Less than a week ago, Mayor de Blasio was offering aid to Ecuadorians after the earthquake there. Now a political earthquake is rocking City Hall and the mayor is the one who needs help.

The report from the state Board of Elections that accuses him and his team of “willful and flagrant” violations of campaign-finance laws immediately changes everything.

The veneer of business as usual is shredded. Never again can de Blasio wave off questions about the mushrooming investigations of his administration. As revelations pile up day after day, allies will desert him and the Putz will find himself a very lonely man.

There is no way to sugarcoat the facts: de Blasio is in trouble. Maybe very big trouble.

His City Hall is being depicted as the seat of a criminal enterprise. And so far, he offers nothing resembling a convincing ­denial.

As bad as it is, the election report covering the 2014 state Senate races is just the start. The endgame involves the more ­lethal issue of whether de Blasio sold government favors to donors. That is what federal prosecutors are looking for, and I believe they will find a mother lode.

Yet if the election report were all there is, it would still be a problem. It calls one of the campaign violations a possible felony and refers its findings to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. for prosecution. That explains why Vance recently partnered up with US Attorney Preet Bharara in the multipronged probe, effectively doubling the number of prosecutors and investigators.

And that gets to the heart of de Blasio’s vulnerability. His 2014 Senate effort wasn’t unique. It is just one example of how he has done business since the day he won the election in 2013.

Think of it as de Blasio’s Big Idea. While denouncing income inequality, he was determined to harvest big bucks from unions and private firms that had business before the city, and then to use that money to carry out his “progressive agenda.”



He raised as much as $40 million and deposited it in various slush funds he formed, including the Campaign for One New York, which he started before he even took the oath of office.

The money would be managed by a small team of insiders. Some were on the city payroll, but most were in favored law firms, public relations and consultant shops. In effect, de Blasio outsourced a permanent political operation to be the vanguard of his administration.

The money would come from real-estate developers, yellow-taxi medallion owners, teachers unions and anybody else willing to play ball in hopes the mayor would ­return the favors.

Oh, and one more thing: de Blasio would do much of the fund-raising himself, meeting with donors in large groups or ­one-on-one.

That is exactly the pattern he used in trying to help Democrats take back the state Senate in 2014. “The entire fund-raising and campaign operation was run from City Hall by de Blasio staff in coordination with unions and Campaign for One New York officers and political consultants,” wrote Risa Sugarman, chief enforcement officer of the state Board of Elections.

She reports that some of the big checks that found their way into small upstate county political committees contained the words “donation per Mayor.”

Even before her findings were released, there were reports of new subpoenas being issued and a grand jury-hearing testimony. That suggests that the probes are well beyond the preliminary stage and that prosecutors are confident crimes have been committed.

It is almost impossible to believe that de Blasio will emerge unscathed. Though he is notoriously uninterested in policy ­details, he has been fully engaged in politics and all the deals and transactions.

The mayor’s 3 strikes:

City Hall knew about, and offered $16M to undo, nursing home flip

De Blasio used ‘slush fund’ to support faulty pre-K programs

City Hall backed campaigns with series of checks to ‘dodge’ limits

It can be no comfort to him that Bharara, who brought down former Albany kingpins Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos, is on the case. If the mayor knows a good ­defense lawyer, he ought to hire him ­immediately.

My belief, based on what we know so far, is that the money de Blasio raised in large amounts was fungible. It was moved from fund to fund and distributed according to the mayor’s instructions. I also believe many donors didn’t care about the specific issues they ostensibly were contributing to, only that they wanted to please the mayor.

One notorious example could be NYCLASS, the group that spent nearly $1 million to defeat de Blasio rival Christine Quinn in the 2013 Democratic primary. Its leaders, Steven Nislick and Wendy Neu, wanted to ban carriage horses, and when de Blasio promised he would after Quinn refused, a barrage of ads against Quinn helped demolish her. Some of the ad money came from odd sources that had no direct interest in the horses, only in de Blasio’s success.

But even as mayor he has been unable to shut down the horse-carriage industry — despite extraordinary efforts that included a proposal to spend $25 million in taxpayer money to put the horses in Central Park. During negotiations, Nislick and Neu said they met with de Blasio and approved his proposal. And don’t forget the huge raise the mayor approved for the City Council while its members considered his plan.

