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New York Commission to Investigate Public Corruption
| New York Commission to Investigate Public Corruption |
 |
Andrew Cuomo New York State Legislature |
In 2013, various New York state officials were arrested for corruption. Metrofocus' Beth Garbitelli wrote, "In April, corruption scandals erupted involving several elected officials. Allegations continued to roll out in May when U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch brought up former state Senator Shirley Huntley (D) on charges of mail fraud and it also was revealed that Huntley had complied to wear a wire to record at least six other elected officials. In unrelated cases, state Senator William Boyland Jr. (D) was charged with mail fraud, and Assemblyman Vito Lopez (D) of Brooklyn resigned due to a report released that recounted the details surrounding accusations of sexual harassment in his office."[1]
In the wake of these scandals and after the state legislature failed to pass anti-corruption policies, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) set up the Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, a state ethics commission intended to identify corruption in state politics, on July 2, 2013. The investigators on the commission were supposed to identify misconduct amongst legislators and recommend changes to the state's campaign finance laws.[2] The Commission to Investigate Public Corruption was also called the Moreland Commission.
An investigation by The New York Times stated that the "governor’s office deeply compromised the panel’s work, objecting whenever the commission focused on groups with ties to Mr. Cuomo or on issues that might reflect poorly on him." According to The Times' investigation, the commission issued a subpoena to Buying Time, a media-buying firm, which had contracted millions of dollars worth of advertisements for the New York State Democratic Party. Andrew Cuomo was a client of this firm, which bought airtime for him during his 2010 campaign for governor.[3]
After Cuomo's senior aide, Lawrence Schwartz, heard of the subpoena, he called William Fitzpatrick, one of the commission's three co-chairs, and asked that he withdraw it. The subpoena was withdrawn, and the panel's chief investigator emailed the other co-chairs to explain the situation, writing, "They [the firm] apparently produced ads for the governor."[3]
The governor's office responded with a 13-page document stating that "while he allowed the commission the independence to investigate whatever it wanted, it would have been a conflict for a panel he created to investigate his own administration."[3] Cuomo stated the investigation would be independent but maintained that he had the right to monitor and direct the commission's work. He had intended the commission to run for 18 months but disbanded the panel halfway through the term. He said the commission's work had been independent and cited co-chair William Fitzpatrick's findings, saying, "[Fitzpatrick] says 'there was no interference whatsoever. If anyone tried to interfere with me, I would have quit. We were wholly independent.'"[4]
After the commission released a preliminary findings report, Cuomo and the New York State Legislature agreed to a series of ethics reforms. The newspaper's investigation claimed that "Cuomo personally suggested a way to squeeze members of the Legislature into enacting ethics-reform measures: by issuing subpoenas to the law firms where many legislators earn sizable incomes for part-time work." Cuomo said the passage of ethics reforms meant the commission's job was done and even though the reforms that resulted were less expansive than the commission's recommendations, he called the commission a success.[5][3][6][7][8]
Federal investigators probed Cuomo's role in the panel's shutdown and continued the panel's investigative work.[3][9] On January 11, 2016, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara ended the probe into Cuomo, saying, "Absent any additional proof that may develop, there is insufficient evidence to prove a federal crime."[10]
Key commission staff
Moreland Commission (Commission to Investigate Public Corruption)
- Co-chair: William J. Fitzpatrick
- Co-chair: Kathleen M. Rice
- Co-chair: Milton L. Williams Jr.
- Executive director: Regina M. Calcaterra
- Chief of investigations: E. Danya Perry
- Governor of New York: Andrew Cuomo
- Secretary to the Governor: Lawrence S. Schwartz
- United States attorney for the Southern District of New York: Preet Bharara
Source: New York Times, "Cuomo’s Office Hobbled State Ethics Inquiries"
Timeline
2016
- January 11, 2016:
- Preet Bharara ends the investigation by saying, "Absent any additional proof that may develop, there is insufficient evidence to prove a federal crime."[10]
2015
- September 12, 2015:
- The New York Times reports that leaders on the panel told federal investigators they felt Cuomo had intervened "in a manner that, at times, led them to question the independence" according to a letter from prosecutors.[11]
2014
- July 30, 2014:
- United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, threatens an investigation of potential obstruction of justice in his office's review of the commission. In a letter to the governor's office, Bharara cited reports that several commissioners were contacted about their work or asked to speak publicly about Cuomo's handling of the commission.[12]
- July 23, 2014:
- The New York Times releases its article "Cuomo’s Office Hobbled State Ethics Inquiries" after a three-month investigation.
- July 17, 2014:
- The New York Times reaches out to the Cuomo administration for comment on their accusations related to the Commission to Investigate Public Corruption. The governor's office responds with a 13-page document.
- April 10, 2014
- Bharara, as a guest on WNYC radio, assails Cuomo for shutting down the commission. Bharara says his investigators will be looking into the commission.
