and businesses using campaign donations to influence laws.
More Moreland madness in Albany - William F. B. O'Reilly (Newsday)
Diaz Praises Moreland’s ‘Magnificent Seven’(YNN)
Cuomo claimed that he is still holding out for public financing of campaigns, saying that lawmakers would already have passed an ethics package if he was okay with leaving out public financing(YNN)
Winds of Battles to Come Cuomo claimed that he is still holding out for public financing of campaigns, saying that lawmakers would already have passed an ethics package if he was okay with leaving out public financing(YNN)
Fitzpatrick: Moreland Free Of Cuomo’s Influence(YNN)
Fred Dicker: “To many observers, the contrast between the new Moreland Commission’s findings on public corruption and Gov. Cuomo’s actions is nothing short of breathtaking.”
Many of the problems highlighted in the Moreland Commission report have been red-flagged before by the media.
Fred Dicker: “To many observers, the contrast between the new Moreland Commission’s findings on public corruption and Gov. Cuomo’s actions is nothing short of breathtaking.”
Many of the problems highlighted in the Moreland Commission report have been red-flagged before by the media.
Local TV News Which Makes Millions Off of the Culture of Big Campaign Spending Has Not Cover the Moreland Commission
Pay to Report Local TV
Spending on advertising has fueled the increase in TV lobbying costs. Well-funded special interests funnel millions to lobbyists for public campaigns to sway lawmakers on hot-button issues (TU) Local News which is mainly weather, traffic, cooking and dog segments is making millions in lobbyists spending. Union and business interest like the pro fracking interest are also spending millions on ads to local stations. All this money is coming in as local news dumbs down. Local TV stations stand to profit from boom in super-PAC spending (The Hill)*CSNY’s budget blitz: $3.9 million (updated)(TU) *Save NY airing tax cap ad(TU) *Budget opponents up their ads and mailers(TU) *Bloomberg Blames Negative Ads For Poor Showing In Education ...(Politico) *Save NY now airs on school money(TU) *NYC's Bloomberg Pays for TV Ads Backing Cuomo's Pension * Bloomberg Defends His Administration With TV Ad - NY1.com * Local TV News For $ale: How Special Interests Control News Content and Public Opinion
Moreland Updates
True News, Bharara an Politico (Capital) Push the NYT to Demanding That Cuomo Let Moreland Do Its Job
The Times is concerned that after a promising start, Cuomo’s Commission to Investigate Public Corruption is becoming little more than a branch of the governor’s political network. Gov. Andrew Cuomo had the right idea when he formed a commission to help end the scandal epidemic in New York State. He appointed a respected group of experts, asked them to come up with ways to cut the sleaze, promised them independence and asked for a preliminary report by Dec. 1. As that deadline nears, however, there is growing concern that the Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, also known as the Moreland Commission, could become little more than a branch of the governor’s political network. If so, it will be another Potemkin committee, issuing another report. The independence Governor Cuomo promised will clearly be compromised if not wholly sabotaged if he or members of his staff tell the commissioners what to do and what not to do.* Governor Andrew Cuomo Quashes Moreland Commission’s REBNY Subpoena and Other Follow-The-Money Subpoenas Hitting Too Close To Home(Noticing New York)
Governor Cuomo's Crusade (sort of) Against Corruption Comes With Too Many Asterisks. My Gotham Column(NYT) "a commission member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as he desires to continue living peacefully" in NYS. “That’s fundamental, except maybe not for this governor.” “The politicians in Albany won’t like it, but I work for the people, and I won’t stop fighting until we all have a government that we can trust.”— Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, in a commercial shown more than 100 times last summer.
Both the NYT and Times Union Today Say Cuomo Will Pay A Price for Killing Moreland
Quotes Murrow 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
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More Moreland Crap
Is Transparency of Corruption Enough to Reform the BOE?
Board of Dereliction (NYDN Ed)
The
state's elections panel desperately needs a thorough fumigation. Gov.
Cuomo’s
anti-corruption commission has finally done real good — by exposing the
state Board of Elections as the do-nothing patronage dump that it is.