The access of NYCLASS, which received a subpoena, is the kind that money buys. It becomes illegal when there is a quid pro quo.

If de Blasio’s operation has committed crimes, New York is on the verge of a crisis unique in modern times.

The largest corruption scandal to rock City Hall in our era occurred in Ed Koch’s third term, which began in 1986. It, too, had many tentacles, from the old Board of Estimate to the Parking Violations Bureau to real-estate deals and patronage.

Queens Borough President Donald Manes committed suicide, political bosses like Stanley Friedman went to prison and a tarnished Bess Myerson won acquittal ­after a sensational trial.

Yet Koch was never charged or implicated in any crime and went on to finish the term with solid accomplishments, though he did lose the next election.

The current mayor should be so lucky.

Took them decades to snare Silver.Bill may avoid any real trouble.

Any German who poses as an Italian should die in jail he should be smothered with a pizza.

Leonardo Di Caprio disagrees.

Specially after he eats it with a fork and knife

You guys are funny

That was a great article. I recognized it because I read it already. It's a good idea to mention the credits and authors of an article when publishing them.

I did not even know about it to a guest at my grand daughter confirmation party told me about it.

You think De blasio's wife will go back to being a lesbian after he gets sent a way.

The more people that witnesses what your doing the easier it is to get caught.

Honestly, I doubt she was ever one. I think there are a few people out there who practice same sex relationships for the sake of convenience. I think of her as one of those people.

This is the article source:

http://nypost.com/2016/04/24/the-mayor-is-going-down/

Saw this trailer the other day and might as well post it here.
Documentary about Anthony Weiner.



One thing that irks me is that Weiner and Elliot Spitzer are always referred to as "disgraced ex-politicians" yet Bill Clinton is never called that.

Anthony wiener like to project being a tough guy. He actually was a mama boy.

He was in a big van when he ran for mayor on east 65 street and Ave U. I caught him alone in there. I will just say he wasn't a tough guy when I talked to him

Shelly just got 12 years.

http://nypost.com/2016/05/03/sheldon-silver-gets-12-years-in-prison-for-corruption/


Corrupt ex-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was slammed with 12 years behind bars in Manhattan federal court Tuesday.

The Manhattan Dem — one of the most powerful politicians in the state before his arrest last year — also was ordered to fork over nearly $5.2 in ill-gotten gains and another $1.75 million in fines.

The disgraced ex-pol received two prison terms — 12 years for the six criminal counts against him and another 10 years on a seventh — but the terms will run concurrently, the judge said.

^^ Glad they nailed him Get. I wish it wasn't concurrent sentences.

Bean,

they nailed Skelos and his son too.


Ex-New York Senate Leader Skelos, Son Get Prison Terms
By Tom Hays and Larry Neumeister | May 16, 2016

Article
1 Comments

A once-powerful New York politician convicted of using his position as Senate majority leader to help his son extort hundreds of thousands of dollars was sentenced May 12 to five years in prison after each asked for mercy for the other.

Former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his son, Adam, were convicted last year of extortion, conspiracy and bribery in the latest of a spate of corruption cases that roiled Albany.

U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood gave the son 6 1/2 years in prison, saying he deserved more time because of his thuggish behavior during the scheme to force big companies to give him consulting and other work.

The judge imposed terms that were significantly lower than ones sought by prosecutors, noting that the dollar value in the case “pales in comparison” to that of former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who was sentenced this month to 12 years in prison in his $5 million bribery case.

But Wood told the 68-year-old Skelos: “The effect of your crime has much in common with him. … You have caused immeasurable damage to New Yorkers’ confidence in the integrity of government.”

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said there was no precedent for the “nearly simultaneous convictions of Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos.”

Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the sentences “show there is zero tolerance for those who use public service for private gain.”

Foot,

Your favorite German Italian is making up new rules.
He's named a few of his advisors as "agents" and claims that his communication with them is exempt from public view.

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/2016052...den-from-public

NEW YORK CITY — Five top advisers to Mayor Bill de Blasio have been named as "agents of the city," meaning that some of their communications with the mayor are now being shielded from public view.

The advisers are the same people who ran de Blasio's campaign for mayor and subsequently ran the nonprofit to push his political agenda that is now being investigated by federal and state authorities. They are not paid by the city but some have received millions from the mayor's nonprofit.

