The Fight for the State Senate

IDC GOP Senate Coalition - True News (The Bund)

GOP Attacks Senate Dems on de Blasio Addiction to Helping Them Through Party Committees  
De Blasio Probes PutDemocrats in New York Senate on Ethics Hot Seat (WSJ) Republicans already are attacking the New York City mayor as part of their campaign to keep control of the chamber

Team de Blasio Kaminsky Just Can't Stop Laudering Money to State Committees 
Note: the Investigative Work On this Story Was Done By Bragg at the Times Union
In Senate battle, de Blasio fundraiser raised untraceable$50K (Chris Bragg, Times Union) Democrats benefit from untraceable donation in race for Skelos' old seat  Days before the April 19 special election on Long Island to replace ex-Senate Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos, de Blasio's chief fundraiser procured a publicly untraceable $50,000 donation to a local political party that was backing Democratic Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky *  De Blasio tied to ‘untraceable’ $50K for Kaminsky campaign (NYP) Mayor de Blasio’s top money man funneled $50,000 of “publicly untraceable” campaign cash to help a Long Island Democrat win a crucial race for the state Senate, according to a report Monday night.  Ross Offinger, de Blasio’s campaign finance director and treasurer of his now-shut advocacy group Campaign for One New York, was behind the windfall, which he donated through a shadowy Delaware corporation, according to the Albany Times-Union.  Mayor de Blasio’s top money man funneled $50,000 of “publicly untraceable” campaign cash to help a Long Island Democrat win a crucial race for the state Senate, according to a report Monday night. Offinger, already under scrutiny for fund-raising activities involving de Blasio, sent the money to the Nassau County Democratic Committee, which was backing Todd Kaminsky, the Times Union said. Kaminsky edged out Republican Chris McGrath by 780 votes in the April 19 special election to fill the seat formerly held by convicted Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. The funds were wired to the committee’s account by a Delaware company named A&J Contracting, the paper said, so there was no check signature or paper trail. That company, however, has no phone number or Web site. It also had not made a donation to a political party or candidate before the $50,000 gift. A spokesman for the Nassau Democratic Party confirmed to the Times-Union that the money was actually raised by Offinger.  It was not clear how Offinger — who was paid $14,000 by the Nassau Democrats for fund-raising — garnered the money. “I really don’t have a comment on specific donors, but I’m proud of the work we did in Nassau County,” Offinger told the paper.  Offinger is currently being probed by US Attorney Preet Bharara in a widening investigation into campaign financing. De Blasio, meanwhile, is being investigated along with his top aides for “willful andflagrant” violations of campaign-finance law. It has been alleged that the mayor steered $1 million in union and corporate donations to three upstate Democrats running for state Senate seats in 2014.* The probe into de Blasio’s fundraising efforts for state Senate Democrats could make an already unpopular mayor even more toxic in Albany and doom many items critically important to the city, the Daily News writes:  * Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan found himself defending his performance in the state’s budget negotiations after the Republicans’ push to retain the seat vacated by former Majority Leader Dean Skelos fell short, Politico New York reports:  *   If Todd Kaminsky is looking for a place to start cleaning up Albany, he need look no further than his own backyard, where he received $50,000 from a seemingly-anonymous donor for his state Senate campaign, the Times Union writes:



Kaminsky Got the Same Help As de Blasio is Being Called Criminal For
Donation in race for New York Senate seat is raising suspicion (NYP) A hefty 11th-hour campaign contribution from a powerful labor union to the Nassau County Democratic Party is raising eyebrows in light of the fund-raising scandal that has engulfed Mayor de Blasio, The Post has learned. The Communications Workers of America donated $109,600 to the Nassau Democratic Committee to help Todd Kaminsky win the Long Island state Senate seat vacated by convicted crook Dean Skelos — just days before the April 19 special election, Board of Elections records show. Kaminsky edged out Republican Chris McGrath by 780 votes. Direct contributions to a state Senate candidate are limited to $11,000, but party committees can raise and spend more. De Blasio, his top aides and political advisers are being investigated for “willful and flagrant” violations of campaign-finance law by steering unions and corporate donors to funnel nearly $1 million to three upstate Democrats running for Senate seats in 2014. “Kaminsky engaged in the exact same fund-raising scheme that is now being investigated by the US Attorney’s Office,” a GOP insider charged.* A large 11th-hour campaign contribution from a powerful labor union to the Nassau County Democratic Party is raising eyebrows in light of the fund-raising scandal that has engulfed de Blasio, the Post reports: * Beyond NYC, GOP Seeks Advantage In de Blasio Fundraising Investigation (YNN)

Offinger Cannot Stop Laundering $$$ Kaminsky

Untraceable $50k in Nassau is developer withbusiness before de Blasio (TU) A publicly untraceable $50,000 donation made ahead of the election of newly christened Democratic state Sen. Todd Kaminsky appears to have come from a major, politically connected real estate developer with significant business before the administration of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Information about the donor’s identity was provided to the Times Union by the chairman of the Nassau County Democratic Party, who recently reviewed bank records concerning the donation. The money was raised by de Blasio’s chief fundraiser, who is under federal investigation in separate matters. In this case, it was raised for a political party on Long Island, the Nassau Democrats, that was backing Kaminsky in his April 19 special election. Last Monday, the Times Union reported that the $50,000 gift on April 7, from a little-known Delaware LLC called “A&J Contracting,” went to the operating account of the Nassau County Democratic Committee, which then transferred approximately $250,000 to Kaminsky’s campaign account. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. (Lori Van Buren, Times Union) The person behind the donation is untraceable from public records. But Nassau Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs, who initially had been unaware of the donor’s identity, told the Times Union yesterday that it was tied to a New Jersey address shared by the Lightstone Group, a major commercial and residential real estate developer in New York City. The fundraising consultant paid by the Nassau Democrats who actually raised the $50,000 – Ross Offinger – declined to tell Jacobs who had given the gift, Jacobs said.  Offinger, the chief fundraiser for de Blasio, is a person of interest in two federal investigations centered on de Blasio’s fundraising: for an effort to swing the state Senate Democratic in 2014 by funneling money through upstate party committees, and another concerning de Blasio’s nonprofit fundraising from donors with business before New York City. Offinger declined to tell the Times Union last week if he thought collecting such essentially anonymous political donations was improper. Lightstone currently retains several high-profile lobbying firms, including Connolly, McLaughlin and Woloz. That firm reported lobbying the New York City Department ofBuildings as lobbying target during the first two months of 2016, according to city lobbying records. In March 2013, the New York Times reported that the New York City Planning Commission authorized Lightstone to proceed with plans to build 700 units of rental housing on the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. De Blasio supported the controversial project at that site as a member of the City Council.