John Haggerty Convicted in NY Ballot Security Scam

HAGGERTY TRIAL

• After Conviction, Haggerty Posts Bail (WALL STREET JOURNAL/ Metropolis, By Michael Howard Saul) The judge said he was unconvinced the e-mail about the Irish passport was a joke and lashed out at Haggerty for misrepresenting himself on his passport application. On the application, Haggerty was asked to list an emergency-contact person; he listed a friend and incorrectly described that person as his uncle.
• Jury Convicts Consultant of Stealing Campaign Money From Bloomberg (By JOHN ELIGON, NY Times) The jury determined that although Mr. Bloomberg had lost legal control of the money, the party was technically acting as the mayor’s agent, authorized to spend the money on his behalf, one juror, Mr. Conroy, said. So it was the party that was duped, Mr. Conroy said, because its leaders gave money to Mr. Haggerty that he said he would use for ballot security, but did not. Asked about Mr. Conroy’s suggestion that the Independence Party was an agent of the mayor, Mr. Vacco laughed. 
• Consultant convicted of stealing from mayor Bloomberg (By Joseph Ax, Reuters) Several jurors told Reuters it was actually the money trail that caused them to convict, citing two instances in which Haggerty received payments of $83,000 and $50,000 from the Independence Party for alleged Election Day expenses, only to wire the money that same day as payments on the house.
• 'Volunteer' day: What is the meaning of Haggerty's guilt, and Bloomberg's independence? (BY HARRY SIEGEL, Capital New York) The Independence Party, which has traditionally profited from the confusion of actually “independent” or unaffiliated voters, still has about $100,000 of Bloomberg’s stolen “gift” that it’s never been asked to return, the defense noted. (Presumably, that loose change was the "wash in" that Haggerty referred to in an email to then-deputy mayor Sheekey discussing the transfer). For years, Bloomberg also funneled campaign and “charitable” money to the New York City branch of the party controlled by Lenora Fulani, the lunatic longtime acolyte of recently deceased psychiatrist-cultist Fred Newman. The pair dominated the city party until 2006, and Fulani continues to control its Manhattan branch. Their rented party line proved crucial to Bloomberg’s tight wins in both 2001 and 2009.

Tom Connolly Testifies at Haggerty Ballot Security Trial

HAGGERTY TRIAL

• Haggerty Contract Is Said Backdated (By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL, Wall Street Journal) Under cross-examination, Mr. Connolly said the mayor lost all control of the $1.2 million once he sent it to the party. Asked if the mayor could earmark the money specifically for ballot security, Mr. Connolly said he "can make a request" but whether that is "honored or not" is up to the party.
• NY party official testifies at operative's trial (Associated Press, Wall Street Journal) Haggerty approached Connolly in August 2009 to say that "a donation would be coming from the mayor, and it would be their wish that they would use that toward a ballot security operation" that would run up to $1.1 million, Connolly told jurors. He said he checked with some people he didn't name to ensure the arrangement was legal, and then went ahead with it, relying on what Haggerty had told him about the planned operation.
• Testy Mayor Stays Cool on the Stand, Avoiding Potential Fallout (By Jill Colvin, DNAinfo) “How many principals of campaigns really understand campaign finance law?” he said. "No one expects the mayor to know what the money is used for in the end."

Mayor Bloomberg Testifies in Political Operative John Haggerty Trial Over Ballot Security Operation Payment

HAGGERTY TRIAL

• NYC mayor testifies in trial of political operative (By Hussein Saddique, CNN) "I understood that if anyone was denied access to the ballots, that a trained lawyer was to be there to help that individual," Bloomberg told the court when asked to describe the "ballot security" operation.
• Bloomberg Testifies in Political Operative’s Trial (By Michael Howard Saul, Wall Street Journal/ Metropolis) “I did not view it as a campaign expenditure,” the mayor testified, explaining why the campaign did not include this financial transaction on its public disclosure reports. The mayor said the money for the ballot security operation was intended to benefit all candidates running on the Independence Party line.
• Bloomberg Testifies in Consultant’s Trial (By THE NEW YORK TIMES/ City Room) Throughout the cross-examination, Mr. Castello repeatedly tried to suggest that what Mr. Bloomberg described as an agreement to provide ballot security was something much more nebulous: a political donation that he could not exert further control over.
• NYC mayor endures hours of cross-examination; ex-operative accused of bilking him out of $1M (By Associated Press, Washington Post) “Until you had all the documentation, nobody in their right mind would send a check,” said the businessman-turned-politician, who told jurors the lost money mattered to him: “We could have done a lot of good in society” with it, he said. “It’s a lot of money.”

