Fallout from Moreland Commission continues

[hrmjustin]

Joseph Spector

Federal prosecutors appear to stepping up their investigation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to disband his anti-corruption panel.

The New York Times today, citing unnamed sources, said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s office has subpoenaed the assistant to the Moreland Commission’s former executive director to testify before a grand jury in Manhattan and also plans to interview Mylan L. Denerstein, the governor’s counsel and one of his top aides.

The Times reported that Heather Green received a subpoena at her doorstep on Wednesday morning, and the federal government is seeking documents and correspondence that includes any communications between Cuomo and his senior aides about the panel.

Cuomo has been criticized for suddenly disbanding the Moreland Commission in April after the state budget included some ethics reforms. The panel was undertaking perhaps dozens of investigations into potential wrongdoing in the state Legislature, and the cases have been picked up by Bharara, who hasn’t ruled out investigating Cuomo.

http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2014/07/18/fallout-from-moreland-commission-continues/


NYT SOURCE. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/18/nyregion/subpoena-for-testimony-on-anticorruption-commission-shut-by-cuomo.html?_r=1

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. Gotta like the sound of that.

It's increasingly obvious that NYS politics CANNOT be reformed from within NYS. Everyone is too corrupted.

Let's see how well DC can do. Yes, I realize that money and politics can easily cross state lines.

And usually DO.

But this is the best hope at the moment.

[hrmjustin]

2. I have no faith in the system annymore here.

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. Hey! You posted a link from the NYT!

Or was that embedded in the first article?

[hrmjustin]

4. I can link to it but I can't copy. I guess because I don't subscribe to it.

Do you subscribe to the times?

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. Yes. For home delivery of hard copy. But I was able to get 10 free online shots per month......

... before I had home delivery. At that point, they blocked it. Now I get unlimited online access as part of home delivery package.

But when I got the link as a non-subscriber ( 10 free times per month) I was ALWAYS able to cut and paste.

Your situation sounds like some sort of computer glitch or incompatibility.

Why not ask the tech people in the tech forums on DU?

Might be easily correctible.

[hrmjustin]

6. Did you see this?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/106815139

[hrmjustin]

8. I hope Kopple can use it.

[Smarmie Doofus]

9. Actually, I can't find that link, so i self-deleted it.

There was an issue.... about three years ago... where Klein was embarrassed into returning money because of the organized crime links of the contributor involved. I apparently have the name wrong, so as not to defame anyone..... I'm deleting it.

I'll search more later today.

[hrmjustin]

10. Wasn't the senator before Klein a crook?

[Smarmie Doofus]

11. You be the judge:

>>>>Guy John Velella (September 25, 1944 – January 27, 2011) was a Republican New York State Senator from The Bronx.

A political leader, state assemblyman, and state senator for over 30 years, Velella was indicted in 2002 with 25 counts of bribery and conspiracy for allegedly accepting at least $137,000 in exchange for steering public-works contracts to the paying parties.[1] He ultimately pleaded guilty to one count in exchange for a year in jail.[2] As part of the plea agreement reached with the Manhattan District Attorney, Velella resigned his seat in the State Senate and his position as chairman of the Bronx County Republican Party and also gave up his law license. Velella served a total of six months (in two separate stints) of his sentence at Rikers Island.>>>> wiki

The district is no longer identical ( Republican and Klein gerrymandering) but it's mostly the same. It was one of these one-party-state deals where the DEMs cross endorsed him or ran an unheard of against him. Velella was pretty powerful for a long time.

What a fucking mess this state is.

[hrmjustin]

12. Yes and he was released early from jail and that caused major issues.

[Smarmie Doofus]

14. Found the aforementioned link:

State Sen. Jeff Klein, one of the most prolific fund raisers in the state and now one of its most powerful legislators, has accepted more than $150,000 from some donors with felony convictions and others with ties to organized crime, a Press investigation of campaign filings, court filings and news stories has found.

There is no evidence that Mr. Klein granted any favors to his donors in return for their offerings. What is known is these developers have helped Mr. Klein amass one of the largest war chests in the Senate.

As recently as June, Mr. Klein’s campaign committee, New Yorkers for Klein, received $2,500 from Cava Construction, Inc., whose owner and president Carmine Della Cava was convicted of a bid-rigging scheme in the 1990s.

Mr. Klein has received a total of $27,500 from the company since 2005 — approximately 81 percent of the company’s total campaign contributions.

After reporters made him aware of Mr. Della Cava’s criminal past, Mr. Klein said he planned to direct all the money he’s received from Cava Construction to charity.

“In order to ensure that we adhere to the highest standards, New Yorkers for Klein regularly monitors incoming contributions. Now that we are aware of Mr. Della Cava’s conviction, we are directing all of his donations to local Bronx charities,” Eric Soufer, a spokesman for Mr. Klein, said in a statement.

Mr. Della Cava served just over two years of an eight-year sentence in a Pennsylvania federal prison for racketeering, according The New York Times. Before that, he was a driver for a Genovese crime organization boss in the mid-80s, according to The Times.

Mr. Della Cava’s cousin, Vincent Cafaro, a mobster turned informant, identified Mr. Della Cava as a Genovese representative to an organized crime commission that controlled concrete contracts for high-rise construction in Manhattan, according to a New York Times article.
http://riverdalepress.com/stories/Klein-says-hell-give-up-convict-donor-cash,51525

[hrmjustin]

13. editorial: Crack down on corruption

http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion/crack-down-on-corruption/30005/

[hrmjustin]

15. State lawmakers spent $300,000 in last six months on legal fees over scandals

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/lovett-state-lawmakers-spent-300-000-months-legal-fees-scandals-article-1.1873968