Trials Showing How Lobbyist's Interlocking Directorates Run NY's Shadow Govt
Silver Trial Bring Out How Albany Lobbyists At Center of Silver's Pay To Play Deal With Glenwood
Lobbyist Cites Unease Over Payments to Sheldon Silver (NYT) The meeting at the State Capitol in Albany took place nearly four years ago, but Richard Runes, a lobbyist who oversees government relations for Glenwood Management, a major real estate developer in New York, recalled his unease at what he had discussed with Sheldon Silver, then the speaker of the Assembly. The two men had spoken about an agreement between Mr. Silver and Glenwood, in which Mr. Silver received undisclosed payments from a law firm to which Mr. Silver had allegedly pushed Glenwood to refer some of its tax business. Mr. Runes, testifying on Monday in Mr. Silver’s federal corruption trial in Manhattan , said he felt “shock and surprise” at the news of the payments. Mr. Runes’s testimony, which began on Friday, is part of the second prong of the government’s case, in which prosecutors say Mr. Silver received about $700,000 in illegal payments from the law firm Goldberg & Iryami in return for having referred it certain tax business from Glenwood and a second developer, the Witkoff Group.
On Friday, another Glenwood lobbyist, Brian Meara, testified that while vacationing in Florida in 2011, he received a call from Mr. Silver, who mentioned how he might need to file new forms disclosing certain fees he had received. Mr. Meara said he was “surprised and concerned” and called either Mr. Runes or Charles C. Dorego, a Glenwood executive. Mr. Runes testified that he spoke with Glenwood’s owner, Leonard Litwin, and Mr. Dorego. Yet Mr. Runes said he remained “uncomfortable with the arrangement,” and did not discuss it with anyone else. “It was too hot,” he said. Ultimately, Mr. Silver’s fee-sharing arrangement was described in a side letter that the speaker signed, but it was omitted from the retainer agreement between Glenwood and the law firm. Mr. Runes, asked by the judge, Valerie E. Caproni, what he thought was being accomplished by putting the agreement in a separate letter, said he believed that retainer documents were filed publicly, “whereas the side letter would not be.” * Albany lobbyist Richard Rune said he felt uneasy over payments to then-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver for referring tax business to a firm and for outlining related terms outside of the main retainer, The New York Times reports:
How Lobbyists Float Around the Silver Corruption Using Plausible Deniability
Glenwood Lobbyists Richard Runes: “Uncomfortable with the arrangement”
Exhabit #1 Lobbyist Meara Recommended the Law Firm That Pay Off Silver, Yet He Testified He Did Not Know Silver Was Getting Paid Off Until 2011
Exhabit #2 When Silver Said Gleenwood’s LLCs Was Not Glenwood Lobbyist Meara Told Runes and Dorego and Disengaged Himself, Because He Said It Was A “Dangerous Position” to Be In
Exhabit #3 Lobbyists Runes Said He Remained Uncomfortable About the 2011 Private Letter of Agreement (outlining related terms outside of the main retainer) Between Silver and Glenwood Put Together After the Changes In the Lawmakers Disclosure Law Which Led to the Silver LLC BS
Ultimately, Mr. Silver’s fee-sharing arrangement was described in a side letter that the speaker signed, but it was omitted from the retainer agreement between Glenwood and the law firm. Mr. Runes, asked by the judge, Valerie E. Caproni, what he thought was being accomplished by putting the agreement in a separate letter, said he believed that retainer documents were filed publicly, “whereas the side letter would not be.” Yet Mr. Runes said he remained “uncomfortable with the arrangement,” and did not discuss it with anyone else. “It was too hot,” he said.