Mayor Bloomberg Might Testify in Haggerty Case

NEW YORK

• Prospect of Bloomberg in court makes picking jurors tricky (Thomson Reuters News & Insight) "Is there anybody here that feels that because a person is wealthy -- very, very wealthy, as we all know Mayor Bloomberg is -- that it's okay to steal from him?" Assistant District Attorney Eric Seidel asked. The prospective jurors shook their heads.
• Jury Selection in Case Involving Mayor Bloomberg and the Independence Party May Take a Week (Ballot Access News)
• How to salvage N.Y. redistricting reform (By Susan Lerner and Sean Coffey, Albany Times Union) The redistricting process should be driven by demographics, not the needs of the incumbent.

Unraveling New York State Independence Party With John Haggerty

• NYC mayor: Victim in political operative's trial? (Associated Press, Wall Street Journal) While the party isn't charged, prosecutors have said in a lawsuit that the party knew or should have known about Haggerty's alleged scam. The lawsuit seeks to force the party and Haggerty to forfeit the money he allegedly stole; for now, the suit has prompted a civil court judge to freeze one of the party's accounts last winter.
  
• Setback in Bloomberg Case (By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL, Wall Street Journal) Mayor Michael Bloomberg knew he wouldn't control the spending of more than $1 million he gave the New York State Independence Party for the 2009 election, a defense attorney for a political operative accused of stealing the mayor's money argued Monday. State Supreme Court Justice Ronald Zweibel dealt Manhattan prosecutors a setback by denying their motion to bar the defense from making that argument at the trial of the operative, John Haggerty.
  
• Bloomberg recovers in Quinnipiac poll (By ALEXANDER BURNS, Politico) Incidentally, the path for Bloomberg — or any wealthy, moderate independent — to run for president has always involved President Obama tanking and the Republicans nominating someone with drastically limited appeal. So the conditions for a serious third-party run haven't faded, even if the prospect of finding a viable candidate has.
• Is Independence Party’s influence waning? (By ELIZABETH COOPER, Utica Observer-Dispatch) The Independence Party has taken a tumble from the coveted third line — directly below the Democratic and Republican parties — down to the fifth line.

New York Politics: Haggerty, Turner, Weprin, Gonzalez and Towns

NEW YORK

• Trial of ex-aide Haggerty, accused of pocketing $1 million from mayor, is still Bloomberg's problem (BY Melissa Grace and Erin Einhorn, DAILY NEWS) "The mayor violated [campaign finance rules], and Haggerty is going down for it," said one prominent campaign finance lawyer. "[Bloomberg] signed a form that said that he would only spend money on his campaign through his campaign committee....If [the money] wasn't for his campaign, then Haggerty couldn't have defrauded him."
• Vito is a bloc 'blocker' (By AARON SHORT, NY Post) Jesus Gonzalez and Deidra Towns say the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Center, a Lopez-founded charity that manages several senior facilities in the district, has made it nearly impossible for them to meet constituents in those buildings.
• Guide for the Last Minute Voter: 2011 Primary and Special Election (by Gotham Gazette) The political parties, though see this contest as a chance to show their strength -- or, more accurately, the other side's weakness – and have dumped in money and resources. Over the weeks, both candidate seem to have readily adopted the role as their party's standard-bearer. At a recent debate in Howard Beach -- complete with Tea Party hecklers and a pack of noisy Weprin backers in the rear of the church meeting room -- the two epitomized a left/right split.
• Independence Party endorsements raise questions (By BRYON ACKERMAN, Utica Observer-Dispatch) Dozens of candidates will be on the Independence Party line in elections this year in Oneida County, but there have been questions about the nomination process used in two of the highest profile local races: the Assembly and the Utica mayoral races… Ernie Sanita is running for mayor on an independent line and said he wasn’t interested in screening with any political parties.
• Turner up by six, just two days before New York special election (By Alexis Levinson, The Daily Caller) Turner has a strong lead with independent voters, 58 percent of whom say they will vote for him. Just 26 percent plan to vote for Weprin. Turner also has the majority of the Jewish vote, a demographic that makes up 36 percent of the district according to PPP’s results. Fifty-six percent of Jews say they will vote for Turner, while 39 percent say they have chosen Weprin.

