State Senator Thomas Libous and his son indicted on charges of lying to F.B.I. – Federal Prosecutor says Libous schemed to channel money to son’s business
His Bay Ridge comrade in arms Charles “Joe” Hynes is under intense investigation by the Feds [and many others] – His GOP running-mate, Congressman Michael Grimm, is circling the drain for Federal offenses – AND NOW, even his NY State Senate Deputy Leader and colleague Tom Libous has been indicted by the Feds
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara says, “...This Office will continue to pursue elected officials who attempt to take corrupt advantage of their positions....”
The NY Times reports that State Senator Thomas W. Libous, the Senate’s second highest ranking Republican, known to be a close ally of Governor Cuomo, was indicted on today along with his son, Matthew, on charges that the state senator had lied to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and that his son had obstructed a tax investigation and had filed false tax returns....” (See “State Senator Libous Indicted on Charges of Lying to F.B.I.” by William K. Rashbaum, Suzanne Craig, & Thomas Kaplan, 7/1/14, NY Times/ nytimes.com [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/02/nyregion/state-senator-thomas-libous-indicted-on-charges-of-lying-to-fbi.html?_r=0]).
According to the Times, “The senator and his son were charged in separate indictments, and the outcome of Senator Libous’s case, in which he faces up to five years in prison, could affect the balance of power in the Senate.... The indictment of Senator Libous effectively could deprive the governor of his most powerful and sympathetic ally within the Senate Republican caucus, which has shared control of the chamber with an independent faction of Democrats. But it comes just weeks after Mr. Cuomo made a break of his own, agreeing for the first time to help Democrats in an aggressive effort to capture control of the chamber.”
This part of the Times report is likely to be even more distressing to Brooklyn’s State Senator Golden, “The charges were brought by the office of the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara. *** ‘Public servants should serve the public first, not themselves and their families,’ Mr. Bharara said in a statement. *** Mr. Bharara’s prosecutors are conducting unrelated investigations focused on more than half a dozen other state legislators based on inquiries that had been conducted by the Moreland Commission, an anti-corruption panel that Mr. Cuomo created last July and shut down at the end of March.”
The Daily News and Wall Street Journal have both posted news articles on the Libous indictments (See “Thomas Libous, NY Senate's No. 2 Republican, charged with lying to FBI: UPDATED” by Glenn Blain, 7/1/14, NY Daily News/ Daily Politics Blog [http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/binghamton-sen-thomas-libous-second-most-powerful-republican-senate-indicted-making-false-statements-fbi-blog-entry-1.1850542]; see also “New York State Senator Indicted – Thomas Libous Charged With Lying to the FBI” by Erica Orden & Sean Gardiner, 7/1/14, Wall Street Journal/ WSJ online [http://online.wsj.com/articles/new-york-state-senator-thomas-libous-indicted-in-federal-court-along-with-his-son-matthew-1404230679]).
The Daily News feature by Glenn Blain contained theses details as updates: “UPDATE 1: ... The indictment comes as Republicans were already reeling from the collapse of their power-sharing agreement with the Independent Democratic Conference and vows by Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio to return the Senate to Democratic control after the November election....
UPDATE 2 : Bharara, in a statement, said: ‘As alleged, Thomas Libous took advantage of his position as Senator and Chairman of the Transportation Committee by corruptly causing lobbyists, who wanted Libous's influence to benefit their clients, to funnel money through a law firm to his son where Libous has gotten his son a position. He then tried to cover up his corrupt conduct by lying to FBI Agents about his knowledge of his son's arrangement with the firm, as the Indictment describes. Public servants should serve the public first, not themselves and their families. This Office will continue to pursue elected officials who attempt to take corrupt advantage of their positions.’ ”
Go ahead and keep on cheering for Obamas prosecutors that go after hard working Republicans
ReplyDeleteIs that the best defense the old bulls in the GOP in the NYS Senate can come up with ?
ReplyDeleteBRILLIANT !
Look at the Obama Justice Department charges against Libous and family - real crimes - real corruption. Doesn't it look a lot like what's going on a lot closer to home in Brooklyn ?
Great, let's give the Democrats the high ground when it comes to the corruption issue.
BACKFILL: THE "DUCKS IN A ROW STARTING TO LOOK LIKE A HERD OF CATS" EDITION
ReplyDeleteALSO CHALLENGER TO IDC STATE SENATOR SAVINO DROPS OUT BECAUSE IDC GROUP IS GOING TO CAUCUS WITH DEMOCRAT MAJORITY IN NYS SENATE
A little while back, one of my better Baker Street Boys told me about a personal call from Governor Cuomo to Councilman Vinny Gentile. The Governor had called to urge Mr. G to run for his old state senate seat - or at least the one that is now held by Marty Golden, the man who originally took the seat away from Gentile. At the time, Cuomo was ready to make promises, but Vinny said he didn't think it would work for him.