Runes Secret Letter and Anonymous Ethics Check That Was Too Hot
Lobbyist Testifies Glenwood Chief Kept Silver’s Name off Retainer (WSJ) CEO Litwin agreed to private letter acknowledging lawmaker’s fee-sharing deal, lobbyist says. One of the top political contributors in New York state, Leonard Litwin, personally made the decision to remove Sheldon Silver’s name from what would have been a publicly disclosed document showing the fee-sharing arrangement between Mr. Silver and a law firm employed by Mr. Litwin’s real-estate company, according to testimony. Mr. Litwin, chief executive of Glenwood Management Corp., “did not want to sign a retainer that listed Mr. Silver as one of the attorneys,” Richard Runes, a Glenwood lobbyist, testified on Monday at the corruption trial of the former New York state Assembly speaker. Mr. Litwin decided to take Mr. Silver’s name out of the retainer, Mr. Runes testified, but allowed that he would sign a separate, private letter acknowledging the fee-sharing deal. Even so, Mr. Runes said: “I was uncomfortable with the arrangement.” Prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office allege that Mr. Silver engaged in a quid-pro-quo scheme whereby he received referral fees for bringing Glenwood’s business to a law firm, Goldberg & Iryami PC, that specializes in tax certiorari work, while negotiating legislation that had a favorable impact on the real-estate company. On Monday, prosecutors sought to demonstrate that there was an extortive aspect of the charges Mr. Silver faces, repeatedly asking Mr. Runes to describe what he believed would be the consequences of standing in the way of Mr. Silver’s fee-sharing arrangement with the Goldberg firm. “If you hold a tiger by the tail, you have a difficult choice to make: Do you let it go, or not?” Mr. Runes said, hinting that a decision estranging Mr. Silver would be a dangerous one. Mr. Runes also testified that during the period when Mr. Litwin decided how to handle the retainer matter, Mr. Runes sought the advice of Glenwood’s compliance counsel,David Grandeau, but solicited his thoughts on only a hypothetical situation similar to the one involving Mr. Silver. Asked why he chose to mask the specifics of the then-speaker’s involvement from Mr. Grandeau, once the state’s top lobbying regulator, Mr. Runes replied: “Some lawyers are more discreet than others.” He later added that he regarded the scenario as “too hot” to risk exposure.*
"does he have representation?" A: Yes
Tonight Elected Officials Fear Lobbyists . . . Silver Lobbyists Friends Turned Against Him
Did They Set Him Up As the Fall Guy?
Silver's Conviction Bring Out How Albany Lobbyists At Center of Silver's Pay to Play Deal With Glenwood
Trials Showing How Lobbyist's Interlocking Directorates Run NY's Shadow Govt
Lobbyist Testifying At the Trial Were So Deep Into the Silver and Skelos’ Corruption At Some Point There Were Getting Paid to keep Their Mouth Shut
Both Silver and Skelos are on trial a few hundred feet from each other for personal enrichment schemes using lobbyists and real estate campaign contributor who were looking to get paid or for government favorers. The Roosevelt interlocking-directories were inside the corporate world, today they exist inside our government and election system. Today’s interlocking-directories have so infected our government that only an unelected U.S. Attorney has gone after the corrupted system. Most of the state’s elected official and prosecutors need the interlocking lobbyist and developer campaign contributors to get elected. The lobbyists and big contributors have privatized “Tammany Hall” cutting out the voters. These lobbyists and campaign contributors are so interlock with the elected official’s corruption, at times creating it, it is hard to tell if they getting paid or what they want from government, or they are just getting paid to keep their mouths shut and cover-up the corruption. It is sad joke that the lobbyist who have made millions off of Silver and Glenwood’s corruption testified that after they were caught that they were surprised and uncomfortable about the deals. Glenwood Lobbyists Brian Meara: “I was surprised and concerned.” Glenwood Lobbyists Richard Runes: “Uncomfortable with the arrangement”
What We Know About the Shadow Govt Lobbyists Contributors Interlocking-Directorates Just From the Silver and Skelos Trials Is Less Than 1% Of What is Going On Inside the Shadow Government
Click Here for Keys to the Interlocking Chart
Glenwood lobbyist Brian Meara recommended the law firm that pay off Silver, Goldberg & Iryami to Glenwood years before he testified that he first learned in 2011 from Silver that Goldberg’s firm was paying Silver for getting work from Glenwood. Meara said he called another Glenwood lobbyist Richard Runes when Silver informed him about the Goldberg firm deal. At the Skelos trial Meara was the lobbyists for Glenwood and Ab Tech which both gave the senator’s son a job. In the Silver Trial Glenwood lobbyists Runes went to the company’s boss Litwin and his chief aid Charles Dorego when Meara informed him about the Silver deal with the Goldberg firm.
