Campaign Finance Scandal Has Mayor Bloomberg and District Attorney Cyrus Vance Taking Cover
Will Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Appoint a Special Prosecutor?
June 21, 2010
It’s not surprising that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance went easy on Mayor Mike Bloomberg in the current pay-to-play scandal involving a personal donation Bloomberg made to the New York State Independence Party. The minor Party has received considerable attention in recent months as the apparent conduit in a plan for the hiring of John Haggerty, Jr., consultant and friend of Mayor Bloomberg’s. The DA alleges that Haggerty misspent the funds, meanwhile by all accounts, it was Bloomberg’s operatives and staff, who allegedly arranged for the large donation and Haggerty’s hiring.
The matter presents unprecedented complications for the Mayor’s Office, which controls the lion’s share of the District Attorney’s budget, and for Cyrus Vance who is embroiled in his own potential campaign finance scandal concerning allegations that he evaded the legal limits placed on corporate donations. The Cyrus Vance for District Attorney campaign has written off $96,172 of a $273,349 debt owed to Mark Guma Communications, LLC through an apparent debt forgiveness agreement.
Meanwhile, Guma’s wife, Maura Keaney, was Bloomberg’s Director of Field Operations in his 2009 bid for a third term. In February 2010, just as the scandal broke in the New York Post, she was removed from the campaign payroll and given a lucrative position in the Bloomberg Administration around the same time that Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey moved over to Bloomberg, LLC. As a side note, Keaney was formally Manhattan Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s Deputy Chief of Staff who left the position under a dark cloud, and was later fined by the City’s Conflict of Interests Board for soliciting campaign contributions for Quinn on City time. The New York Times has also reported that Keaney received a $150,000 bonus from Bloomberg following the Mayor’s 2009 election.
In the incestuous world of New York City politics, sources indicate that John Catsimatidis, a close friend of Queens Borough Republican Chairman Phil Regusa and Vice-Chairman Vince Tabone, known to be sworn enemies of John Haggerty, Jr., is planning a fundraising event for Cyrus Vance who is now in a race to clean up the debt to Guma.
The planned fundraiser was first reported by Liz Benjamin in Capital Tonight and most recently by Adam Lisberg of the Daily News. No word yet if he will cancel the event in light of the recent campaign finance indiscretions. Even if Vance does repay Guma, the damage has already been done.
The debt according to New York State campaign finance law had to be repaid prior to the end of the 2009 election cycle or it defaults to ‘contribution’ status. In campaign Finance filings reported to the State Board of Elections, Vance already wrote off the debt by reporting the Guma Communications’ bills to the campaign as contributions. The purported actions may be considered class e felonies.
The Question of the Day in New York’s scandal-ridden rumor mill is if Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has jurisdiction in such matters, will engage his own investigators or call on a Special Prosecutor to look into Vance’s campaign finance indiscretions.
Even a misdeamor charge for Cy Vance related to the campaign finance violations may end his career. Any attorney admitted to the Bar in Manhattan would lose their law license if charged with even a misdemeanor, and a felony charge most certainly end in Vance's resignation.
Vance’s formidable and former opponent in the New York for DA Democratic Primary, Leslie Crocker Snyder, may also have a beef with the Vance campaign when all is said and done. Vance failed report one of the shady donations from Guma until after the primary ended, waiting instead until January 15th.
At first blush the campaign may have accepted accepted the money from Guma in a desparate attempt to garner campaign favors and cash to win at all costs. But Vance, an apparent expert in campaign finance matters, must have known the implications of the crafty filings.
It wasn't too long ago that the tables were turned: Cyrus Vance enjoyed a long and lucrative career as an attorney in Seattle, Washington where he once representated Food Services of America in a high-profile case before before United States Magistrate Judge John L. Weinberg, for making $5 million dollars in illegal campaign donations to the Republican Party. The CEO and CFO of Food Services of America were both found guilty in the case, as was the corporation. Upon the verdict, Vance reportedly commented, "The atmosphere of campaign-financing-related cases has changed dramatically in the past several years. It is now prosecuted as a criminal violation, whereas only two years ago it would have been handled as a civil fine."
Now back in New York, Andrew Cuomo may have tell us all how the story goes will end for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr.
Points of Public Interest pertaining to Cy Vance’s Campaign Finance Irregularities in collusion with Michael Bloomberg’s campaign and Mark Guma Communications.
· Cy Vance has a longstanding debt to Mark Guma Communications for $273,349 to whom he paid more than 1.1 million dollars to for consulting and electioneering activities from September 2009-January 2010.
· On January 15, 2010, Cy Vance mysteriously reported to the State Board of Elections that he had loan/liabilities to Mark Guma Communications in the amount of $273K that dated back to 9/14/2009. (2009 10 Day Post Primary)
· In a series of shady campaign finance maneuvers reported on campaign filings throughout the 2009 election cycle, Cy Vance has apparently attempted to conceal the fact that Mark Guma has forgiven large sums of debt owed to Mark Guma Communications, Inc. previously invoiced to Cy Vance’s campaign.
· In a series of campaign finance reports, Cy Vance’s campaign reduced their liability to Mark Guma Communications, Inc. by reporting campaign expenditures on section F of their filings (with corresponding check numbers) purportedly written to Mark Guma Communications, while simultaneously reporting on Section O of his finance reports that Mark Guma was making a donation to the campaign for the same amount.
· Vance’s campaign simultaneously reduced the liabilities in section N of its filings by the exact same amounts of each “donation” reported on section O.
*See State BOE Filer ID C36419 (2009 11 Day Pre-General, 2009 27 Day Post General, 2010 January Periodic)
· Thus far, $96,172.85 in debt owed to Mark Guma Communications, Inc has been “written off” by the Cy Vance campaign in a subversive manner, and thereby evading campaign finance limits placed on corporate donations.
· (Section 14 of Election Law)The New York State Board of Elections has ruled that a company or corporation that engages in public relations does not typically lend money to its clients.
Therefore, “any loan by the company which is not repaid by the date of the election would be deemed a contribution in accordance with the provisions of the law. If the amount not repaid to the corporation on the date of the election exceeds $5000, the corporation would be in violation of section 14 of Election Law which limits corporate contributions to $5000.” (NYS BOE 1977 Opinion #8)
· In addition, if the company extends credit to a campaign for services performed, with the INTENT to eventually write off the debt, this is considered an act to violate and evade the contribution limits set forth in section 14 of Election Law. (NYS BOE 1977 Opinion #8)
· Section 14-126 of State Election Law clearly states that (3) Any person who knowingly and willfully contributes, accepts or aids or participates in the acceptance of a contribution in an amount exceeding an applicable maximum specified in this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
· Section 14-126 of State Election Law clearly states that (4) Any person who shall, acting on behalf of a candidate or political committee, knowingly and willfully …makes expenditures in connection with a nomination for election of any candidate, or solicits any person to make any such expenditures, for the purpose of evading the contribution limitations of this article, shall be guilty of a class E felony.
· Of further consideration, and perhaps more intriguing, is the fact that Mark Guma is married to Maura Keaney, Mike Bloomberg’s Field Operations Director for the 2009 mayoral race. Keaney worked with John Haggerty and was allegedly involved in the Election Day poll operations and planning that has come to light in recent weeks that involved alleged criminal activities.
· Keaney was moved out of her job with the campaign committee in February, around the same time the NY Post began reporting Haggerty’s enormous Election Day pay-off.
· It seems that Cy Vance was receiving his big pay-day from Mark Guma Communications, Inc.
