GOP Congressional Candidate Bruce Blakeman needs to Tie former Brooklyn ADA Kathleen Rice into more than Nassau DA's problems as Moreland Commission Co-chair "Assisting" Investigators

Blakeman needs to look into whether Kathleen Rice is a bridge between some or all of the Hynes Scandals and  Cuomo's Moreland Commission Scandal

With just a little digging, Blakeman can show  >>>   that not long before the 2013 election, the now-discredited Hynes was telling insiders in his campaign that fellow DA Kathleen Rice was a "Good Friend of this Office"  >>>  that Kathleen Rice was broken-in as a Brooklyn ADA by former Brooklyn Senior ADA Michael Vecchione with all his baggage   >>>   that Rice was pushed in her run for Nassau DA by former Brooklyn ADA and Nassau OTB CEO Dino Amoroso, who also saw to it that  her name was scrubbed from problem files in the Brooklyn DA's Office

It has been widely reported that former Moreland Commission Co-chair,  current Democratic Congressional Candidate and Nassau DA  Kathleen Rice is a lynchpin and keystone character in the investigation(s) of Governor Cuomo's alleged "Interference" with "His" Moreland Commission.   Rice's Republican opponent Bruce Blakeman has attempted to have Rice lay bare her involvement with the Moreland Commission.  Although he needs to look  closely at all of that, he has to widen his search into other areas where Rice might have been connected with other scandalous  goings-on   ---   most notably, those involving the recent scandals surrounding Rice's former boss, former Brooklyn DA Charles J. Hynes.

"Democratic congressional candidate Kathleen Rice’s campaign issued a statement Sunday rejecting her Republican opponent’s claims that she 'hand picked' an email released to The New York Times involving her work on the troubled Moreland Commission on Public Corruption. ***  'In her role as a contributor to the integrity of the federal probe, Ms. Rice has not and will not be releasing such information [to the media],'  Rice campaign spokesman Eric Phillips said in a news release Sunday...." (See "4th C.D.: Blakeman, Rice in new exchange over her Moreland role" by Laura Figueroa, 8/3/14, Newsday  [http://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/spin-cycle-1.812042/c-d-4-rice-refutes-blakeman-claim-that-she-released-moreland-e-mail-1.8955354]).  The Blakeman campaign renewed its call, first made last  Thursday, that Rice release all of her Moreland Commission emails to show that one of her emails that had appeared in the NY Times was not selectively released. According to Laura Figueroa's account in Newsday,  "Blakeman campaign spokesman Matt Coleman on Sunday declined to specify why the campaign believed Rice had provided the email in question to the New York Times. ***  Coleman said:  'If Ms. Rice has nothing to hide, why is she refusing to release all her Moreland communications?' ”  In the same Newsday report, "Rice’s campaign has said she is not releasing emails because it would 'deeply compromise an ongoing federal investigation that she is assisting,' referring to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s probe into Cuomo’s abrupt disbanding of the commission in March."

A  report covering much of the same material appeared in today's Daily News, but it used a slightly different quote by Kathleen Rice's spokesperson that expressed thoughts similar to those above thus: "Rice’s spokesman, Eric Phillips, confirmed she was providing assistance to federal investigators but would not comment on his boss’ role. 'Consistent with her interest and responsibility in helping to preserve the integrity of the ongoing federal inquiry, District Attorney Rice is declining to comment publicly at this time,' Phillips said...." (See "Moreland Commission co-chair Kathleen Rice is 'assisting' feds with probe"  by Kenneth Lovett, 8/4/14, Daily News [http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/moreland-commission-co-chair-helping-feds-article-1.1890649]).

Frankly, Eric Phillips is pedalling a load of crap, it doesn't matter whether it's to Newsday, the Daily News or any other media outlet.  Blakeman and his people are really onto something.  The voluntary  release of all of  Moreland Commission Co-chairperson Rice's emails about the activities of the Moreland Commission shouldn't compromise anything, except possibly for some cooperation deal that Kathleen Rice might have worked out with the Federal prosecutors.  You know how that works, often a more guilty smaller fish gets a good deal to help out in catching  a  bigger fish ( just picture Kathleen Rice in a low budget knockoff of  "American Hustle" [I know she's no Amy Adams or Jennifer Lawrence]).