Runes a lawyer testified in court In the Silver case, that he was uncomfortable with the private letter of agreement between Goldberg and Glenwood. The legality of the letter is at the heart of the silver case. In the Skelos case Glenwood lobbyist Runes went with Dorego to meet with Adam after the elder Skelos pressed Glenwood’s owner for a job for his son.
“I seen my opportunities and I took ’em!”
Tammany Hall onTrial Again (Daily Beast) They were two of the ‘three men in a room’—the three politicians who control New York state. Now Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos are in separate courtrooms, both accused of corruption. The words of an 18th-century politician seemed to ring in the chilly air outside Manhattan federal court on Monday morning. “I seen my opportunities and I took ’em!” George Washington Plunkitt once announced regarding tenure in the state Assembly and then the state Senate.
“I seen my opportunities and I took ’em!”
de Blasio With His Campaign for One NY PAC Funded by Real Estate Contributors, Has Put Together With his Unregistered Lobbyists Berlin Rosen, Hilltop His Own Interlocking-Directories
Glenwood’s Dorego signed the Silver letter of agreement after Runes and Meara informed him that Silver was getting paid form the Goldberg law firm which Glenwood was sending business to on the recommendation of Meara. Dorego has already testified in both the Silver and Skelos trials. In the Skelos trial Dorego said he got jobs for Adam Skelos, including a job in a company he had stock in Ab Tech. Meara a Glenwood lobbyist is also a lobbyists for Ab Tech and well as another company that gave a job for Adam in called PRI. PRI is own by another big campaign contributor Anthony Bonomo who resigned as head of the NYSRA after the Skelos indictment. Bonomo lobbyists besides Meara include former senator current mega lobbyist Al D'Amato besides also lobbying for Glenwood has hundreds of interlocking directories with lobbyists and elected officials, epically on Long Island his home base. D'Amato has even bigger interlocking-directories than exposed at the trials with Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and Restaurateur owner pal Harendra Singh Arrested by the Feds as part of a larger investigation that could reach into the new state senate GOP’s leadership. The Silver and Skelos trials have just brought out the tip of the ice-berg of the lobbyist’s campaign contributors interlocking-directors that control NY’s government; they also control NY’s election process with their interlocking-directories.
How True News Investigation Exposed the Campaign for One NY Interlocking Directories Story
de Blasio One NY PAC Slush Fund, Berlin Rosen, Bill Hyers, Red Horse
Just like Electricity Makes Godzilla Stronger, Growing the Corruption Swamp of Albany Makes Lobbyists Stronger and Richer
de Blasio One NY PAC Slush Fund, Berlin Rosen, Bill Hyers, Red Horse
Just like Electricity Makes Godzilla Stronger, Growing the Corruption Swamp of Albany Makes Lobbyists Stronger and Richer
Campaign Lobbyists Control A Secret Shadow Government
de Blasio One NY PAC Slush Fund, Berlin Rosen, Bill Hyers, Red Horse
de Blasio One NY PAC Slush Fund, Berlin Rosen, Bill Hyers, Red Horse
How Real Estate $$$ Corruption Government and Politics Silver Skelos Indictment
NY1 Berlin Rosen and the Wiseguys Lobbyists
NY1 Berlin Rosen and the Wiseguys Lobbyists
Keys to the lobbyist Chart
Meara, Silver, Runes Glenwood( 16-17-18)(1-2-3-4)
Glenwood lobbyist, Brian Meara, testified in 2011, he received a call from Silver, who mentioned how he might need to file new forms disclosing certain fees he had received. Mr. Meara said he was “surprised and concerned” and called either Mr. Runes or Charles C. Dorego, a Glenwood executive. Mr. Runes testified that he spoke with Glenwood’s owner, Leonard Litwin, and Mr. Dorego. Yet Mr. Runes said he remained “uncomfortable with the arrangement,” and did not discuss it with anyone else. “It was too hot,” he said. Ultimately, Silver’s fee-sharing arrangement was described in a side letter that the speaker signed, but it was omitted from the retainer agreement between Glenwood and the law firm. Mr. Runes, asked by the judge, Valerie E. Caproni, what he thought was being accomplished by putting the agreement in a separate letter, said he believed that retainer documents were filed publicly, “whereas the side letter would not be.”
