On Saturday, the NY Post ran a piece on some $750,000 of Mayor Bloomberg's money and what it was used for.
[John] Haggerty was also the recipient of a separate, eye-popping $120,000 personal contribution from the mayor on Nov. 20, which went to a political committee he had formed a month earlier and registered at his home in Forest Hills, Queens.
Until yesterday, mayoral aides and party officials had refused for a week to say who was behind Special Election Operations.
Then on Monday, the Post followed up its report saying that the stories on this money are now conflicting.
John Haggerty, a former Bloomberg campaign aide, told The Post that he used the money to pay poll workers on Election Day.
But a longtime political operative says he believes the cash was actually used as "street money" -- handouts deployed by campaign surrogates on Election Day to "encourage" voters to go to the polls.
Were they bribes, perchance?
Today in the Post, we're reading the Mayor wasn't aware of anything prior to the first story written by the paper on Saturday....
Strange. Urban Elephants readers were kept up-t0-date New York's Petitioning process and some of it dealt with a little publicized committee seat where a battle between the Queens GOP & the Bloomberg camp played out.
New York Petitioning, New York Petitioning Pt 2, New York Petitioning Pt 3, New York Petitioning Pt4. I'm sure there are some other articles written that I'm missing.
I wonder why Saturday was the first the mayor had heard of this issue of money and stuff.
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written by Quickjustice , February 03, 2010
In the Nixon White House, it was called "plausible deniability", meaning that the President was always kept ignorant of illegal activities by his aides so that he could deny knowledge later.
There's no doubt Mayor Bloomberg gave Haggerty this money. Haggerty now claims he paid poll workers with it. The burden now is on him to prove that the money wasn't used to finance illegal activities.
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written by Jay Golub , February 07, 2010
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/ indy_big_promises_change_after_secret_U58HpaaZSX5EDHc2s
OFt9I
Interesting thoughts here...
At The Post's request, Bloomberg campaign lawyer Ken Gross provided copies of checks that went to three of the poll watchers. Each received $500.
Mayoral aides said 200 to 300 poll workers were hired, which would result in an expenditure of no more than $150,000 at the $500 rate -- leaving $600,000 of the $750,000 unaccounted for.
Howard Wolfson, the mayor's campaign spokesman, insisted that none of the money went to other purposes. He said the poll-watching account covered expenses such as drivers, cellphones and food as well as wages. He also said that not all of the $750,000 was spent.
But three months after the election, Wolfson couldn't say how much was left.
"Bills are still being reconciled," he explained.
..."still being reconciled?" How is that possible? Is Mr. Wolfson actually saying that people will be paid in the future? $748,500 worth?
Can you pay people who worked on a campaign AFTER the campaign is over?
So...
1. this "company" didn't register until one month AFTER the election
2. the people who actually work at the listed address of the "company" never heard of the "company"
3. The person who happens to "run" the company was a full-time "volunteer" for the campaign (he also received $120,000 in another mysterious account from Mr. Bloomberg)
and 4. the people who "worked" for this "company" have not been paid and the outstanding bills have not been reconciled yet - more than THREE MONTHS after the election!
Good stuff...if you can get away with it.
No wonder the administration's projections for this year's expenditure budget (only a few months ago) were off about 10% - for the 8th year in a row...
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written by Jay Golub , February 08, 2010
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/o...tMTue9FKcL
Three-quarters of a million bucks is a lot of cash for the 200 to 300 poll workers the campaign says it hired — even if, as it insists, other expenses were also covered. Indeed, The Post’s David Seifman reports that in 2005, Mike spent a mere $200,000, through the GOP, for that purpose.
Bloomberg campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson says that “bills are still being reconciled” — three months after the election.
Hurry up, guys.
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written by Rollie from Raleigh , February 09, 2010
These are very serious allegations and need investigation. Wouldn't it be great if there was a city-wide office that had the authority to investigate these things, like, say, a Public Advocate? Someone who was unencumbered by the politics of the city...Well, that's probably a pipe-dream. I guess that's what the 4th Estate is for. Good luck finding out the truth, something smells very fishy.