Under three hours of sharp questioning at a public hearing, three
sad-sack board officials admitted that they have opened just six
investigations since 2008, and only one since 2009. That their sole
staff investigator — who has since quit — resorted to
playing solitaire at his desk after begging for work and being given
none. That the board waited two years to probe a serious allegation of
voting fraud— then dropped the case after losing a boxful of records.
That the board’s former chief enforcement counsel ducked a subpoena to
testify by retiring and moving out of state.* Corrupting Influence of Money and Lobbyists in NY(Video)* AND A WARNING SHOT — Legislators threaten probe of Cuomo lieutenant — Post's Fred Dicker: Members of Klein's Independent Democratic Conference, as well as Democrats who dominate the Assembly, may ask the state's ethics watchdog JCOPE to probe Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy's dealings with the Rochester Business Alliance, and seemingly contradictory statements by him and others. http://goo.gl/fRdCB) * Assembly’s Moreland Law Firm’s Role Defined(YNN) * * The law firm representing the Assembly in its dealings with the Moreland Commission on Public Ethics has broad parameters, including assisting in writing potential legislation, State of Politics reports:
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Moreland Commission is “off the leash”
Daily News Takes Well Deserved Create For Making Moreland More Real But Forget About Bloggers and Other Papers Who Also Pushed
The News Takes Credit Alone For Ending Moreland Cover Up
The Old Bulls At the NYT Editorial Board Embarrassed to Get Off Their Ass
Daily News Dot 1: Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman create the Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, with the governor declaring that the panel would be an “independent” force, free to pursue all leads — including any that lead to his desk.
Dot 2: Daily News Albany Bureau Chief Kenneth Lovett reveals that the commission is not so independent after all. Sources tell Lovett that it dropped certain subpoenas under pressure from Cuomo’s top aides.
Dot 3: The shelved subpoenas include one aimed at the state Democratic Party’s “housekeeping” account, which had financed ads promoting the governor’s agenda. In one case, the commission actually delivers a subpoena to the Democrats’ ad-buying firm, then pulls it back.
Dot 4: Reform-minded voices, including this page, warn Cuomo that back-room meddling risks trashing the commission’s credibility — and ruining this generation’s last, best shot at cleaning up Albany.
Dot 5: In a meeting with the Daily News Editorial Board, Cuomo acknowledges that the panel is not truly independent since it answers to him and uses staff borrowed from his office. He also says that he was concerned only that all subpoenas approved by the commission’s co-chairs — Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice, Syracuse DA William Fitzpatrick and former federal prosecutor Milton Williams — would be legally defensible. Dot 6 : A few hours later, the commission announces a unanimous vote to subpoena the “housekeeping” records after all — and not just from the Democrats, but also from the Republican, Conservative and Working Families parties, plus the housekeeping accounts controlled by legislative leaders.
Moreland Connections
K2 Intelligence CEO Jules Kroll, whose company is about to be hired by the commission, contributed campaign cash to both the commission’s co-chair, Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice, and AG Eric Schneiderman, who appointed some commission members and is providing its staff.
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Cuomo"Who's On First" Moreland Routine
Who Ever is On First Moreland is Out
The Times’ Michael Powell adds asterisks to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s claims about the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption to reflect the governor’s attempts to inoculate himself from scrutiny
Did
you or anyone in your administration block those subpoenas? “No,”
the governor replied. “The co-chairs make the decisions.” Did your
staff, the reporter persisted, play a role in guiding them? The
commission’s staff, the governor replied, is picked by the governor and
the attorney general.Is that a yes? “The co-chairs make that
determination,” the governor said, before he really had to get going.
It called to mind a gubernatorial updating of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on first?” routine.
Moreland Issues New Subpoenas
Separation of Powers looming Lawmakers Vs Moreland Commission
Breaking ThurPM
Moreland Commission now serving subpoenas on NYS legislators. Huge important legal battle re: separation of powers looming.
