The foul stench from the political sewers once again is polluting New York.
A federal jury has convicted two former associates of city comptroller and mayoral candidate John C. Liu "for their
roles in attempting to funnel money to the Liu campaign through an
illegal fund-raising scheme" as reported by Benjamin Weiser for The New York Times: "prosecutors sought to portray the Liu campaign as condoning, if not
outright orchestrating, questionable practices designed to maximize
fund-raising, and that the two defendants’ actions merely fit into a
larger pattern."
Last month six politicians were charged for their alleged roles in an election scheme by which Democratic state
Senator Malcolm Smith "paid top Republicans for permission to run on
their ticket in the city's upcoming mayoral race" as then reported by Edith Honan for Reuters, and in announcing their indictment United States
Attorney Preet Bharara said in a press release
that "a show-me-the-money culture seems to pervade every level of New
York government" which stretches from the city to the capital, and "we
will continue pursuing and punishing every corrupt official we find."
In a follow-up speech Bharara said before the Citizens Crime Commission that "his office has been adding staff to its public-corruption unit,"
and law enforcement will "use every aggressive and creative tool at our
disposal -- wiretaps and confidential informants and undercover agents
and stings" as reported by Joseph Spector for Politics on the Hudson.
Indeed, another round of corruption indictments against New York politicians may be in the works. Disgraced state senator Shirley L. Huntley from Queens "recorded multiple elected officials at the direction of federal
prosecutors last year while she was still serving in the Legislature," and "prosecutors indicated that her recordings may help them bring charges
against another, unnamed senator, and two other elected officials" as reported by Thomas Kaplan for The New York Times.
Bharara previously spent five years as a mob-busting AUSA prosecuting the Gambino and Colombo crime families, and he may find taking on dirty New York politicans is a more daunting task.
Meanwhile, dirtbag Congressman Charlie Rangel "is suing House Speaker
John Boehner and six other lawmakers to overturn his censure on ethics
charges" on the laughable claim that his due process rights or something
were violated as reported by Kevin Robillard for Politico: "the House voted overwhelmingly to censure Rangel," and "the censure covered a wide range of activities, including using a
rent-controlled apartment in Harlem as a campaign office, using
congressional stationery and staff to solicit funds for an academic
center named after Rangel and failing to pay taxes on rental income for
17 years."
Rangel is represented by Jay Goldberg who was a long-time defense lawyer for now-dead Genovese capo Matty Ianniello as reported by the New York Post. For decades Ianniello ran the Times Square vice rackets which included his gay bars out of which teenage hustlers sold themselves to chicken hawks.
In late 2010 the House voted 333
over 79 to censure the former Ways and Means Committee Chair, and now instead of accepting responsibility for his ethical violations
Rangel blames political persecution and in a Nixonian
riff insists "I am not corrupt."
Of course, in a representative democracy the problem really isn't with the slimeball politicians but the New Yorkers who keep electing them.