Also, have any of you heard about "Miss Me Yet?" Beautiful...
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written by Behold a Pale Horse , February 09, 2010
This from Elizabeth Benjamin, http://www.nydailynews.com/blo...loomb.html
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written by Rollie from Raleigh , February 10, 2010
I hope Cy Vance is a straight shooter -- nice to see the press hasn't let this ball drop...yet. Keep up the good work, UE bloggers! I can smell this fishy mess all the way down here, and that's with the foot of snow y'all are getting today!
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written by Jay Golub , February 10, 2010
BAPH, and everyone else, can anyone explain in more detail what this line from Liz's story means?...
Haggerty, who also worked as a volunteer on Bloomberg’s 2005 re-election campaign, played a key role last year in helping the mayor land the GOP ballot line last year when party leaders balked.
...I ask the question: HOW does a seemingly unpaid "volunteer" who has NO formal role in the Republican Party or any of our State's Republican organizations "help the Mayor Land the GOP ballot line?"
just something for us little people to ponder...
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written by Behold a Pale Horse , February 10, 2010
All I know about the Haggertys is what I've read on UE.
Maybe Bloomberg allowed Haggerty to speak as his personal representative to the different county organizations--or one on one--getting to every district leader, count committee person, etc.
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written by Jay Golub , February 10, 2010
"Maybe Bloomberg allowed Haggerty to speak as his personal representative to the different county organizations--or one on one--getting to every district leader, count committee person, etc."
If that was the case, BAPH, what do you think he "said" to all these people?
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written by Behold a Pale Horse , February 10, 2010
This is only an educated guess, but something along the lines of "He'll bankroll your coffers." Each of the county organizations already got $50,000 each. Could more contributions follow the next three years?
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written by Behold a Pale Horse , February 10, 2010
Maybe some of the smaller clubs are getting contributions as well.
Maybe a few patronage jobs were quietly promised.
Again, more educated guesses.
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written by Behold a Pale Horse , February 12, 2010
Another subpoena, http://www.nydailynews.com/blo...probe.html
The Independence Party wants to know what Haggerty did with the $750,000, http://www.nydailynews.com/blo...gerty.html
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written by Jay Golub , February 14, 2010
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/o...ptuJRYafiK
Clearly, Vance is right to be curious.
It strains credulity to believe that such a cloak-and-dagger financial maneuver was necessary to finance an operation as straightforward as observing polling locations — or that it would cost nearly that much.
So where’d the money go?
Vance needs to get to the bottom of this — quickly.
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written by Jay Golub , February 16, 2010
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/l...cz0uJKNVrN
The pieces of the puzzle continue to come together. When will the central actors in this illegal affair come clean?...
"Election records show that John Haggerty Jr. dipped into a separate $200,000 campaign contribution from Bloomberg to rent an office at 67-53 Woodhaven Blvd. in Rego Park starting in October 2009 at $1,600 a month.
The records also show that the state Independence Party on Nov. 3 -- Election Day -- paid $3,200 to the same landlord at the same location for what was described as a security deposit.
Neither Haggerty nor Independence Party officials returned calls to explain the arrangement.
A reporter who visited the building yesterday checked the directory, and found neither the party's name nor the name of Haggerty's 28th Assembly District Republican Committee, which was formed with the mayor's $200,000."
...one can only wonder what "activities" were taking place at this "office," especially considering that Bloomberg had his official Queens office just a few blocks away on Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills.
Why would one need two offices in such close proximity?
Besides, Bloomberg endorsed and supported candidate for City Council, Tom Ognibene, had his office only a few blocks in the other direction. Certainly, with the Haggerty's "running" Tom's failed campaign, they could have used his office for any "activities" necessary, no?
Bloomberg gave Haggerty a $1 million secret slush fund. If the Mayor didn't know about it, doesn't he want to have an idea of what someone did with his six figure contribution of personal funds?
Many already find it hard to believe that the Mayor, know for his hands-on management style, had no idea about the funds or what they were for. Yet still there is no real accountability for the funds.