The founder of the firm hired by the anti-corruption Moreland Commission to use counter-terrorism software to probe state lawmakers finances donated $10,000 to one of the commission’s co-chairs, Capital New York writes
The founder of the intelligence firm that is finalizing a contract with the Moreland Commission has given $20,000 in campaign contributions to one of its co-chairs, Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice.
Anti-Corruption Commission Co-Chair Received Donations From Firm Set To Be Hired By Panel (NYDN) * Cuomo's anti-corruption commission turns sights on itself and its allies(NYDN)
EXCLUSIVE: Anti-Corruption Commission Sending Subpoenas To Gov. Cuomo-Tied Entities(NYDN)
Commission probes NY lawmakers’ outside income(NYP)
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The Moreland Commission should make clear how they chose this particular company. Government contracts are big business and making huge campaign contributions is a time-tested marketing strategy.” – NYPIRG’s Bill Mahoney on reports that the founder of a firm hired by the Moreland Commission gave campaign donations to one of the co-chairs, via Capital New York. * The founder of the firm hired by the anti-corruption Moreland Commission to use counter-terrorism software to probe state lawmakers finances donated $10,000 to one of the commission’s co-chairs, Capital New York writes: http://bit.ly/GSGQqd
Lovett: Cuomo doing damage-control over anti-corruption commission that held back subpoenas to Cuomo friendlie(NYDN) * Schneiderman: Moreland Must Be Independent (Updated)(YNN) * Inbox: After legis leaders "refused to cooperate," Moreland Commission
votes to "aggressively move forward in compelling production" of info * Moreland Commission To Issue Subpoenas To NYS Lawmakers For Info On Outside Income(NYDN) QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Our
investigation includes examining New York State legislators and their
connections to outside business practices. On August 27, we requested
information to be submitted by certain legislators. Leaders of the
legislature for both the Assembly and Senate refused to cooperate. The
Commission voted today to aggressively move forward in compelling
production of information into specific matters that the Commission is
investigating.” – The Moreland Commission to Investigate Public
Corruption, via the Daily News.* JCOPE Mid-Year lobbying data is out * Sources: the Moreland Commission voted today to subpoena the State Democratic Party, among other political committees.* .@JeanneZaino on @RoadToCityHall: Lhota didn't attack @deBlasioNYC for lack of experience. #nyc2013
Bharara: New Media End NYC's Journalism of Sheep
Quotes Murrow 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 * U.S. Attorney To Commission: Political Corruption Is Out Of Hand In N.Y. State(WCBS)* Top Lobbyist Patricia Lynch Sees Income Loss Since 2011(NYDN)
Judge Sullivan Does Not Like Bharara Press Operation
Lawmakers High Costs of Living
Legislature spends $102M in latest report, lawmakers with influence receive the most
The truism that money follows power remains at work in the state Senate, where IDC leader Jeff Klein has reported office expenditures of $5.7 million over the past six years.
CIA Counter-Terrorism Software to Albany Corruption
Today the NYP Reports What the Blogger Broke Yesterday
Data firm tapped to target state corruption(NYP) * Why Albany hates sunlight(NYP Ed)
Moreland Fights to Stay Alive: BREAKING ON CAPITAL: A special investigative commission wants to turn software designed for counter-terrorism investigations on New York lawmakers, Capital has learned. … The Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption is finalizing a contract with K2 Intelligence for “reviewing immense amounts of data from disparate sources and of varied levels of organization to uncover conflicts of interest or possible corruption,” according to a letter from Cuomo's office. While the Moreland Commission has no set budget, the letter seeks approval to spend as much as $175,000 on the data analysis between now and the end of the year, drawing funds from the operating budget of the Cuomo-controlled Division of Budget. READ THE LETTER * "Corruption commission seeks to turn N.S.A. software on#Albany" http://capi.tl/1chtG0W QUOTE OF THE DAY: “If the
Moreland Commission believes that it needs this capacity to dig deeper
into Albany's political culture, then it's money well spent. But we
won't know until the end of the day if it was. It could be a million
times more sophisticated analysis than we did in Project Sunlight, when
we just put together the various databases. They're going to connect the
dots.” – NYPIRG legislative director Blair Horner on the use of
counterterrorism software by the Moreland Commission, via Capital New
York.