- April 9, 2014
- Bharara, along with the head of the public corruption unit, meets with commission co-chairs Fitzpatrick and Williams.
- March 29, 2014
- Cuomo announces a deal with lawmakers that included improvements in state ethics laws.
- A reporter asks Cuomo about the Moreland Commission. Cuomo said the commission had achieved its goal and would be shut down.
- February, 2014
- Chief of investigations, Danya Perry, resigns.
- January, 2014
- Commission Co-chair, Kathleen M. Rice, resigns.
2013
- December 2, 2013
- The commission releases a preliminary report.
- October 16, 2013
- A subpoena is issued to Buying Time.
- September 30, 2013
- The co-chairs meet with top Assembly and Senate aides. In line with Cuomo's advice, the commission proposes "public financing of campaigns, beefing up corruption laws, and expanding disclosure of lawmakers’ outside incomes." The proposals are not received well.
- The Daily News releases an article about Cuomo's interference with the commission.
- September 23, 2013
- Perry asks the co-chairs to speak with Calcaterra to prevent her from going against their instructions.
- September 20, 2013
- Schwartz finds out about the subpoena of Buying Time and calls Fitzpatrick, who agrees to rescind the subpoena.
- Calcaterra asks Perry for a list of subpoenas that have been served and directs that no others be released.
- Perry e-mails the co-chairs to let them know of the new resistance. Williams asks why the Buying Time subpoena was rescinded, and Perry responds, "They apparently produced ads for the governor."
- September 19, 2013
- The subpoena to the media-buying firm, Buying Time, is approved.
- September 18, 2013
- Cuomo asks to meet with the commission. He suggests that rather than subpoenaing lawmakers, the commission should subpoena their law firms to sidestep any constitutional objections.
- September 17, 2013
- Evening: At the commission's first public hearing, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, encourages the commission to be tough and independent in their search for offenses. Bahara says to let no one be immune, “whether in the legislative or in the executive branch.”
- Afternoon: Fitzpatrick asks for a meeting between the co-chairs and Governor Cuomo. They first met with Schwartz where Fitzpatrick relayed the resistance they have met from both Calcaterra and Schwartz and asked for it to stop. Schwartz tells the commissioners that the Cuomo administration needed to be involved in order to prevent subpoenas that were ill advised or potentially embarrassing to Cuomo from being served.
- August 29, 2013
- The commission meets with Calcaterra. When Perry is asked for an update on the commission's work, she shares their reluctance to issue subpoenas and deciding what organizations to investigate.
- At a different event, Cuomo tells reporters that the commission has "total ability to look at whatever they want to look at.” He also said his own political activities would be fair game.
- August 28, 2013
- Perry forwards an email chain about the resistance from the Cuomo administration to commission co-chair Kathleen Rice, the panel’s co-chairwoman, who then sent it to the other two co-chairs, William Fitzpatrick and Milton Williams.
- August 19, 2013
- The commission issues a subpoena to the Real Estate Board of New York. Executive director Regina Calcaterra e-mailed Dayna Perry, chief of investigations, asking her not to issue the subpoena. The commission backed Perry and intended to issue the subpoena. Secretary to the Governor Lawrence Schwartz called the commission to tell them there would be no subpoena to the Real Estate Board. The Real Estate Board agreed to provide information voluntarily.
- July 2, 2013:
- In response to state scandals, Cuomo sets up the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, a state ethics commission intended to identify corruption in state politics. The investigators on the commission were to search for violations of campaign finance laws.
Source: New York Times, "Cuomo’s Office Hobbled State Ethics Inquiries"
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Metrofocus, "Scandal and Redemption in NY Politics," May 29, 2013
- ↑ The New York Times, "Cuomo Creates Special Commission to Investigate Corrupt Elected Officials," July 2, 2013
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 New York Times, "Cuomo’s Office Hobbled State Ethics Inquiries," July 23, 2014
- ↑ NPR, "With Prosecutors Circling, Ethics Questions Get Serious For N.Y. Governor," July 31, 2024
- ↑ The New York Times, "Capitol Corruption Panel’s Demise Angers Watchdogs," March 29, 214
- ↑ Capital New York, "Cuomo critics charge illegality after Times' Moreland expose," July 23, 2014
- ↑ The Journal News, "Report: Cuomo meddled in ethics panel," July 23, 2014
- ↑ Reuters, "New York Governor Cuomo's office intervened in corruption probe -NY Times," July 23, 2014
- ↑ The New York Times, "U.S. Attorney Warns Cuomo on Moreland Commission Case" July 31, 2014
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Politico, "Bharara ends probe of Cuomo’s Moreland Commission shutdown," January 11, 2016
- ↑ The New York Times, "Leaders of Moreland Commission Panel Felt Cuomo Intervened, Prosecutors Say," September 12, 2015
- ↑ New York Times, "U.S. Attorney Warns Cuomo on Moreland Commission Case," July 31, 2014
