Was there some prior casus belli in the now open political and legal offensive launched against Andrew Cuomo? Does there really need to be one ?
When Preet Bharara speaks can you actually see Senator Chuck Schumer's lips move ?
Where does Regina Calcaterra fit into all of this ? Is hers a bigger role than heretofore disclosed ?
Right now, I only have these few questions. Continue looking at this space for some interesting answers or even more interesting and intriguing questions...
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"Galewyn Massey said... [from my comment of July 31, 2014 at 12:00 AM to a prior post]
UPDATE: THE "REACHING THE BOILING POINT" EDITION
LATE BREAKING NEWS
U.S. Attorney fires a shot across Cuomo's bow, in the form of a sternly worded letter to panel of prosecutors on Moreland Commission to preserve evidence, not to interfere with witnesses and do nothing to alter perceptions and recollections
According to a report in the New York Times, "In an escalation of the confrontation between the United States attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo over the governor’s cancellation of his own anticorruption commission, Mr. Bharara has threatened to investigate the Cuomo administration for possible obstruction of justice or witness tampering. *** The warning, in a sharply worded letter from Mr. Bharara’s office, came after several members of the panel issued public statements defending the governor’s handling of the panel, known as the Moreland Commission, which Mr. Cuomo created last year with promises of cleaning up corruption in state politics but shut down abruptly in March...." (See "U.S. Attorney Warns Cuomo on Ethics Case" by Susanne Craig, Thomas Kaplan & William K. Rashbaumjuly, 7/31/14, NY Times [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/31/nyregion/us-attorney-warns-cuomo-on-ethics-case-.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSum&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0])."
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[LANGUAGE OF WARNING LETTER IS STARK AND SPECIFIC]
Also, a key portion of the Times report cited in my comment of "... July 31, 2014 at 12:00 AM..." above states: "The letter from prosecutors, which was read to The New York Times, says, 'We have reason to believe a number of commissioners recently have been contacted about the commission’s work, and some commissioners have been asked to issue public statements characterizing events and facts regarding the commission’s operation. *** To the extent anyone attempts to influence or tamper with a witness’s recollection of events relevant to our investigation, including the recollection of a commissioner or one of the commission’s employees, we request that you advise our office immediately, as we must consider whether such actions constitute obstruction of justice or tampering with witnesses that violate federal law.' "
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"Galewyn Massey said... [from my comment of July 31, 2014 at 8:35 AM to a prior post]
BACKFILL: THE "LET'S DO LUNCH AND ISSUE SOME WARNINGS" EDITION
BHARARA AND SCHNEIDERMAN DO LUNCH THEN ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE ON GOVERNOR CUOMO AND HIS GUYS
***
Liz Benjamin's post in the State of New York Politics on Wednesday said, "At the height of Moreland madness, two of the most high profile players in this seemingly never-ending saga – US Attorney Preet Bharara and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman – met for a very public lunch in lower Manhattan yesterday, multiple sources confirm. *** The Democratic duo was spotted lunching at City Hall Restaurant – an eatery favored by members of the New York City political set due to its proximity to (you guessed it) City Hall. Schneiderman and Bharara have known each other in a professional capacity for the past several years, but aren’t personal friends, according to a source familiar with their relationship...." (See "Bharara and Schneiderman Do Lunch" by Liz Benjamin, 7/30/14, State of Politics - NY [http://www.nystateofpolitics.com/2014/07/bharara-and-schneiderman-do-lunch/] [following this posting was this notation: "This entry was posted by Liz Benjamin on July 30, 2014 at 2:05 pm"]). Assuming the lunch was "yesterday" from 7/30/14, it happened on 7/29/14.
According to a report in today's New York Post, "The development [Bharara's warning letter]came after Bharara dined with state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a key potential witness in the investigation. *** Neither camp is saying whether Cuomo or his panel was on the menu...." (See "Bharara weighs tampering & obstruction probe of Cuomo administration" by Joe Tacopino & Carl Campanile, 7/31/14, NY Post [http://nypost.com/2014/07/31/bharara-weighs-tampering-obstruction-probe-of-cuomo-administration/])."
16 comments:
A war between a Governor and a Senator?
Conventional wisdom is the Governor prevails. A Fovernor has more patronage to spread around.
However, senator Schumer has the US Attorney as his field operator.
That changes everything !!
This governor doesn't look like he's going to be a "Forevernor" -- more like a "Whatevernor"
at first You said Marty Golden should feel threatened by all this. Now you say it is a civil war to control the democrat party.
Make up your mind.
That Bharara's Schumer's pawn is hard to swallow. Schumer's old school New York politics. Bharara 'n Schneiderman are idealistic crusaders. Sand in the finely oiled machine, b/c you can't reason w/ idealists.
