The town’s Marketing campaign Finance Board ought to pause its launch of public marketing campaign funds to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo whereas investigating suspected violations of eligibility guidelines, one Brooklyn lawmaker and good authorities teams charged Thursday.
REUTERS/David ‘Dee’ Delgado
The town’s Marketing campaign Finance Board ought to pause its launch of public marketing campaign funds to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo whereas investigating suspected violations of eligibility guidelines, one Brooklyn lawmaker and good authorities teams charged Thursday.
Council Member Lincoln Restler and authorities reform teams Widespread Trigger and Reinvent Albany urged the CFB to proceed investigating Cuomo’s marketing campaign for allegedly violating finance guidelines relating to collaboration with an excellent PAC supporting his candidacy within the 2025 NYC Mayor’s Race.
On Might 12, the CFB ordered the discharge of $1.2 million in public financing to Cuomo that had been withheld from him again in April over what have been known as clerical errors. Concurrently, nevertheless, the board withheld an extra $622,000 in matching funds that Cuomo would have acquired due to alleged coordination between his marketing campaign and an excellent PAC known as “Fix the City” supporting it.
Restler, a progressive who represents elements of northern Brooklyn, charged on Might 15 that it was “just one of many” methods the Cuomo for Mayor marketing campaign had allegedly violated CFB guidelines that decide whether or not campaigns are eligible to obtain taxpayer funding within the type of 8-to-1 matching {dollars}.
“We’ve seen what happens when we allow corruption to run rampant in our campaign finance system,” mentioned Restler, who’s chair of the Council’s Governmental Operations Committee. “The Campaign Finance Board must take more proactive steps now to hold the Cuomo campaign accountable for its clear violations of our campaign finance law. We shouldn’t have to wait years after the election for investigations and audits to reveal what we already know—the release of all public funds has to stop now.”
Council Member Lincoln Restler.Photograph by Dean Moses
Restler mentioned the CFB ought to examine all actions of the “Fix the City” PAC since Jan. 1. This, Restler and the teams mentioned, would decide whether or not there have been further cases of “inappropriate coordination.”
Along with a overview of all matching funds to the marketing campaign, the advocates additionally urged the CFB to trace down “all potential intermediaries” and demand the marketing campaign hand over related paperwork corresponding to fundraising and bank card information.
“The Cuomo campaign is shamelessly and illegally selling access through his super PAC while expecting taxpayers to fund his direct campaign,” mentioned Susan Lerner, government director of Widespread Trigger New York.
She even went as far as to name the marketing campaign “corrupt” whereas urging the investigation to proceed.
“Penalizing the Cuomo campaign while still giving him more than $1.5 million in taxpayer money will do nothing to stop this flagrantly corrupt behavior,” she mentioned.
The CFB mentioned in an announcement on Monday that they “have reason to believe” that the “Fix the City” expenditure for an advert distributed on Might 4 was not unbiased of the Cuomo marketing campaign.
A spokesperson for the board mentioned the panel is trying into the matter however declined to remark additional.
Cuomo marketing campaign says they’re ‘in full compliance’
In the meantime, the Cuomo for Mayor marketing campaign denied the allegations. Wealthy Azzopardi, a marketing campaign spokesperson, advised New York News that he and his group have operated “in full compliance” with the marketing campaign finance legal guidelines and guidelines.
He added that all the things on the marketing campaign’s web site “was reviewed and approved” by its authorized group upfront of its publication.
“We look forward to making that clear when we respond to the board’s preliminary ruling and receive the full matching funds to which the campaign is entitled,” Azzopardi mentioned.
He then threw political jabs at each Restler and considered one of Cuomo’s major opponents, metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander, whom Restler endorsed within the mayor’s race.
“New Yorkers know it was Andrew Cuomo who raised wages for millions of workers, passed the strongest gun violence prevention and paid family leave laws in the nation and built the Second Avenue subway, the Moynihan Train Hall and the new LaGuardia Airport — all things that actually improved people’s lives,” Azzopardi added, “and they’ll see right through this desperate and feeble attempt at election interference from this unserious, performative, Brad Lander lackey.”