Meara, Silver. Glenwood, Goldberg and Iryami (19) (5-6-7-8)
Glenwood lobbyist Meara Recommended the Law Firm That Pay off Silver, Goldberg & Iryami to Glenwood
Meara, Runes, Silver. Glenwood, (9, 10, 11)
When Silver told him Gleenwood’s LLCs Was Not Glenwood Lobbyist Meara told Runes and Dorego and Disengaged Himself, Because He Said It Was A “Dangerous Position” to Be In
Runes Glenwood Silver (21) (12,13,14)
Lobbyists Runes said he remained uncomfortable about the 2011 private letter of agreement (Outlining Silver’ payment outside of the main retainer) between Silver and Glenwood put together after the changes In Albany’s lawmakers disclosure law which led to the silver LLC Bull Shit Mr. Runes’s testimony, which began on Friday, is part of the second prong of the government’s case, in which prosecutors say Mr. Silver received about $700,000 in illegal payments from the law firm Goldberg & Iryami in return for having referred it certain tax business from Glenwood and a second developer, the Witkoff Group.
Dorego Runes Adam Skelos, Abtech (13) (14) (15,16,17,18,19)
Dorego was dispatched along with Glenwood lobbyist Richard Runes to meet with Adam Skelos in 2011. I was instructed by Mr. Litwin to take the meeting, listen to what he had to say and make no commitments,” Dorego testified. “We both, Richard and I, were uncomfortable trying to reconcile in our minds the relationship of the senator with us and, at the same time, giving Adam business.” AbTech President Steven Swarzman, Dorego’s close pal, gave it his approval, and two months later, Dorego sold Adam’s political connections to AbTech CEO Glenn Rink in an e-mail. Prosecutors allege that Litwin eventually arranged for Adam to get paid $20,000 for consulting work he never did. Under cross-examination, Mr. Dorego said that he owned 53,000 shares of stock in AbTech Holdings, the parent company of AbTech Industries. Dorego had already arranged for Adam Skelos to get at least $4,000 a month from a company he was involved with called AbTech Rink was upset, Dorego said — but eventually pushed up Adam’s payout from $4000 a month to $10,000. The younger Skelos repeatedly tried to get Dorego to give business to power companies he was involved with, and suggested that Dorego oust his longtime friend Glenn Rink from AbTech and put him in control of the company.
Litwin Glenwood Skelo Adam (20)
A month after Republicans regained control of the Senate in 2012, Skelos approached Leonard Litwin, owner of real-estate firm Glenwood Management, about securing a job for son Adam, Charles Dorego, the company’s senior vice president, testified in the Manhattan federal corruption trial of the Skeloses.
Dorego, GOP State
Dorego said Glenwood's owner, Leonard Litwin, made it his top priority to keep Republicans in control of the state Senate, believing they best represented business interests. In return, Glenwood executives were apparently privy to strategy sessions. At one point, Dorego said, he was concerned about Governor Andrew Cuomo's push for campaign finance reform. He said Skelos laughed it off, saying, "It's never gonna happen. We're never gonna pass that." Last year, through multiple LLCs, Litwin outspent all other political donors and gave $3.6 million to candidates across the state of New York . The biggest chunk of that money — about $1 million — went to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign. - See more at: http://therealdeal.com/blog/2015/07/17/glenwood-cuts-political-donations-in-first-half-of-2015/#sthash.0sH8bfSY.dpuf Glenwood Management famously utilized multiple LLCs to donate $3.6 million to various New York
Dorego on the Witness List of the Silver Trial (23)
D’Amato, Glenwood, Bonomo Skelos (24,25,26,27)
Also harmonizing for Bharara in the Skelos case and the one against former Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver are top associates of developer Leonard Litwin and his Glenwood Management, both of which were once D'Amato clients and, like Bonomo PRI, synchronized many of their political contributions with D'Amato. Bonomo largest beneficiary was Cuomo. The governor along with the state Democratic Committee received nearly $400,000 over the past four years from the Bonomo family, according to Board of Elections records. P.R.I. and the Bonomos also donated heavily to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, who brought in $159,000 and $119,000 in the last campaign cycle. The Senate Republican Campaign Committee received $77,500, and Skelos $12,900, Board of Elections records show. Bonomo just stepped down as the Cuomo-appointed chair of the New York Racing Association, and is singing to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who now leads a veritable chorus of cooperating crooners.
