Report: De Blasio Will No Longer Cooperate With State Ethics Investigation
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- It's the wrath of Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Under pressure from numerous corruption investigations, the mayor sought out a friendly audience, the Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network, to blame his troubles on his politics enemies, CBS2's Marcia Kramer reports.
"Now, brothers and sisters, guess what... when you do something different, opposition emerges. The voices of the status quo find many, many ways to undermine progress to stand in the way of progress," he said.
The mayor apparently thinks Governor Andrew Cuomo is one of those standing in the way of progress. He had his lawyer, Laurence Laufer, send a scathing letter to the state's Joint Commission on Public Ethics saying team de Blasio will no longer cooperate with its probe into the mayor's non-profit and fundraising arm, the campaign for One New York. Laufer implies Cuomo is somehow pulling the strings.
"We will no longer cooperate with what has obviously become a blatantly political exercise by an agency whose very independence is deeply in question," Laufer wrote, in a letter obtained by CBS2.
Furthermore, Laufer said the panel, which began investigating the organization's lobbying activities a year ago, has now exceeded authority by trying to subpoena documents relating to fundraising in an "unprecedented fishing expedition."
Laufer also threatened legal action if charges follow, demanded that the probe end immediately, and said that team de Blasio will only cooperate with the investigations by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance because they are independent.
Yesterday, the mayor complained on a local radio show that he is the victim of a "double-standard."
"We do everything according to the letter of the law, disclose everything and are open about it, do not let it affect our decisions. Meanwhile, a lot of people are doing a lot worse and not getting much examination," he said.
New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics insists their investigation is not politically motivated and that its pursuing questions raised about the campaign for One New York that were intitially raised by good government groups. The mayor has since shut the group down.
CBS2 reached out to the governor's office for comment, but has not yet heard back.
