Key paragraphs in NY Daily News editorial re State Bd of Elections new enforcement counsel tackling LLC donations (controlled by a single donor) given an unsuccessful Brooklyn Assembly candidate:
“[Risa] Sugarman — who was appointed not by the board, but by Gov. Cuomo — contends that Patterson’s LLC donations were illegal. In effect, she says, Maloney had violated the $4,100 cap on contributions to an Assembly candidate, and Patterson’s campaign had failed to identify her contributor by his true name, as required.
“These arguments cut to the heart of why the LLC loophole is so corrosive to honest politics.
“They also apply equally well to an awful lot of other money sloshing around Albany’s campaign accounts.
“Cuomo himself is the No. 1 recipient of LLC cash — including $4.3 million during his reelection campaign and another $1.4 million this year.
“And the single largest LLC donor is Glenwood Management, a major New York City landlord and developer implicated (but not accused of wrongdoing) in the federal corruption indictments against both ex-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and ex-Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos.
“That Sugarman bypassed these big fish to go after small fry like Patterson and Maloney is eye-browing raising, to be sure.”
Via http://m.nydailynews.com/opinion/editorial-money-article-1.2341119
