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September 26, 2012
Anticipating Fallout From Lobbyist’s Legal Cooperation
The New York Times
by Thomas Kaplan and David W. Chen
The halls of the New York State Capitol have for years provided a happy hunting ground for prosecutors and ethics investigators.
Over the last six years, 27 elected officials in Albany have been indicted, convicted, censured, or otherwise accused of misconduct, according to a running tally maintained by the New York Public Interest Research Group. The allegations have been diverse; they include a senator attacking a photographer and an assemblyman having an affair with an intern.
Now, it seems probable that the list will grow: Richard J. Lipsky, a well-known city and state lobbyist convicted of bribing former State Senator Carl Kruger, has been secretly cooperating with the federal authorities, suggesting that other elected officials could soon find themselves in trouble with the law.
Elected officials, and perhaps the developers who bribe them?
“I thought, ‘Who did Lipsky turn on?’ ” said State Senator Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat who has pushed to improve ethics rules in Albany. She added, “I bet many people in elected office and in the lobbying world said to themselves, ‘I wonder if it’s X.’”
Solve for X. Here's a hint.
His clients in recent years have included the Red Apple Group, which operates the Gristedes supermarket chain, and the developer Forest City Ratner, and he gave tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to officials at the city and state levels.
...“A lot of members who started with me are no longer here because they are being housed elsewhere,” City Councilwoman Letitia James of Brooklyn observed Tuesday. She would not be surprised, she said, if Mr. Lipsky tried to reveal “some sordid and/or illegal relationships,” given his extensive dealings with the City Council and the number of big projects the Council has debated.
“A lot of people are bracing themselves for what tomorrow holds,” Ms. James said. “I just hope it’s not any of my colleagues.”
Related coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, Catching up: Powell on Ratner; permit parking; Lipsky talks; new arena sponsors
Norman Oder weighs in on this, and other, news.
Does this mean he'd implicate Forest City or local officials involved with Atlantic Yards? I doubt the former, and have no idea about the latter.
Posted by eric at September 26, 2012 12:55 PM