Skelos Bonomo D’Amato Glenwood
Skelos is also accused of extorting a $100,000 no-show job for his son from Anthony Bonomo, whose two medical malpractice firms have combined to pay D'Amato's lobbying firm, Park Strategies, $795,000 since 2007 D’Amato collected $200,000 a year from Glenwood. Meara is another for Abtech. Litwin, who'd previouslytold Dorego not to act on Skelos's personal requests, "said if it concerns him that much, give him something — but don't give him Glenwood work." ." Dorego arranged for him to get a $20,000 "referral" fee from a title insurance company Glenwood did business with. Adam Skelos also turned to Dorego to force AbTech to up his payments after he helped the storm water purifying company get a $12 million contract with Nassau County Nassau County
Silver Trial Bring Out How Albany Lobbyists At Center of Silver's Pay To Play Deal With Glenwood
Lobbyist Cites Unease Over Payments to Sheldon Silver (NYT) The meeting at the State Capitol in Albany took place nearly four years ago, but Richard Runes, a lobbyist who oversees government relations for Glenwood Management, a major real estate developer in New York, recalled his unease at what he had discussed with Sheldon Silver, then the speaker of the Assembly. The two men had spoken about an agreement between Mr. Silver and Glenwood, in which Mr. Silver received undisclosed payments from a law firm to which Mr. Silver had allegedly pushed Glenwood to refer some of its tax business. Mr. Runes, testifying on Monday in Mr. Silver’s federal corruption trial in Manhattan , said he felt “shock and surprise” at the news of the payments. Mr. Runes’s testimony, which began on Friday, is part of the second prong of the government’s case, in which prosecutors say Mr. Silver received about $700,000 in illegal payments from the law firm Goldberg & Iryami in return for having referred it certain tax business from Glenwood and a second developer, the Witkoff Group.
On Friday, another Glenwood lobbyist, Brian Meara, testified that while vacationing in Florida in 2011, he received a call from Mr. Silver, who mentioned how he might need to file new forms disclosing certain fees he had received. Mr. Meara said he was “surprised and concerned” and called either Mr. Runes or Charles C. Dorego, a Glenwood executive. Mr. Runes testified that he spoke with Glenwood’s owner, Leonard Litwin, and Mr. Dorego. Yet Mr. Runes said he remained “uncomfortable with the arrangement,” and did not discuss it with anyone else. “It was too hot,” he said. Ultimately, Mr. Silver’s fee-sharing arrangement was described in a side letter that the speaker signed, but it was omitted from the retainer agreement between Glenwood and the law firm. Mr. Runes, asked by the judge, Valerie E. Caproni, what he thought was being accomplished by putting the agreement in a separate letter, said he believed that retainer documents were filed publicly, “whereas the side letter would not be.” * Albany lobbyist Richard Rune said he felt uneasy over payments to then-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver for referring tax business to a firm and for outlining related terms outside of the main retainer, The New York Times reports:
How Lobbyists Float Around the Silver Corruption Using Plausible Deniability
Glenwood Lobbyists Richard Runes: “Uncomfortable with the arrangement”
Exhabit #1 Lobbyist Meara Recommended the Law Firm That Pay Off Silver, Yet He Testified He Did Not Know Silver Was Getting Paid Off Until 2011
Exhabit #2 When Silver Said Gleenwood’s LLCs Was Not Glenwood Lobbyist Meara Told Runes and Dorego and Disengaged Himself, Because He Said It Was A “Dangerous Position” to Be In
Exhabit #3 Lobbyists Runes Said He Remained Uncomfortable About the 2011 Private Letter of Agreement (outlining related terms outside of the main retainer) Between Silver and Glenwood Put Together After the Changes In the Lawmakers Disclosure Law Which Led to the Silver LLC BS
Ultimately, Mr. Silver’s fee-sharing arrangement was described in a side letter that the speaker signed, but it was omitted from the retainer agreement between Glenwood and the law firm. Mr. Runes, asked by the judge, Valerie E. Caproni, what he thought was being accomplished by putting the agreement in a separate letter, said he believed that retainer documents were filed publicly, “whereas the side letter would not be.” Yet Mr. Runes said he remained “uncomfortable with the arrangement,” and did not discuss it with anyone else. “It was too hot,” he said.