Ha Ha the comment above is so quaint. Yeah, Schumer nominated his former counsel Preet to be Us Attorney because he is an "idealistic crusader".
Ever wonder why Preet never takes a look at the 26 million dollars in Schumers campaign fund that he scammed out oof Wall Street?
UPDATE: THE "WE DON'T NEED JUST ANY EMAILS, WE NEED TO SEE THE RIGHT EMAILS" EDITION
GOP CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE BRUCE BLAKEMAN IS NOT LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT COMMUNICATIONS TO AND FROM KATHLEEN RICE --- HE NEEDS TO ASK, NOT WHAT RICE KNEW AND WHEN SHE KNEW IT, BUT WHO WAS BEHIND WHAT MORELAND COMMISSION CO-CHAIRMAN RICE KNEW AND DID BEFORE AND DURING AUGUST 2013
According to Long Island's principal daily paper, Newsday, "Republican congressional candidate Bruce Blakeman on Thursday called on his Democratic opponent Kathleen Rice to release all emails from her time as a co-chair of a state anti-corruption commission. *** At a news conference in Mineola, Blakeman, who faces Rice for the 4th Congressional District seat of retiring Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola), took aim at her role with the Moreland Commission on public corruption. *** 'In our search for the truth, we are asking [Rice] . . . to break her silence and tell the public exactly what she knew regarding any political interference.... If Kathleen Rice knew that crimes were being committed, or at the very least allegations of unethical conduct, she as a prosecutor has an absolute, non-delegable legal obligation to disclose that conduct immediately to the state attorney general or the United States attorney, Blakeman said." ( See "Blakeman to Rice: release emails from stint on corruption panel" by Laura Figueroa, 7/31/14, Newsday {http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/blakeman-to-rice-release-emails-from-stint-on-corruption-panel-1.8936555]).
Given the history of this case, Mr. Blakeman might be looking through the wrong end of the telescope, when it comes to what Kathleen Rice knew, and when and how she knew it. In the abovecited article, Newsday's Laura Figueroa noted this: "...a Rice email quoted in the Times article suggested she had knowledge of possible interference by the Cuomo administration. *** In an Aug. 28, 2013, email to the commission's two other co-chairs, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick and attorney Milton Williams, Rice noted that the commission's Chief of Investigations E. Danya Perry had shared concerns with her about resistance she had encountered from the panel's executive director when she sought to subpoena the Real Estate Board of New York. *** 'Danya can't be prevented from doing the most basic and noncontroversial aspects of her job,' Rice wrote. 'Thoughts??' " However, that doesn't even begin to tell the story of Kathleen Rice and her attempted actions on the most recent incarnation of the Moreland Commission.
Rice was on a Jeremiad from early August 2013 (See my post of 8/7/13, "One Picture of State Senator Martin Golden Is Worth a Thousand Words — or At Least Three — “SUBPOENAS” “MORELAND” and “COMMISSION ," together with my ultimate and penultimate comments of 8/8/13 following it, to see the nature and scope of what Kathleen Rice was trying to do).
Knowing what we now all know Governor Coumo believed the Moreland Commission was set up to do, and how his man Schwartz was closely shepherding its activities; quite simply, Kathleen Rice's actions and statements in early August 2013 were nothing less than an attempt to highjack the Moreland Commission and run it as she saw fit. Given Ms. Rice's political plans in 2013 and going forward, she would not make the moves that she did as a single "Co-chairman" of the Commission, unless she knew that she had friends in high places to take on the likes of the Governor and his top lieutenants dealing with the Commission. An unseen hand apparently was working behind the scenes of the Moreland Commission before August 2013; and that hand did not belong to Andrew Cuomo or any of his people.
The end result will be Cuomo winds up with a Lt Governor he dosent want.
If Dem Teachout gets knocked off over her residence Lt Gov Tim Wu is in a primary with Kathy Hochshul.
I dont see any of this helping Astorino.
Forty years ago this week the House judiciary Committee voted to impeach Nixon.
I still don't know who ordered the Watergate break in and why.
Lets get real about the "lunch" between AG Schneiderman & Schumers gofer.
it was Schumers way of saying Schneiderman is not a target. This is all about Cuomo, Cuomo, Cuomo.
To the comment above about Watergate.
John Dean ordered the break. As with many criminal cases the first one to cut a deal to talk with prosecutors is the guilty party.
The question begs, which side does democrat Marty Golden take in a democratic civil war....
Marty, Hynes, Cuomo are all in the same swamp.
Cuomo and Golden will probably get lucky and be re-elected. But Cuomo and Golden have to be lucky everyday. The opposition only has to be lucky once.
Just ask Hynes.
Does anyone think Hynes is the only prosecutor who played around with seized assets?
I doubt this can of worms will be opened by another prosecutor.
Good point from comment above. When Morgethau left office the NYTs reported he had dozens of secret accounts.
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