It's interesting how that dovetails into the breakdown of the deal that allowed Dean Skelos to keep running the state senate; and how that was quickly followed by the Federal Indictment of Cuomo's go-to Republican in the NY State Senate, Tom Libous.
I'm sure one or two of Marty Golden's staffers actually said this indictment of Libous might turn out to be a good thing, with the rest listening in shocked disbelief......
Further confirming IDC-GOP cooperation is a thing of the past – “Staten Island lawyer and M.T.A. board member Allen Cappelli is withdrawing his challenge for State Senator Diane Savino's seat. *** Cappelli attributes the agreement between the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference to rejoin the mainline Democrats come November as his reason for bowing out.... Cappelli's announcement comes on the same day Syracuse Common Council member Jean Kessner, who was vying for State Senator David Valesky's seat, dropped her bid for the seat. *** Last week, Rockland County Senator David Carlucci's challenger also withdrew from the Sept. 9 Democratic primary...” (See “Savino challenger withdraws from Senate race” by Josefa Velasquez, 7/1/14, Capital/ New York [http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/07/8548279/savino-challenger-withdraws-senate-race]).
UPDATE: THE “ANOTHER DAY OLDER AND THE DEEPER IN” EDITION
ReplyDelete24-HOURS LATER AND A CREDIBLE DENIAL OR REASONABLE EXPLANATION HAS NOT BEEN FORTHCOMING FROM GOP STATE SENATOR TOM LIBOUS OR ANYBODY ELSE
HOPEFULLY, TOM LIBOUS CAN BEAT CANCER, BUT I DOUBT THAT HE IS LIKELY TO BEAT THIS INDICTMENT
CANDIDATES LINE UP FOR GOP PRIMARY AND GENERAL ELECTION RACES AGAINST LIBOUS
Another day has passed since the initial reports of the Libous indictments, father and son. Still nothing worth talking about has been put forward by Republican State Senator Libous or any of his allies and/or defenders by way of explanation or denial.
In spite of allegations of influence-peddling and health issues, New York State Senator Libous looks like he is still willing to seek another term. “In a statement released by Senator Libous’ office, a spokesman said ‘Senator Libous has served the residents of the Southern Tier with honesty and integrity for the past 26 years.... He’s innocent and he’ll run for re-election.’” (See “Candidates Line Up to Challenge NYS Senator Tom Libous” by Kathy Whyte, 7/2/14, WNBF News Radio [http://wnbf.com/candidates-line-up-to-challenge-nys-senator-tom-libous/]).
Statements like the one above and this one by the Broome County Republican Leader Bijjay Datta aren’t worth very much at all: “Senator Libous will fight these charges with the same vigor with which he’s fought cancer and he’s fought for his district over his entire career. No one has done more for our community over the last few decades. I’m glad he’s running for re-election to continue fighting for us.” (See “Broome GOP chair responds to Libous indictment
Posted on July 2, 2014 at 9:08 am by Matthew Hamilton [http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/216078/broome-gop-chair-responds-to-libous-indictment/]). Oh, did I mention that Mr. Datta was former director of public affairs for Libous and the campaign manger for the Friends of Senator Libous Committee.
Joseph Bruno, former NYS GOP Senate Majority Leader, who had his conviction on corruption charges reversed and then was acquitted on a re-trial, gave State Senator Libous this ringing defense: “Why didn't they charge him two years ago? Or two, three, five years ago? Why now in the middle of the political season when he is circulating petitions?” (See “Cleared of His Own Corruption Scandal, Bruno Defends State Sen. Libous” by “Web Staff”, 7/2/14, Time Warner Cable News/ Watertown/North [http://watertown.twcnews.com/content/news/749778/cleared-of-his-own-corruption-scandal--bruno-defends-state-sen--libous/]). To me, this means Joe Bruno knows a lot more about what Tom Libous has been guilty of than Preet Bharara and the rest of the Feds' prosecution team.....
When the Feds indict you for lying to the Feds, you probably lied to the Feds and they can prove it. Remember it’s very easy to slip into a lie here and there when the FBI is questioning you about a member of your family.
On the political side of things candidates are lining up to challenge Libous. Denver Jones, a man from Candor, NY who co-owns an electronics manufacturing company in Ithaca announced he plans to challenge Libous in the Republican primary; and Jones says his team is working right now to collect the necessary petition signatures to get him onto on the ballot for the GOP line.