Runes Secret Letter and Anonymous Ethics Check That Was Too Hot
Lobbyist Testifies Glenwood Chief Kept Silver’s Name off Retainer (WSJ) CEO Litwin agreed to private letter acknowledging lawmaker’s fee-sharing deal, lobbyist says. One of the top political contributors in New York state, Leonard Litwin, personally made the decision to remove Sheldon Silver’s name from what would have been a publicly disclosed document showing the fee-sharing arrangement between Mr. Silver and a law firm employed by Mr. Litwin’s real-estate company, according to testimony. Mr. Litwin, chief executive of Glenwood Management Corp., “did not want to sign a retainer that listed Mr. Silver as one of the attorneys,” Richard Runes, a Glenwood lobbyist, testified on Monday at the corruption trial of the former New York state Assembly speaker. Mr. Litwin decided to take Mr. Silver’s name out of the retainer, Mr. Runes testified, but allowed that he would sign a separate, private letter acknowledging the fee-sharing deal. Even so, Mr. Runes said: “I was uncomfortable with the arrangement.” Prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office allege that Mr. Silver engaged in a quid-pro-quo scheme whereby he received referral fees for bringing Glenwood’s business to a law firm, Goldberg & Iryami PC, that specializes in tax certiorari work, while negotiating legislation that had a favorable impact on the real-estate company. On Monday, prosecutors sought to demonstrate that there was an extortive aspect of the charges Mr. Silver faces, repeatedly asking Mr. Runes to describe what he believed would be the consequences of standing in the way of Mr. Silver’s fee-sharing arrangement with the Goldberg firm. “If you hold a tiger by the tail, you have a difficult choice to make: Do you let it go, or not?” Mr. Runes said, hinting that a decision estranging Mr. Silver would be a dangerous one. Mr. Runes also testified that during the period when Mr. Litwin decided how to handle the retainer matter, Mr. Runes sought the advice of Glenwood’s compliance counsel,David Grandeau, but solicited his thoughts on only a hypothetical situation similar to the one involving Mr. Silver. Asked why he chose to mask the specifics of the then-speaker’s involvement from Mr. Grandeau, once the state’s top lobbying regulator, Mr. Runes replied: “Some lawyers are more discreet than others.” He later added that he regarded the scenario as “too hot” to risk exposure.*
"does he have representation?" A: Yes
Meara's Testimony Shows How the Shadow Govt That Corrupted NY Works
Lobbyist: I set up shady meeting between Silver and real estate exec (NYP) An Albany lobbyist testified Friday that he set up a shady meeting between former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and a real-estate executive that prosecutors say was part of a quid pro quo that netted the lawmaker $700,000 in illegal kickbacks. Brian Meara took the stand in Silver’s corruption trial at Manhattan federal court to reveal he organized the June 2011 meeting between the lawmaker and a Glenwood Management executive, with the executive presenting the company’s proposal for new rent-regulation laws. “Do you remember Mr. Silver’s reaction?” prosecutor Howard Master said. “He didn’t say yes; he didn’t say no. He probably said, ‘I hear you,’ and that was typical,” Meara replied. “How satisfied was Glenwood with the legislative package that was offered?” Master asked. “They were satisfied,” Meara said. Silver is accused of using his position to push legislation that would benefit Glenwood in exchange for the company sending tax work to a law firm that paid him big kickbacks.