Money Talks, Nobody Walks in New York

NEW YORK

• Council Progressives Say Tax Millionaires To Stave Off Cuomo Cuts (By David Freedlander, NY Observer) The Progressive Caucus of the City Council—a bloc of 12 members elected with the support of the Working Families Party—is out with a statement today reiterating their call for Mayor Mike Bloomberg to institute a tax on the city's wealthiest in light of Albany budget that will greatly reduce New York City's operating expenses.
• Former Bloomberg campaign adviser accused of stealing millions not keeping a low profile (NY Daily News/GATECRASHER) Haggerty has refused to cop a plea in the case, and our source says he and his legal team are preparing a "spirited" defense in which quite a few lawyers could take the stand to testify that he ran an effective Election Day operation for the Independence Party and had discretion to spend the mayor's money as he saw fit.

Cuomo's Independent Redistricting Plan Has Support of GooGoos

NEW YORK

• Court refuses to dismiss Haggerty $1.1M theft case (By Howard Koplowitz, Queens Your Nabe.com) “Clearly the crime was serious,” Zweibel wrote, according to the Post. “Defendant is not Robin Hood, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.
• Our view: Don’t delay commission on redistricting (EDITORIAL Observer-Dispatch) Cuomo’s plan is best, and has the support of good government groups, including the New York Public Interest Research Group, the Citizens Union, Common Cause New York and the League of Women Voters of New York State. 

NY State Independence Party: Something Doesn't Smell Right

NEW YORK
Judge: Evidence aplenty vs. NY political operative (Wall Street Journal/AP) 

There is "overwhelming" evidence against a political operative charged with bilking New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg out of more than $1 million, and the billionaire mayor's wealth and stature don't make the case a victimless crime, a judge said Tuesday...

NY IP Chair Frank MacKay [photo from The Capitol]

...The Independence Party, the state's third-largest political party, hasn't been charged with any crime but has taken heat from prosecutors and a civil-court judge over Haggerty. Prosecutors have said in a lawsuit that the party "knew or should have known about" Haggerty's alleged scheme; a civil-court judge has frozen the party's bank accounts and said its conduct "doesn't smell right."

Right. For an interesting backgrounder on NY State IP Chair Frank MacKay, see Chris Bragg's The Capitol article from last November "The Real MacKay - A glimpse into the Independence Party chairman’s mind, and into his castle"

Open Primaries: Debate Over "Top Two"

Ken Bingenheimer (National Common Ground Examiner) hosts a series on Top Two open primaries with Nancy Hanks (yours truly) and Solomon Kleinsmith of Rise of the Center. Tell us what you think!


OPEN PRIMARIES

• Top Two voting: More democratic or not? (By Ken Bingenheimer, National Common Ground Examiner) While a variety of organizations are working for electoral reform that will give more sway to independent voters and voters in the political middle, there are sharp disagreements about Top Two in particular. We have asked proponents on both sides of this argument to state their cases. On the pro side is Nancy Hanks, who runs The Hankster blog and is affiliated with the Committee for a Unified Independent Party. Speaking for the con side is Solomon Kleinsmith, who operates the Rise of the Center blog.

2012

• They say they're not running in 2012 (By Candy Crowley, CNN Chief Political Correspondent) There are solid reasons to wonder if Bloomberg has appeal beyond his city limits. He's a billionaire and he's been a Republican, an independent and a Democrat. Can you spell coalition?
• Bloomberg's Presidential Campaign Doesn't Add Up (John Ellis, BUSINESS INSIDER.COM) The question on the table is: can it be done?  Does an independent presidential campaign with Michael Bloomberg at the top of the ticket have any chance of success? The answer is almost certainly no.

