l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 New York State Senator, Councilman Arrested in FBI Probe
By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL, SEAN GARDINER and ANDREW GROSSMAN
Associated Press
New York state Sen. Malcolm Smith, a Democrat from Queens, speaking in
Albany earlier this year.
New York state Sen. Malcolm Smith and New York City Council Member Dan
Halloran were arrested Tuesday morning in connection with an alleged bribery
plot to tamper with the New York City mayoral race, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation said.
Also arrested in the probe: Vincent Tabone, a vice chairman of the Queens
County Republican Party; Joseph Savino, chairman of the Bronx Republican
Party; Noramie Jasmin, the mayor of Spring Valley, N.Y.; and Joseph Desmaret
, the deputy mayor of Spring Valley, a spokesman for the FBI said.
All six defendants are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in White
Plains later Tuesday and couldn't be reached for comment.
Smith Stripped of Committee Assignments in Wake of Arrest
The defendants allegedly traded access and official acts for tens of
thousands of dollars in bribes, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors said some of those bribes involved helping Mr. Smith, a Democrat
from Queens, gain a listing on the ballot for the Republican mayoral
primary for New York City.
Gerald Shargel, a lawyer for Mr. Smith, said his client "is a dedicated
public servant who has worked very hard for his constituents and the state
of New York." Lawyers for the other defendants couldn't be immediately
identified.
The wide-ranging investigation described in the complaint involves a web of
alleged illegal activity that spans from the New York City mayor race to a
real-estate transaction in Rockland County to the use of discretionary funds
in both the state capital and the New York City Council.
Mr. Smith allegedly "tried to bribe his way to a shot at Gracie Mansion,"
the traditional Manhattan residence of the mayor, said U.S. Attorney Preet
Bharara. Mr. Smith drew up the game plan involving a bid for the Republican
nomination, the prosecutor charged, and Mr. Halloran "quarterbacked that
drive by finding party chairmen who were wide open to receiving bribes."
"Today's charges demonstrate, once again, that a show-me-the-money culture
seems to pervade every level of New York government," Mr. Bharara said. "The
complaint describes an unappetizing smorgasbord of graft and greed."
Although he has been a Democrat throughout his political career in southeast
Queens, Mr. Smith explored the possibility of running for mayor this year
on the Republican line. To be eligible for the GOP nomination without
membership in the party, he needed a special waiver from leaders of three of
the city's five county-level Republican organizations.
While Mr. Smith met with party leaders, it didn't appear there was
significant support for granting the necessary waiver. Bronx GOP leader Mr.
Savino, who had been supportive of mayoral hopeful Adolfo Carrion Jr., last
month endorsed former transit chief Joseph Lhota in his bid for the
Republican nomination.
New York State Sen. Malcolm Smith and City Council Member Dan Halloran were
arrested in connection with a plot to tamper with the mayoral race. Michael
Saul reports. Photo: Getty Images.
Mr. Halloran, also from Queens, is one of four Republican members of the New
York City Council. In the complaint, he is accused of receiving tens of
thousands of dollars in connection with the scheme to get Mr. Smith on the
Republican primary ballot and another alleged scheme to illegally funnel
city taxpayer dollars to a fake company set up by the cooperating witness.
The money would have ostensibly been paid for consulting services on behalf
of a senior center in Queens, the complaint said.
In a recorded conversation described in the criminal complaint, Mr. Smith
allegedly said that access to the GOP ballot was worth the tens of thousands
of dollars it would cost in bribes.
"Look, talk to me before you close it," Mr. Smith allegedly told a
cooperating witness taking part in the FBI probe when asked about the cost
of the bribes. "But it's worth it. Because you know how big a deal it is."
At one point, the complaint quotes Mr. Smith allegedly instructing an
undercover agent what would need to happen before a Republican Party leader
would receive "even a nickel more." The party official would "have to stand
on the Empire State Building and drop every person (he) endorsed [for mayor]
and hold Malcolm up and say he's the best thing since sliced bread. Matter
of fact, he's better than sliced bread," according to the complaint.
In February, an undercover FBI agent asked Mr. Tabone, the vice chairman of
the Queens Republican organization, whether he could deliver the waiver need
for Mr. Smith to run in the party primary. "I run the Queens County
Republican Party. Nobody else runs the party," Mr. Tabone told the agent,
according to the complaint.