Prosecutors also showed jurors a document illustrating how an earlier draft of the legislation would have harmed Glenwood by letting tax abatements expire and allowing the city to adopt stronger rent regulations.Prosecutors also showed jurors a document illustrating how an earlier draft of the legislation would have harmed Glenwood by letting tax abatements expire and allowing the city to adopt stronger rent regulations. The legislation that was adopted in July with Silver’s support extended the abatements and barred the city from enacting stricter rent regulations. In later testimony, the Glenwood exec, Richard Runes, was asked why Jay Arthur Goldberg of Goldberg & Iryami, the law firm that paid Silver for referrals, represented so many of Glenwood’s buildings. “He was recommended through Brian Meara by Speaker Silver to [Glenwood chief] Leonard Litwin,” Runes said. Meara earlier said Silver called him around Christmas 2011 to say he was pocketing some of the fees Glenwood paid Goldberg.“I was surprised and concerned,” Meara testified.
Silver Skelos Trial Exposes how Real Estate Has Privatized Tammany Hall Which Created NY's Shadow Govt
He's not the only one who isn't quite on solid ground here. At the time, Cuomo described the new measures as "dramatic reform," a claim good government groups immediately scoffed at. Here is one reason why. The new law allows the Joint Commission on Public Ethics and the Office of Court Administration to grant exemptions to a "thou shalt not accept outside income without full disclosure" rule. The idea behind that, of course, is to make sure our state leaders don't do things like Skelos and Silver are on trial for. This legislation, which takes effect Dec. 31, closes the door on that. But, there is a window opening nearby. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that, when there is a loophole, some legislators will climb through it.
The only way the Joint Commission could evaluate a legislator's financial statement, Horwitz told The New York Times, was, "if God willing, manna falls from heaven, and someone makes a complaint to us." It is, in typical Albany fashion, very confusing. In fact, fully understanding the loophole might take a New York earned a D-minus in a recent, data-driven assessment of state governments by the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity. We are not sure what planet Heastie was on when he dismissed the need for reform, but here on Earth, a D-minus means our state government is a miserable failure at this ethics and integrity thing. Your work is not done.
How Real Estate $$$ Corruption Government and Politics Silver Skelos Indictment
NY1 Berlin Rosen and the Wiseguys Lobbyists
NY1 Berlin Rosen and the Wiseguys Lobbyists
Only the Daily News Did A Story Today About the Silver Trial Starting Monday
Bharara is unpacking 421a as the taxpayer-funded golden road of corruption to Albany Behold, the ShellySilver trial
The stunning arrest capped a secret grand-jury probe that began in June 2013, court papers said, and marked the latest in a string of public-corruption cases spearheaded by crusading Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara. Asked how the case stacked up against the many other public-corruption cases he’s brought, Bharara summed it up. “Any time you have an allegation — especially when it’s proven — against a public official, that is disturbing. And when you have an allegation against someone who is a public official — not just in a random file capacity, but a leader of an entire body who is known in the politics of Albany to be one of the ‘three men in a room’ — that is especially disturbing,” Bharara said.* Skelos’ attorney cited a @PolHudson post to try to discredit Preet Bharara. It didn’t work * Bharara blasted for Libous prosecution: (LoHud)
@unitedNYblogs Preet is doing more than ThomasJefferson. He demands that people in power be honest fiduciaries or go to jail. And he warns!
@unitedNYblogs -Society had a choice: register lobbyists and have them self-report, or let them brown bag democracy into private property.
Millions Poured In Campaigns by Real Estate, Unions Run By Consultant Lobbyists has Weakend Voters Control Over Pols
The Progressive Caucus, a group of 19 liberal council members, will endorse a new congestion pricing plan tomorrow, sources say. They will be joined by “Gridlock” Sam Schwartz, the former city traffic commissioner who is the architect of the initiative, known as the Move NY Fair Plan. Mr. Schwartz is a listed speaker on a press release sent from the office of Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, a Manhattan Democrat and chairman of the Transportation Committee. A press conference to announce the decision will be held at City Hall.East River bridges and lessen the cost to cross other bridges, theDaily News writes: * New York City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer of Queens is supporting the congestion pricing plan that would toll free East River bridges and raise money to cut down on traffic and repair the subway system, the Daily News reports:
Lobbyists Consultant Murder, Inc Run NY Govt and Campaigns Just As Much As Murder, Inc Ran NY in the 40's
The NYP and CFB Look At Gray Areas of Election Law While Covering-Up Illegal Coordination Between Lobbying Consultant, PACS and Candidates
The worst part of the city campaign-finance system is what’s legal (NYP Ed) News of a probe into Mayor de Blasio’s 2013 campaign finances might offer some great comic relief — if it didn’t also raise troubling questions about the city’s rules. As The Post’s Yoav Gonen reported this week, the Campaign Finance Board began looking into possible Team de Blasio no-nos in 2013, after a magazine reported that the 1199 SEIU union “coordinated with the [then-candidate’s] campaign.” Under the city’s rules, candidates must cover the costs of any “coordinated” activities or list them as donations, which are subject to strict limits. It seems the board focused on whether de Blasio’s folks complied. Thing is, the rules themselves are laughable — as is the entire system. For one thing, if de Blasio did break the rules, then he had an edge in the mayoral race.