NEW YORK

• Mayor Testified in Case Against Campaign Aide (By MICHAEL BARBARO, NY Times/City Room) The indictment against Mr. Haggerty has riveted New York City’s political world. It charges that he set up a phony ballot security operation for the mayor’s 2009 re-election and stole the money intended to pay for it to buy a house.
• He's Back! Espada Plans Rally at Soundview Clinic (Bronx News Network) With him, according to a press release that describes the event as a "unity press conference," will be Espada's former nemesis turned number one supporter in the state senate, Ruben Diaz Sr. (we received the release from his communications person), as well as Assemblyman Marcus Crespo and Bishop Fernando Rodriguez of the Latin American Chaplain's Association, plus a whole bunch of other folks. 

Independent voters say 54 - 40 percent the United States should not be in Afghanistan.

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• November 18, 2010 - American Voters Say Ban Cell Phones While Driving, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Support For War In Afghanistan Collapses --  Independent voters say 54 - 40 percent the United States should not be in Afghanistan.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Open primaries in case of democracy (By Rosa Scarcelli, Bangor Daily News) There’s a clear choice missing among those wishing to advocate change to Maine’s election system. Missing is discussion of a reform that would be easy and inexpensive to implement as well as effective in increasing voter participation and reducing the negative campaign tactics associated with the political fringes. The change I’m talking about is open primaries.
• Guest opinion: First, look in the mirror (GREG CUSACK, Des Moines Register) Abolish the caucus system, moving either to open primaries or to a ranking primary election in which the two or three candidates garnering the most votes proceed to the general election. Only in this way will we eliminate the steady march to the ideological extremes that characterize our times.
• Quinn lobbies for "open" primary legislation (by Sean Crawford, WBEZ 91.5)

ELECTION REFORM

• Drawing will choose Calif. redistricting finalists (By JULIET WILLIAMS Associated Press, Mercury News) The General Assembly will likely shelve Quinn's changes as party leaders use primaries as a way to keep tabs on who is voting and  target them  for campaign donations.

BLOOMBERG 2012

• Michael Bloomberg: An Independent Presidential Candidate Can't Win in 2012 (Posted by Stephanie Condon, CBS News)

COLORADO

• Wilson declared victor in HD 61 race - 'Undervotes' up Curry's tally, but not by enough (Gunnison Country Times)

NEW YORK

• Independence Expenditures - Echoes of Bloomberg's own CFB rebuttal and Nora Anderson in the Haggerty case (By Chris Bragg, City Hall News)

EDUCATION REFORM

• Sharpton: Obama, Congress must act on failing education to stop a national crisis of black and white (BY REV. AL SHARPTON, SPECIAL TO THE DAILY NEWS)
• We Know How to Teach Black Kids (By: John McWhorter, The Root)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 8/18/10

INDEPENDENT VOTERS, The Press & OBAMA

• The Undoing of a Legislative President (By MATT BAI, NY Times) “Once you became a legislative president, which is arguably what you needed to do, you couldn’t deliver on the nonpartisanship promise,” Mr. Podesta said. “And it’s something people wanted.”
• Roger Simon: Barack Obama, one-term President (Union Leader)