Broome County Democratic Committee Chairman, James Testani says he had calls from at least three potential challengers and organization Democrats will back former Vestal Town Supervisor Andrea Stazak to challenge the Republican Libous.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteMarty Golden and Tom Libous worked on a lot of stuff together in Albany. They are both Republican-Conservatives. They are both part of the Skelos leadership team in the New York State Senate.
Skelos spoke up for Libous, why hasn't Golden?
UPDATE: THE “LULL AFTER THE STORM” EDITION
ReplyDeleteDAYS LATER – AND STILL NO CREDIBLE DENIAL, EXPLANATION OR ALIBI – BY LIBOUS OR ANY OF HIS ASSOCIATES
Take a look at his personal un-official web page, “Senator Tom Libous” [http://www.tomlibous.com/] — not a word about being indicted, much less any excuse, explanation or denial (See also sub-headings “What’s New” [http://www.tomlibous.com/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC={9C7109B7-9774-4EF7-A267-884D40841021}]; “My Bio/Staff” [http://www.tomlibous.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={8273960E-5FCD-4429-BAE6-98818C88E676}]). Maybe if you specifically ask a question about it at his “Contact Me” link [http://www.tomlibous.com/index.asp?Type=DYNAFORM&SEC={4E462E9F-4CFA-485D-8695-A682C2B7EAC8}], although one of the notations at that site indicates Mr. Libous is probably a bit snarky about dealing with legal matters. His “Official” 52nd NYS Senate District website [http://www.nysenate.gov/senator/tom-libous/contact] is no more enlightening, so a detailed look at that would be redundant.
It remains to be seen whether the news and/or facts of the indictment of State Senator Libous will effect State Senator Golden and his 2014 re-election bid. Thus-far Senator G has been mum about the subject of Libous. However, as the NY Times report [cited above in the main post] about the Libous indictment observed, “Republicans have been eager to remind voters of scandals that plagued Democratic senators in the past, and a fresh scandal involving an upstate Republican conflicts with that theme.”
Indeed it does.
UPDATE: THE “YOU SAY EITHER – I SAY ‘EYE-THER’” EDITION
ReplyDeleteLEGAL EXPERTS SPLIT ON STRENGTH OF INDICTMENT LEVELED AGAINST GOP STATE SENATOR THOMAS LIBOUS
TIMING OF NEXT LIBOUS HEARING IN FEDERAL COURT BAD FOR MARTY GOLDEN AND REST OF REPUBLICAN STATE SENATORS IN CONTESTED SEATS
“Libous, a Binghamton Republican, entered a not-guilty plea Tuesday to the single-count indictment charging him with providing false statements during a June 24, 2010 interview with FBI agents investigating whether he used his influence to obtain a job for his son at a Westchester County law firm. *** Legal scholars who reviewed the case said it differs from the type of allegations typically leveled by federal prosecutors in public corruption cases....” (See ““Legal experts split on soundness of Libous indictment” by pressconnects.com/ A Gannett Company, 7/5/14
[http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20140705/NEWS01/307050050/Legal-experts-split-soundness-Libous-indictment]).
The article goes on to state that “Among the false statements Libous is accused of making to the FBI in Tuesday’s indictment are that he could not recall how his son began to work at the law firm, that no deals were made to get his son a job there, and that he never promised work to the law firm. *** Libous’ son, Matthew T. Libous, also was indicted Tuesday. The six counts against him include obstructing the IRS and signing false tax returns. He also entered a not-guilty plea....” In a reply to the charges, Paul DerOhannesian, an Albany-based attorney representing Libous, said the indictment “essentially alleges a dispute about a conversation four years ago about something that happened nine years ago.... That scenario is just fraught with the potential for difficulties in recalling and interpreting events and facts.”
DerOhannesian said the next stage in the progress of the case are likely to involve legal requests and responses from the two defendants, and then a conference before the Federal Court, which is now scheduled for Sept. 3.
The timing of that conference on September 3rd is especially bad for State Senator Libous, who looks like he might be facing a Republican Primary. It also isn’t ideal for any of Libous’ GOP colleagues, like Marty Golden, because the Libous case and talk about GOP corruption will be back in the news at the top of the 2014 campaign season.
State Senator Golden’s likely Democratic opponent has made it clear that his campaign against the incumbent will involve a strong anti-corruption attack against the state senator (See my earlier post of 5/14/14, “Bay Ridge Blogger and Political Activist Jamie Kemmerer Reported to be Ready to Run Against Marty Golden” below on this blog [http://galewynmassey.blogspot.com/2014/05/bay-ridge-blogger-and-political.html]). Doubtless, Mr. Kemmerer will make hay out of State Senator Libous’ indictment for lying to the FBI and the corruption charges against Matthew Libous that underlay his father’s indictment.