“The Mayor’s counsel has determined that in certain circumstances the five following individuals are considered personal advisors to the Mayor: Jonathan Rosen, Nicholas Baldick, Bill Hyers, John Del Cecato and Patrick Gaspard," de Blasio lawyer Maya Wiley said in a statement.

"As personal advisors to the Mayor, their communications to the Mayor’s Office, along with those of their support staff working at the principal’s direction on those particular matters, are exempt from disclosure when related solely to City business and not on behalf of any client," she added.

He sent money to the governor as well.

DeBlasio when he ran for mayor went to east Harlem during our feast. He made believe in lifted the Giglio. He never made a lift that fake Italian kraut.

Deals will be made and he will walk- just like hillery

Deals will be made and he will walk- just like hillery

this was posted by Bean in the news thread


What's weird is that just maybe 2 weeks ago....Weiner was in the news for something similar

http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/08/anthony-weiner-catfish-twitter.html

and I thought this was the same story but NO....completely different story.

The story that Bean posted is a lot more serious and weirder. Sexting while your son is in the room, on your bed?

gets he is one sick guy. This I believe is the third time he got busted. That pic of him with his child is very disturbing. I think they are calling Children Services on him. What could this guy be thinking?

Anthony Weiner ‘crossed the line’ with sext featuring his son, could face child neglect inquiry
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/anthony-weiner-sext-lead-child-neglect-inquiry-article-1.2770431

Bean,
thanks. I hope that they follow up and either charge him or prevent him from being with his son, unsupervised, once he and his wife split up.

I thought Weiner's antics were comical before but nothing funny once children are involved.

^^Agree Gets!

Weiner and his wife disgust me. He should lose his son permantly. I just get so sick of corrupt politicians and seeing them get away with it. It would be great to see DiBlasio go to the slammer but I have no confidence that this will happen. Feel sorry for the residents of NYC

Did De Blasio ever go to jail, or what?

http://nypost.com/2016/12/16/de-blasio-talks-tough-as-grand-juries-close-in/

Entering his re-election year, Mayor de Blasio and his administration are the not-so-secret targets of a pair of criminal grand juries sitting in Manhattan — yet he still insists he’s beyond reproach.

State and federal prosecutors are looking into fiscal shenanigans and the outright sale of favors by the mayor’s team to fat-cat donors who opened their checkbooks for the mayor’s Campaign For One New York and other political slush funds — efforts he still maintains were run completely by the book.

Is the mayor himself a target? No sign of that — just yet, anyway. But reports say some of his top aides are the focus of grand jury attention, including Emma Wolfe, his chief political lieutenant, and his former campaign-finance director, Ross Offinger.

And for a guy who claims to not be worried, de Blasio sure is getting defensive. On Friday, he lashed out at his favorite target, the press, by complaining that reporters aren’t scrutinizing similar funds by “wealthy people spending endless money” to lobby against his policies, like hiking their taxes.

“Is that ever going to interest you?” he asked sarcastically on WNYC Radio.

Well, it would — if any laws were violated. Or if those “wealthy people” seemed to be selling political favors at City Hall. But no, that was Team de Blasio.

The mayor also tried rationalizing: He defended CONY — which got most of its money from people doing business with the city — by saying the cash was all for “good causes” like universal pre-K and affordable housing, so what’s the harm?

Well, see above: that whole “selling political favors at City Hall” thing.

Plus: CONY money also went to promote de Blasio’s personal ambitions: his feckless drive to become a national progressive leader.

Maybe de Blasio thinks the whole thing is a vendetta by US Attorney Preet Bharara — who’s been remarkably fair and bipartisan about rooting out corruption — and Manhattan DA Cy Vance. But the grand jury probes — ongoing since last April — suggest otherwise.

Fact is, de Blasio has only himself and his hypocrisy to blame. He won election by denouncing the very practices in which he and his aides engaged from the moment they took office.

We hope the signs of grand jury activity suggest this mess is moving toward a resolution. Voters deserve a clear picture — and so do all of de Blasio’s potential rivals.

So, did he ever actually go to jail?

I think its still an ongoing investigation oak don't know much about him only articles I read on here so could be wrong

This thread was started in April. 8 months and counting. Or is there a new investigation? Hang in there, fellas. This DeBlasio might go to jail someday. lol.