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Proposition 14 Supporters Seek to Intervene in California Lawsuit (Ballot Access News) Field v Bowen, has a hearing on the substantive issues on September 14.  However, a preliminary skirmish in that lawsuit will occur on August 24, when a Superior Court in San Francisco will hold a hearing on whether three supporters of Proposition 14 may intervene in the lawsuit.
• PROPOSITION 14 (Sac Bee/Capitol Alert) Plaintiff Richard Winger, publisher of Ballot Access news, and Stop Top Two founder Christina Tobin will be on hand for the 10:30 a.m. news conference at the Capitol's south steps (Tuesday)
• Let independents vote (BY JOSEPH FOX, ORMOND BEACH, LETTER Daytona Beach News Journal) These are the voters who are in the best position to put country ahead of party.
• Arizona boasts over 3 million voters in time for primary elections (By: Imani Randolph, ABC 15) The Independent Party saw the largest gain in registered voters. It grew by 25,674 members, all of whom are able to vote in the primary election.... Independent and unaffiliated voters are permitted to participate in Arizona's Primary Election, provided that they choose a ballot of the party of their choice: Republican, Democratic or Green. Selecting a party's ballot does not automatically re-register an Independent with that political party.
• Independents' ranks grow as Arizona voter signup spikes (Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services, East Valley Tribune) The disdain for organized parties seems to have taken roughly equal bites out of both the Democrats and the Republicans. At the 2000 primary, Democrats comprised 39 percent of those registered. That figure is now down to 32.3 percent. And Republicans saw their share of registered voters drop from 44.3 percent a decade ago to just 36.1 percent now. The change has occurred during the time when Arizona law was changed to give independent voters a voice in primaries.
• Colorado voters should consider a Top Two Open Primary (By Bill Grant, Grand Junction Sentinel)
• What’s wrong with party primaries (The Tonawanda News)
• Welcome to the 'Jungle' Primary in Washington (The Atlantic) Washington is the only state to conduct its federal primaries this way, except for California, which passed a ballot measure in June enacting the "top-two" or "open" primary system in future election cycles. Louisiana holds "top-two" primaries for its state and local candidates, but did away with the practice for federal elections after 2006.

NEW YORK

• Como Submits Signatures for "Tax Cuts Now" Line (By Chris Bragg, City Hall News) Como sought to create the new line after his failure to win the Independence Party line, which instead went to Addabbo after a dispute over Como’s use of signature gatherers from the rival Independence Party of New York City.
• Members Project® from American Express: Philanthropy Charges Ahead (by Caroline Stanley, FlavorWire.com) This week we’re focusing on All Stars Project, Inc., a non-profit that creates outside of school, educational, and performing arts activities for thousands of poor and minority young people.

BLOOMBERG ENDORSEMENTS

• Bloomberg Stretches Afar (By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL, Wall Street Journal) Mr. Bloomberg, who contemplated an Oval Office bid in 2008, will spend a whirlwind day, traveling to Philadelphia and Washington to offer endorsements and help raise money for candidates outside of New York. In addition to Messrs. Sestak and Castle, the mayor will be endorsing and headlining a fund-raiser for Democratic Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty.
• A Tale of Two Mayors: How Bloomberg, Fenty Gain From Alliance (By Devlin Barrett, Wall Street Journal/Metropolis) Bloomberg does not easily line up with either political party, but strong ties to governors and other mayors like Fenty give him added political heft. For the younger Fenty, getting Bloomberg’s seal of approval has meant increased credibility for his fights to change D.C.’s city agencies and schools.
• N.Y.’s Bloomberg Coming to Stump for Fenty Tomorrow (Alan Suderman, Washington city Paper/LooseLips) The endorsement could help shore up one part of Fenty’s base—the good government-loving type of voters who admire the way Bloomberg has made his city’s administration work better.
• Bloomberg's not Democrat and doesn't live in D.C., but Fenty to get his endorsement (By Sarah Larimer, TBD)
• Will Mayor Bloomberg switch from Kirk to Giannoulias in the Illinois Senate race — fallout from the mosque? (By Carol Felsenthal, The Hill/Pundits Blog)
• Bloomberg Is Supporting Sestak in Pennyslvania (By BERNIE BECKER, NY Times/The Caucus)

NYC CHARTER REVISION

• Term-Limits Plan in New York City Is Criticized (By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ, NY Times) “It waters down the good work we did on term limits,” said Anthony Perez Cassino, a lawyer on the commission. “People will feel, ‘It comes into effect so far into the future that I really didn’t get back what I thought I was getting back, which is the opportunity to have my say in how government should work.’ ”
• A Little Light Reading: Proposed Amendments To The City Charter (BY CELESTE KATZ, Daily News/Daily Politics) "The Grapes of Wrath" it's not...
• ‘Inexpicable Blunder’ Marks Report on Term Limits in City (By HENRY STERN, Special to the NY Sun) If the people are to regain the right to limit Councilmembers' terms, their decision should be put into effect at the next Council election, which may be in 2011 or 2013, depending on when census data is reported.