Maybe over the next few weeks, the campaign will "find" few more checks to show the media...
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written by Jay Golub , February 16, 2010
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_...4/2010-02- 14_mike_cash_linked_to_free_home_queens_crony_probed_ov
er_missing_funds.html#ixzz0fjN3X96v
I normally wouldn't put the entire story up here, but hey, this is such good reporting that I must reprint it all...
"When Mayor Bloomberg funneled $750,000 to a longtime Queens ally last fall, he thought he was buying a citywide poll watching operation.
He may have paid for a house in Forest Hills Gardens, too.
The house was the childhood home of John Haggerty Jr., the Republican operative who has claimed he was working as a volunteer on Bloomberg's third-term campaign.
Haggerty has ducked calls to explain how he spent the $750,000 payment, which went into his newly formed "Special Election Operations LLC."
The money was channeled through the state Independence Party, which got $1.2 million from Bloomberg's pocket right before Election Day.
Sources inside and outside the Bloomberg campaign say it was supposed to buy an extensive Election Day operation, with up to 300 workers paid $500 each to make sure there was no funny business at poll sites.
That only adds up to $150,000, though. One source says the Independence Party can't account for $300,000 to $400,000 of the rest of the money - and has drawn up legal papers against Haggerty to locate the rest.
"It's just infuriating," the source said. "Haggerty probably made money throughout the campaign one way or another."
Special Election Operations got its $750,000 on Dec. 11.
Six days later, Haggerty bought out his brother Bart's share of the family home - paying $1.6 million to the estate of their late father, records show.
It's unclear how much of the purchase was in cash, but Haggerty apparently did not take out a mortgage. The next month, records show, Bart had enough money to buy a $619,000 apartment in Forest Hills - again, apparently without a mortgage.
So where did the Haggerty brothers get that cash? After all, it had been almost a year and a half since their father, a respected longtime lawyer in Albany, passed away.
In his will, he split most of his estate between the brothers - though he gave an extra $30,000 to Bart "due to the extra care, support and effort he expended on my behalf."
Haggerty had another potential pot of Bloomberg cash to tap as well: The mayor gave $120,000 on Nov. 20 to a new political committee Haggerty set up, the 28th Assembly District Republican Committee.
He did not respond to messages left at the house last week, or at the Rego Park office he rents for political operations. Bart did not respond to an e-mail.
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. has issued subpoenas in the case, which may deter them from talking even if Haggerty has done nothing wrong.
Bloomberg campaign officials have generally defended Haggerty, who ran Election Day operations for the mayor's 2001 and 2005 campaigns through the Republican Party.
They say he put together an extensive operation in November that could well have cost $750,000. Campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said the campaign offered to pay Haggerty a salary or bonus, but he declined - which he would have been unlikely to do if he really needed money.
"The suggestion is unfair," Wolfson said. "If he was interested in money, he didn't demonstrate that during the campaign.""
...funny but is it really a surprise at this point that Mr. Wolfson and Mr. Bloomberg were so oblivious to the Haggerty's activities?
And if so, what does that say about this administration and Mr. Bloomberg's campaign?
I think there's a lot more to this scheme - most of which has been outlined again and again on UE - most of which was ignored by the MSM up until the last few months.
It is clear that the hundreds of thousands that were spent against the Queens County GOP organization came, as UE outlined, from Mr. Bloomberg. And as we all know that the establishment in the GOP and most of the high-ranking people on the Bloomberg Campaign read UE regularly during the campaign and beyond, why didn't they question Mr. Haggerty about his financial activity - especially because he essentially REFUSED to be paid officially by the campaign.
What did they think he was doing all of this for? Honor? Ideology?
Please...How naive do they all expect us to think they are?
I will have much more to say about this as time goes on, but for now, let the investigators do their work. In any event, this is an embarrassment for Bloomberg to have such a high ranking "volunteer," who he routinely brings in on high-profile meetings for many purposes, wrapped up using his personal funds for his private gain - and maybe for very illegal activity.
Are we wrong if we judge a person by the company they keep?
i think not...
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