NY's Walmartiation Politics Drains Power Out of Communities and from Voters
WFP & DACC; Lobbyists Campaign Consultants Have Caused the Walmartization of NY's Politics . . . Using the Wal-Mart Business Model to Win Campaigns and Drive Out Candidates Loyal to Their District's Voters and Not the PACS Who Fund Them
NYC does not have a single Walmart because of the WFP and their friends in the progressive movement protesting the company unfair business practices. The protesters accuse Wal-mart of bulk purchasing and corporate financing to sell merchandise at low costs in order to drive competitors out of the market. WFP says the Wal-Mart's business model pushes mom and pop business out of the market creating an economic monopoly. It is now clear that less than a dozen lobbyists political consultants has use the Wal-Mart unfair business model to take over NY's politics by using unfir 2009 the WFP Data and Field model to give them and their candidates a competitive advantages in campaigns
Voter's Protest: New York's Decreasing Voter Turnout
As 90% of New Yorkers Think Albany is Corrupt, Cuomo Moves On On TV This Morning to Attacking Guns and Trump
“I don’t think the NRA represents the gun owners of this country,” @NYGovCuomo says. So far zero questions about ethics. * Cuomo: Trump ‘fanning the flames of hate’ with proposedMuslim ban: * Cuomo: "Donald Trump could be a recruiting poster forISIL" * ‘This Is Not Your Land’: Andrew Cuomo Rips Donald Trumpat Immigration Rally (NYO) * Cuomo: No Fly List Can Be Fixed (YNN)
Campaign Consultant Lobbyists Led by Advance and Berlin Rosen Have Divided Up City Government Like the Mob Did At the Apalachin Crime Summit, 56 Years Ago
Advance, Berlin Rosen, Pitta Bishop Del Giorno and 6 other campaign consultants divided up control to monopolized city government. There operating model resembles organize crime after the Apalachin crime meeting. That 1957 meeting included over 100 mobsters including "Joe the Barber," divided the illegal operations of loan sharking, narcotics trafficking and gambling controlled by the late Albert Anastasia. The big 8 include: the Advance Group, the Parkside Group/Marathon Strategies (join at the hip), Berlin Rosen, Mercury Public Affairs, Brandford Communications, George Arzt, Multi-Media, Hudson TJ and Red Horse. Like the Apalachin mobsters the consultants/lobbyist has divided up New York to control the government and rake in corrupt lobbying dollars. Also like the mobsters the big 8 may even be about the law. A Surprise Progressive Takeover of City Hall - Party Leaders, Partnership and Permanent Government Caught Flatfooted* More About The Big 8 Lobbyists
Who Will Prosecute the Advance Group or the Other Interconnected Political Consultants?
AG Schniderman uses Berlin Rosen as a political consultant. Brooklyn DA Thompson uses Berlin Rosen as a consultant. Thompson losing opponent Hynes used the Advance Group and George Arzt. Micah Kellner also used Arzt and the Advance Group. Comptroller Stringer uses Rosen Berlin as a political consultants. Sheldon Silver uses Berlin Rosen. Manhattan DA Vance has the Global Strategy Group who got away with Hevesi connected pension fraud by paying a two million dollar fine. Vance's other big campaign consultant Mark Guma is the former partner of pension corruption king, Hank Morris and there were interesting Guma pension connections
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