BLAKEMAN CAN BLOW THE LID OFF THE RICE CAMPAIGN  >>>  HE NEEDS TO BRING OUT ALL OF RICE'S HISTORY AND CONNECTIONS TO THE BROOKLYN DA'S OFFICE AND TIE THAT INTO HER CURRENT "ASSISTANCE" OF THOSE NOW INVESTIGATING THE GOVERNOR

Right now,  it would appear that Rice's most newsworthy actvity is as a cooperating witness with U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's investigations into Governor Cuomo's alleged "interference" with the most recent version of the Moreland Commission, while at the same time running in Nassau County for the seat being vacated by Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy.  Rice's opponent, Bruce Blakeman, may have an opportunity to take advantage of some problems that might crop up regarding who Kathleen Rice actually is and who have pushed some of her  key career moves.

Blakeman needs to bring out that Kathleen Rice's apparently  successful career is not the result of a combination of luck and talent, but is instead the result of the heavy use of helpful connections and putting herself  in the right place at the right time.  Blakeman needs to say something like this right away: "What else would you expect from someone who can say this about herself, 'Obviously I’m very ambitious, but I don’t think ambition should have a negative connotation....' ”   (See "Nassau County Prosecutor’s Decision to Seek House Seat Is Rooted in Family" by Joseph Berger, 3/20/14, NY Times {http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/21/nyregion/nassau-county-prosecutor-kathleen-rices-decision-to-seek-house-seat-is-rooted-in-family.html?_r=0]).  Blakeman and his team only have to show that any assistance Rice is giving to those investigating the recent Moreland Commission fiasco is the product of just another piece of that ambition.

Of course it wouldn't hurt if Blakeman  followed-up with some of  the dirt he can dig up on Kathleen Rice's days at the Brooklyn DA's office.  Here are a few clumps he can start with.

 AN INCONSISTENT PERFORMER IN THE BROOKLYN DA's OFFICE

In spite of being held up by former Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes " a good friend of this office,"  some who worked with her there say that Kathleen Rice was not well-liked at the Brooklyn  DA's Office.  Nonetheless,  she did get the opportunity to prosecute some big felony homicide cases.  But, even that was not without some controversy.

RICE WAS  A MIKE VECCHIONE GROUPIE

First,  like most female ADAs who rose to the top among the trial attorneys in the office, Rice had to align herself with Michael Vecchione. That meant she had to be broken-in and even indoctrinated in Vecchione's preferred methods, practices and procedures.  In short, Kathleen Rice had to become one of Vecchione's groupies.   That would not have been unusual; during the late 90's early 2000's that was important for any on-the-rise female ADA who wanted to have a chance to try big cases.  To the extent Kathleen Rice subjected herself to all or most the corrupting influences of Michael  Vecchione's mentorship, she was unexceptional.

DINO AMOROSO HELPED COVER FOR RICE  ON PROBLEM FILES

Of course that kind of background can be problematic for any prosecutor, sespecally one who is the Nassau County DA running for the U.S. Congress.  For example,  even an early puff piece in th New York Times had to point out that , "She worked on some cases with Louis J. Scarcella, the detective whose work in 50 convictions is being reviewed for possible error or misconduct, though as far as she knows not in her cases...." (See by 3/20/14, NY Times article by Joseph Berger, cited above).  Maybe, what Rice was  actually talking about  should have been reported like this: "... though as far as she knows not on any cases that her name is still on."  You see, one of my sources that  worked on many of the problem files in the Brooklyn DA's office has indicated that Kathleen Rice's name had been scrubbed from some of the significant problem cases; most likely by, or as directed, by Dino Amoroso, one of Kathleen Rice's more significant personal patrons.

The interactions between Rice and Amoroso are especially interesting in many ways, but start with these two. Rice has reciprocated favors to Amoroso in her current position as Nassau DA  ---  like why wasn't  the Teresa Butler -- OTB case pursued as a criminal matter against Amoroso and others?  Maybe an even more interesting question about the current interaction between Rice and Amoroso is this  ---  how does Rice's current assistance of the investigations into Andrew Cuomo go down with such a close-in retainer of Mario Cuomo as Dino Amoroso ?

TO BRUCE BLAKEMAN  AND THE BLAKEMAN CAMPAIGN  >>>   I'VE GIVEN YOU A GOOD START, SO GO OUT AND DO YOUR RESEARCH  >>>  BRING THIS ONE HOME FOR THE HOME TEAM GOP IN NASSAU COUNTY

COMING SOON ON THIS BLOG HOW TO CONNECT THE  HYNES SCANDALS AND CUOMO'S MORELAND COMMISSION SCANDAL