LAST WORD

• The Secret Campaign of Mayor Mike (By Aram Roston, NY Observer/Politicker) Mr. Ognibene, who has since made peace with Mr. Haggerty, says he thinks the DA's case is based on a flawed premise. "I believe the mayor was trying to get money to John for the services he rendered," Mr. Ognibene told The Observer. "And that the mayor was aware that John had needs concerning buying his father's estate, and this was the mayor's way of funneling money to him."

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 6/17/10 More Discussion of Open Primaries

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• 'Fierce' Obama to meet BP execs (USA Today/The Oval - Tracking the Obama Presidency) The Democratic National Committee distributed a memo about the results of a focus group of white male independent voters who watched the president's speech. The memo, written by David Binder Research, said the voters liked the president's call for alternative energy and viewed Republican opposition as partisan.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• The Arnold Factor (William Bradley, Huffington Post) Indeed, a group of former governors, including Brown, who endorsed an open primary last year in a speech to the California Newspaper Publishers Association, agreed to sign a letter backing the initiative. But in the end, Schwarzenegger's team decided that the initiative campaign -- blessed with a raft of editorial endorsements and a ton of money raised by Schwarzenegger -- was doing just fine without political events. Whitman opposes an open primary.
• Jennifer Foster: Legal and ethical are not one and the same (Opelika Auburn News - AL)
• California, Louisiana now have open primaries in common (John Maginnis, NOLA.com Times Picayune)
• Phil Power: Primary shake-up could reshape political scene (Livingston MI Daily)
• Jindal sent open primaries legislation (By JORDAN BLUM, Advocate Capitol News Bureau)
• Should we ditch the primary election system? (By Bill Minor, Desoto Times Tribune MS)
• Our View- Prop 14 rids the need for political training wheels (Daily 49er)
• La. returning to 'open' congressional races (KEVIN McGILL, The Associated Press, NOLA.com)

GOV/ STATE/ MIDTERM RACES

• FL: Gov. candidate Bud Chiles: BP should offer bounty for oil (Dave Helle, WTSP/10 Connects.com Tampa Bay)
• MA: Gov. candidates debate (By John J. Monahan Worcester TELEGRAM & GAZETTE) On education standards, Mr. Baker and Mr. Cahill said they objected to the state signing on to meet new federal educations standards, saying they do not want to lower the state's MCAS testing standards. The governor said the state has not signed on to those standards because they have not yet been established, and he would not lower current standards.
• IL: Independent candidate Will Boyd Jr. makes it on ballot (Chicago Political Buzz Examiner, Philip Houdesheldt) Will Boyd Jr., an Independent candidate for the U.S. Senate from Illinois has achieved what few other Independents have been able to. He has secured a place on the ballot for this November’s election by gaining the necessary 25,000+ signatures on petitions. 
• A DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IN NEW ENGLAND: ELIOT CUTLER'S INDEPENDENT BID FOR GOVERNOR OF MAINE (by Damon Eris, CAIVN) n an interview for Third Party and Independent Daily last week, I asked the candidate why he opted to run for governor as an Independent rather than within one of the major parties.  He struck a note that will likely ring true for many an Independent voter: "I am running as an Independent because I am one . . . the leadership of both parties has become captive to the various special interests that control them and . . . they are both incapable to governing from the moderate center.  I am committed to doing that and to giving voice and representation to what I believe is an overwhelming majority of independent and moderate Maine voters who want to see Maine government work again." 
• Exclusive: Interview with Eliot Cutler, Independent Candidate for Governor of Maine (Independent and Third Party Daily)

NEW YORK

• Questions Remain To Be Answered In The Haggerty Case (John Toscano, Queens Gazette/Political Page)
• Elex board to probe Indies' $$ (By DAVID SEIFMAN City Hall Bureau Chief, NY Post)
• Manhattan DA Cy Vance goes after embattled state Independence Party as Andrew Cuomo awaits nod (BY CELESTE KATZ AND ADAM LISBERG, DAILY NEWS)
• Hizzoner 'bilked' by bud (By DAVID SEIFMAN, City Hall Bureau Chief, NY Post)

NYC CHARTER REVISION

• 'Integrity' the watchword at Charter forum in Harlem (Peter N. Spencer, Staten Island Advance)
• Charter Commission Takes On Member Items At Harlem Hearing (By: Grace Rauh, NY1 Manhattan)