Moreland Issues New Subpoenas
Separation of Powers looming Lawmakers Vs Moreland Commission
Breaking ThurPM
Moreland Commission now serving subpoenas on NYS legislators. Huge important legal battle re: separation of powers looming.
The founder of the firm hired by the anti-corruption Moreland Commission to use counter-terrorism software to probe state lawmakers finances donated $10,000 to one of the commission’s co-chairs, Capital New York writes
The founder of the intelligence firm that is finalizing a contract with the Moreland Commission has given $20,000 in campaign contributions to one of its co-chairs, Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice.
Anti-Corruption Commission Co-Chair Received Donations From Firm Set To Be Hired By Panel (NYDN) * Cuomo's anti-corruption commission turns sights on itself and its allies(NYDN)
EXCLUSIVE: Anti-Corruption Commission Sending Subpoenas To Gov. Cuomo-Tied Entities(NYDN)
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The Moreland Commission should make clear how they chose this particular company. Government contracts are big business and making huge campaign contributions is a time-tested marketing strategy.” – NYPIRG’s Bill Mahoney on reports that the founder of a firm hired by the Moreland Commission gave campaign donations to one of the co-chairs, via Capital New York. * The founder of the firm hired by the anti-corruption Moreland Commission to use counter-terrorism software to probe state lawmakers finances donated $10,000 to one of the commission’s co-chairs, Capital New York writes: http://bit.ly/GSGQqd
Governor
Andrew Cuomo's anti-corruption commission decided to reverse its stance
and subpoena the state Democratic Party among other entities tied to
the Governor. * Make them come clean (NYDN Ed) Subpoena-slapping is about to befall the top bosses and moneymakers of
the state Legislature. It couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch. Cuomo, under pressure on casino money and Moreland, meets the 'Times' * Moreland Commission targets NY's limitless campaign accounts
Albany Rats Shaking in Their Boots
Some lawmakers are shaking in their boots over Tuesday's abrupt announcements by the Moreland Commission suggesting it will subpoena legislators, as well as examine all soft money “housekeeping” accounts, including one linked to Gov. Andrew Cuomo that the commission had reportedly balked at subpoenaing. Those actions followed a meeting yesterday that one source described as a “fresh start.” The commission's new boldness was announced just before Cuomo sat down with the Times' and Daily News' editorial boards.
Commission Says It Will Compel Legislature To Turn Over Records(YNN)
Albany Rats Shaking in Their Boots
Commission Says It Will Compel Legislature To Turn Over Records(YNN)
Lovett: Cuomo doing damage-control over anti-corruption commission that held back subpoenas to Cuomo friendlie(NYDN) * Schneiderman: Moreland Must Be Independent (Updated)(YNN) * Inbox: After legis leaders "refused to cooperate," Moreland Commission
votes to "aggressively move forward in compelling production" of info * Moreland Commission To Issue Subpoenas To NYS Lawmakers For Info On Outside Income(NYDN) QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Our
investigation includes examining New York State legislators and their
connections to outside business practices. On August 27, we requested
information to be submitted by certain legislators. Leaders of the
legislature for both the Assembly and Senate refused to cooperate. The
Commission voted today to aggressively move forward in compelling
production of information into specific matters that the Commission is
investigating.” – The Moreland Commission to Investigate Public
Corruption, via the Daily News.* JCOPE Mid-Year lobbying data is out * Sources: the Moreland Commission voted today to subpoena the State Democratic Party, among other political committees.* .Quotes Murrow 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
Judge Sullivan Does Not Like Bharara Press Operation
Federal Judge Chides Bharara for ‘Tabloid’ Press Operation(Law Blog) At a recent panel discussion in Manhattan, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan said the U.S. attorney’s office press releases
had assumed a “tabloid” tone. The judge questioned whether Mr. Bharara
was casting too much judgment on public officials who stand accused of
corruption, but have not been convicted.