During that conversation, the complaint describes Mr. Tabone frisking the
undercover agent in an apparent search for a recording device. Later that
evening, Mr. Tabone allegedly paid the agent $25,000 in cash.
Dan Isaacs, chairman of the Manhattan Republican Party, said Tuesday morning
he didn't know the details of the allegations against his GOP colleagues.
The federal government's case alleges corruption in both the race for mayor
of the largest city in the country and real-estate deals in a small upstate
village. Tying the two together is a cooperating witness who goes unnamed in
the complaint.
According to the complaint, the FBI recorded the witness early last year
discussing bribes with Ms. Jasmin and Mr. Desmaret, mayor and deputy mayor,
respectively, of Spring Valley. Those conversations described in the
complaint occurred months before the witness allegedly began paying bribes
to Mr. Halloran.
At issue was a community center for the village of just over 30,000 people
in Rockland County, located about 30 miles from Manhattan. Mr. Smith had
promised to steer $500,000 in state money to a road that would benefit the
project, Mr. Bharara said in midday news conference.
The witness and Ms. Jasmin allegedly struck a deal that would give her a
hidden interest in a venture that would buy land from the village and build
the center, according to the complaint. The witness and an undercover agent
also allegedly paid Mr. Desmaret $10,500 to vote in favor of the project.
In New York City, the Republican mayoral nominee has won the last five
mayoral elections even though Democrats hold a six-to-one advantage in voter
registration. Republican leaders last year expressed hope of coalescing
behind a single candidate, but so far the five county parties in the city
have been split.
In addition to Messrs. Lhota and Carrion, the other candidates for the GOP
nomination are billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis and nonprofit
executive George McDonald. Mr. Carrion, who has been endorsed by the
Independence Party, would also need a waiver to run in the GOP primary,
while the others are registered in the party.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the front-runner for the Democratic
mayoral nomination, has said she believes the council in recent years has
tightened practices to ensure discretionary funds cannot be abused, as they
have in the past. Misuse of those funds are at the center of the allegations
against Mr. Halloran.
"These allegations represent a reprehensible abuse of the public's trust,"
Ms. Quinn said in a statement. "If true, then the full weight of the legal
system should be brought to bear on all parties implicated."
The speaker pledged to open an immediate investigation by the council's
Standards and Ethics Committee.
Mr. Smith, a former leader of the Democrats in the state Senate, late last
year joined a breakaway faction of lawmakers known as the Independent
Democratic Conference. That group, led by state Sen. Jeffrey Klein, now has
a power-sharing arrangement with state Sen. Dean Skelos, a Republican, in
which Messrs. Klein and Skelos serve as co-leaders of the majority coalition
in the chamber.
Mr. Klein on Tuesday said Mr. Smith's alleged actions had "breached the
trust of the Independent Democratic Conference," and said he would strip Mr.
Smith of his committee assignments and his conference leadership position.
—Erica Orden contributed to this article. | b*******n
发帖数: 8420 | | a**e
发帖数: 8800 | 3 怎么感觉象民主党给共和党的无间道？
bribery
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: New York State Senator, Councilman Arrested in FBI Probe
: By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL, SEAN GARDINER and ANDREW GROSSMAN
: Associated Press
: New York state Sen. Malcolm Smith, a Democrat from Queens, speaking in
: Albany earlier this year.
: New York state Sen. Malcolm Smith and New York City Council Member Dan
: Halloran were arrested Tuesday morning in connection with an alleged bribery
: plot to tamper with the New York City mayoral race, the Federal Bureau of
: Investigation said.
: Also arrested in the probe: Vincent Tabone, a vice chairman of the Queens
| l**w
发帖数: 865 | 4 It is a bipartisan group.
【在 b*******n 的大作中提到】
: 呵呵，老黑民猪党左棍，喜闻乐见
| k****k
发帖数: 3322 | 5 民主党里这种事情已经屡见不鲜了，伊利诺伊黑人议员Jessie Jackson JR不是也刚刚
因丑闻辞职了吗？最无耻的还是那个Charles B. Rangel，一身的丑闻，用公款和儿子
打联手赚钱，还赖在位子上不下台。 |
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