139 Days and a Wake Up
Andrew Cuomo Pushes Tepid Campaign Finance Reform as Preet Bharara Finds Corruption "Everywhere We Look"
On Wednesday, shortly after Norman Seabrook, president of New York City’s jail officers’ union, was arrested on corruption charges, Governor Andrew Cuomo gave a speech promising new regulations on independent expenditure committees (a.k.a. super PACs). This is the fourth time in five years that the governor has…
Department of Justice Opens Investigation into Tax Avoidance Exposed by Panama Papers Leak
According to the Guardian, the Department of Justice is investigating the global tax avoidance scheme revealed by the publication of the Panama Papers.
Feds: Former State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver Had At Least Two Extramarital Affairs
On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Valerie Caproni ordered that documents related to the conviction of former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on corruption charges last fall be unsealed. Prosecutors say that the documents show Silver carried on extramarital affairs with at least two women—one of…
U.S. Attorney Investigating Elevated Blood-Lead Levels in New York City’s Public Housing
According to court documents filed Wednesday, federal prosecutors in Manhattan are currently investigating environmental health and safety conditions, including “elevated blood-lead levels,” in public housing buildings maintained by the New York City Housing Authority.
Political Heavyweight Real Estate Developer Settles Civil Rights Lawsuit
Glenwood Management, the luxury real estate developer cited (but not charged) in both Dean Skelos and Sheldon Silver’s public corruption trials last year, has agreed to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit, the New York Times reports. The suit claimed that Glenwood had violated the Fair Housing Act’s requirements for…
U.S. Attorney Will Not Bring Charges Against Gov. Andrew Cuomo Over Shuttering of Moreland Commission
On Monday, Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that his office, which had been investigating Governor Andrew Cuomo’s abrupt disbandment of the anticorruption Moreland Commission, in March 2014, would not bring criminal charges against the governor.
U.S. Attorney to Investigate New York Prisoner Death Blamed on "Beat Up Squad"
On Thursday, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, announced that his office would be joining the Dutchess County district attorney’s investigation into the suspicious death of Samuel Harrell, a prisoner at Fishkill Correctional Facility in Beacon, N.Y., in April.
Judge Reprimands Bharara for "Media Blitz" Following Silver Indictment
A federal judge reprimanded U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara for his "media blitz" following the indictment of Sheldon Silver on corruption charges in January, Capital New York reports. The warning came even as the judge rejected Silver's motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that Bharara had made "prejudicial…
News Corp Has a Best Friend in the U.S. Attorney's Office
News Corp has a much-anticipated quarterly earnings call today, following yesterday's board meeting. The one (and only) real agenda item is to figure out how to move past the devastating UK phone hacking scandal—which means making sure it doesn't spread to America. Fortunately, News Corp has something going for it:…
