NYCLASS

United for the Future and Campaign for One NY

Why was there no prosecution? 

While the press and de Blasio

Campaign Coordination: Warning to Political Candidates and Related Super PACs

https://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/public-policy/b/public-policy-law-blog/archive/2015/07/29/campaign-coordination-warning-to-political-candidates-and-related-super-pacs.aspx?Redirected=true#sthash.TnPWQRVZ.dpuf

Tyler Harber’s prosecution, and the two year federal prison sentence he recently received, are clearly warning shots across the bow of federal political campaigns around the country. And the blatant and unsympathetic nature of Mr. Harber’s crime should give no comfort to those watching and advising political candidates and campaigns.  The United States Department of Justice means to pursue the illegal coordination between official campaigns and Super PACs, and Mr. Harber’s is the first of many investigations into the world of big money politics coming to an election cycle near you.  Now, Mr. Harber is not a guy who engenders much sympathy.  During a three month period in 2012 he was Campaign Manager and general consultant for a Congressional Candidate in Virginia.  While leading that campaign he directly coordinated and participated in the purchase of $325,000 in advertising by a political action committee (PAC) that opposed his candidate’s opponent, and thus benefitted his candidate.  He was paid more than $9,000 as a “commission” for his work.

Judge sentences former Ragsdale aide Tyler Harber to 2 years in federal prison (Knocville New Sentinel)

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/crime-courts/judge-sentences-former-ragsdale-aide-tyler-harber-to-2-years-in-federal-prison-ep-1133694700-362197231.html

A nationally prominent political operative whose abrasive, anything-to-win style frequently landed him in trouble in Knoxville a decade ago is going to prison for two years for breaking federal campaign laws.

Tyler Harber, who worked as an aide to former Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale but now lives in northern Virginia, was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady in Alexandria, Va. Harber said he also was motivated in part because he had seen other political operatives commit the same offenses without being caught and prosecuted.  Harber, 34, pleaded guilty in February to illegally coordinating campaign spending between a political-action committee he had helped create and a Virginia congressional campaign he was managing in 2012. He also pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents investigating his activities. “The defendant’s criminal conduct was not borne of ignorance, naiveté or mistake,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark D. Lytle wrote in a pre-sentencing memo filed with the court. “Rather, the conduct engaged in here was undertaken by an intelligent and careful man with significant experience in politics and campaign finance. He knew exactly what he was doing and exactly the best way to conceal it from his party and from law enforcement.” “He is, in short,” Lytle said, “the most dangerous sort of political operative by virtue of his knowledge and experience.” Lytle had recommended that O’Grady sentence Harber to 46 months in prison.

Republican operative sentenced to 2 years in landmark election case (Wash Post)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/feds-want-nearly-4-year-sentence-for-republican-operative-convicted-of-illegal-coordination/2015/06/11/7ecbdc72-0ed0-11e5-9726-49d6fa26a8c6_story.html

Crossing The Line: Political Operative Gets 2 Years In Prison (NPR)

http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/12/413750981/crossing-the-line-political-operative-gets-2-years-in-prison

Why Mayor de Blasio Will Have to Resign

Why the council was illegally elected

Horse Carriage Drivers Point to Newly Released Documents As Proof that Proposed Ban Was More About the Land (NY1)