Lawmakers High Costs of Living
Legislature spends $102M in latest report, lawmakers with influence receive the most
The truism that money follows power remains at work in the state Senate, where IDC leader Jeff Klein has reported office expenditures of $5.7 million over the past six years.
CIA Counter-Terrorism Software to Albany Corruption
Today the NYP Reports What the Blogger Broke Yesterday
Data firm tapped to target state corruption(NYP) * Why Albany hates sunlight(NYP Ed)
Moreland Fights to Stay Alive: BREAKING ON CAPITAL: A special investigative commission wants to turn software designed for counter-terrorism investigations on New York lawmakers, Capital has learned. … The Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption is finalizing a contract with K2 Intelligence for “reviewing immense amounts of data from disparate sources and of varied levels of organization to uncover conflicts of interest or possible corruption,” according to a letter from Cuomo's office. While the Moreland Commission has no set budget, the letter seeks approval to spend as much as $175,000 on the data analysis between now and the end of the year, drawing funds from the operating budget of the Cuomo-controlled Division of Budget. READ THE LETTER * "Corruption commission seeks to turn N.S.A. software on
The Old Bulls At the NYT Editorial Board Embarrassed to Get Off Their Ass Today
New York Legislators’ Secret Income(NYT Ed) The state anticorruption commission must press for details about outside money sources that lawmakers have kept hidden for decades.Considering the scandals in the New York State Legislature, one would think that battered lawmakers would be eager to clean up their reputation. Instead, they’ve hired lawyers to fight a new anticorruption commission’s efforts to find out precisely where they earn outside income. This fight, they insist, is all about maintaining a separation of powers and protecting the Legislature from an intrusive executive.
Cuomo Damage Control Plan to Cut Off the Moreland Commission is Blocked By GOP Senate
Cuomo may want to reignite talks with the Legislature on ethics reform, but Senate Republicans are letting him know, says an insider, ‘We may very well do it, but we’re not doing it on your time frame. State Senate Republicans are balking at Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s efforts to reignite talks with the Legislature on ethics reform, with Cuomo believing it will hurt Senate Republicans in retaining control of the chamber. Cuomo has been turning to G. Steven Pigeon, the former Erie County Democratic chairman, for politics, policy and fundraising, in part due to Pigeon’s close relationship with Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, one of Cuomo’s proxies in Buffalo, The Buffalo News writes * Cuomo’s power game with Con Ed(NYP) * State officials say Cuomo’s Director of Operations Howard Glaser is working on helping Cuomo author his State of the State address, and is pushing to get the governor’s casino expansion plan realized, the Times Union reports
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Moreland Ethics Problems
Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice, the
co-chair of the Moreland Commission investigating public corruption, has
received nearly $300,000 in campaign donations from Sheldon Silver’s
law firm, the Daily News writes: http://nydn.us/18eUHh7
Critics question how deeply corruption panel co-chair Kathleen Rice would probe Sheldon Silver after campaign contributions
NYP Joins the NYT and True News Book 'Em (Albany) Danno, Why Not Call for A Moreland Commission
NYT Yesterday
NYP Today
Book 'Em Danno
The Post’s Bob McManus argues that there can be no real reform against public corruption until investigators address the current legislative leadership and their obvious conflicts of interest
NYP - There will be no real reform until Bharara, Lynch & Co. address the current legislative leadership and their obvious, egregious, conflicts of interest. And it wouldn’t hurt for the governor to bring less rhetoric and more example to this issue. There’s no room for ethics — nor for ethical people — in this mess.
So why be surprised when the skeezy back-benchers who predominate declare, Hey! I’m going to get mine! Bob McManus believes corruption in Albany starts at the top, and calls out Cuomo for his taxpayer funded pro-business ad campaign.
NYT “It will take more than public shaming to the Albany crowd to do things right.”
NYT Should Call for the Moreland Commission
NYT "encourage the prosecutors to keep probing — and listening"
Corruption in Albany(NYT Ed)
The indictment of yet another politician by federal investigators is one way to clean up New York’s rancid state government. Public financing of campaigns is another.
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