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Feds To Cuomo: STFU About Your Ethics "Success"
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jul 31, 2014
Modified Jul 31, 2014
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jul 31, 2014
Modified Jul 31, 2014
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Criticisms of the governor's compromised ethics commission are overblown, according to a flurry of statements released by members of the commission who clearly felt the cold barrel of Cuomo's "overwhelming success" against their necks. The governor's transparent attempt to twist the ugly reality portrayed in last week's Times report has now angered the federal prosecutor who's investigating the commission.
In a letter obtained by the Times, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara isn't buying the idea that these commissioners are independently speaking up to defend the commission they privately excoriated to the Times.
“We have reason to believe a number of commissioners recently have been contacted about the commission’s work, and some commissioners have been asked to issue public statements characterizing events and facts regarding the commission’s operation," the letter states.
Bharara then warns Cuomo that “To the extent anyone attempts to influence or tamper with a witness’s recollection of events relevant to our investigation…we must consider whether such actions constitute obstruction of justice or tampering with witnesses that violate federal law.”
To give you an idea of where our mayor stands on this mess, here's what Bill de Blasio said about the Moreland Commission scandal when he was asked about it at a press conference yesterday:
I haven’t focused on the Moreland Commission. It’s not something I know a lot about. I can tell you something about Andrew Cuomo. I’ve known him for almost twenty years. I think he is a person of high integrity. When I started working with him for the first time at HUD. We were dealing with unfortunately an agency that was well known for being very inefficient and unfortunately it had many instances of corruption within. I think he did an extraordinary job of helping cleanup HUD. Even Republican members of the Congress believed that HUD had gone through real reform. And so I think he has a long and impressive history of being an agent of reform.
Tagged
corruption
doj
ethics
governor cuomo
moreland commission
preet bharara
This might get good
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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