A loosey -goosey sort of partial disclosure: I’ve been pushed, pulled, cajoled and promised by a friend who is close to one of Democratic candidates running for District Attorney in Kings County to do a puff piece on my friend’s candidate; or if I wouldn't/couldn’t do that, to do some kind of negative posting about the other candidates
So here’s how I have decided to play this:
A) I have unequivocally ruled out any kind of puff-piece for the candidate being pushed by my “Ole Buddy.” Because frankly, who wants to play the part of puffer for any kind of pro-Democrat political porn, which is what my friend was asking me to be by building up his guy on an independent conservative Republican blog like this one? Besides, even though Abe George is a nice enough guy to-socialize-with over a cocktail or two (I first met him about three years ago and have had a few beers and/or other spirits with him a few times since), and we do share a position or two, especially on the need to use grand jury investigations to unravel all the institutional cover-ups of pedophiles, the man has altogether too many old-fashioned liberal notions and newly-popular proposals about law enforcement and criminal prosecution to be my guy for Brooklyn DA any time soon (in that regard, those popular proposals would be clearly far more libertarian than conservative).
As to the other proposition:
B) Anything like a “hit piece” on any candidate or candidates has to have a bona fide foundation in fact and a nexus to positions or principles that I hold in particular, or to which I believe independent libertarian or conservative Republicans should adhere generally. So I put it to my “Ole Buddy” — if you can come up with something that properly should be posted on something called “The Brooklyn Independent GOP Fountainhead” let me see it and I’ll think about it. So my friend put on his Baker Street Irregulars deer-stalker cap and hunted down some stuff about the other two candidates running against his guy.
My friend has come up with a theory, which he believes is proved by previously published material, that the incumbent DA and another candidate being pushed by a large segment of the Brooklyn Democratic establishment, Kenneth Thompson, are really an “Entry” if one wants to use a racetrack term for the concept. Even though most people might see them as two different horses in the race and specific bettors might want to bet on each of them separately, all bets on either of those horses are treated as a single bet with the money bet on each horse joined in the betting pool; and a payout made if either of the horses in the “Entry” wins. In the case of the Brooklyn Democratic DA candidates now running against my friend’s candidate, Abe George, the common betting pool on them is part of the fund raising picture shown in the public filings to date. Entries are common in horse racing if there is a commonality of owners, trainers or stables for more than one horse running in a single race. It’s less common in politics for people running for a single office, but think of the political entry as involving common consultants, fund raisers or donors.
In the last DA election cycle, according to my friend, the “Entry” was incumbent DA Hynes and well known Brooklyn attorney Paul Wooten. After Mr. Wooten’s early campaign and petitioning had cleared all other contenders to Mr. Hynes off the board, Wooten withdrew his name from the primary ballot for that year. Not long after, Wooten was nominated for the NYS Supreme Court where he is now a sitting Justice.
According to my friend's theory, this year the links and overlaps are between Democratic DA candidates Hynes and Kenneth Thompson, and they involve Scott Levenson of a consulting firm called the Advance Group and a man named Jack A. Brown III. After hearing my “Ole Buddy” out, I think he might be onto something.
According to filings, Mr. Brown III was for a time in late 2012, Thompson’s biggest non-family donor to his campaign for Brooklyn DA . His part in Kenneth Thompson’s fund raising effort is already controversial ( See “Brooklyn District Attorney hopeful Ken Thompson returns $5K campaign donation from prison firm” by Reuven Blau, NY Daily News, 2/4/13 [http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-da-hopeful-ken-thompson-returns-5k-campaign-donation-article-1.1255284#ixzz2KzYrh5oz]). In the run-up to the 2013 elections Kenneth Thompson is not the only politician to have accepted money from Jack A. Brown III. In December, he gave NYC Controller John Liu $100; and NYC City Councilwoman Letitia James (D-Crown Heights) $250 [remember, at the same time Brown gave prospective DA candidate Thompson $5,000, he gave the sitting Brooklyn DA, who stands a good chance of re-election zero, zip, nadda ($0) – at the same time Kenneth Thompson had a huge fund-raising month overall and the Hynes Campaign brought in nothing ].
Jack A. Brown III’s professional “spokesperson” is Scott Levenson. DA Hynes’ and Mr. Levenson share myriad links and have a very long and complex history. When you get into the specifics, it gets really twisted and convoluted. My friend tried to untangle it all for me, but as far as I’m concerned it’s still very much a Gordian knot. The industrious among you are welcome to try to untangle it all for yourselves. Here’s some places to start ( See, “Shortchanging Ex-Offenders” NY Times Editorial, 12/23/12 [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/24/opinion/shortchanging-ex-offenders.html?_r=0];
“A Halfway House Built on Exaggerated Claims” by Sam Dolnick 12/12/12 [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/nyregion/at-federal-halfway-house-in-brooklyn-a-dubious-operator.html?pagewanted=3&ref=nyregion]; “N.Y. Halfway House Operator Under Scrutiny,”
Philanthropy Today, 12/14/12 [http://philanthropy.com/blogs/philanthropytoday/n-y-halfway-house-operator-under-scrutiny/59605]; “Judge Shaken Down, Brooklyn's D.A. Told” by Jack Newfield, 6/16/03, NY Sun [http://www.journalistjacknewfield.blogspot.com/]).
As a matter of course, Republican County Chairman Craig Eaton and the Brooklyn GOP could easily CONTINUE to back the venerable Democrat Brooklyn DA, and justify the move as dealing with the lesser of three evils; and they could buttress that with an argument that Hynes is relatively conservative by New York standards, has shown a little friendship for the Brooklyn GOP and Conservative Party, and he has a generally decent record as a prosecutor [with some glaring exceptions !].
However, if Chairman Eaton really wants to be a strong GOP leader, who stands on his own two feet, he needs be a Republican Rudolf, to be proud of his shiny red nose, and to not get involved in all the Democrat [and Conservative Party] reindeer games by giving away so many Wilson-Pakulas. Especially in 2013, Eaton and the rest of the Brooklyn GOP need to steer clear of the big Democrat Party mess that is shaping up in the Brooklyn DA race.
It’s up to Brooklyn’s independent Republicans to push Eaton to be sure to nominate a qualified candidate for DA on the GOP line by coming up with a candidate of their own for that spot. That candidate should be in line with GOP principles and willing to run along with the rest of the GOP city-wide slate in 2013.
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