The City Council is quickly running through taxpayer money paid to two top-of-the-line law firms and a high-profile attorney hired to advise and represent members and staffers snagged in a slush-fund probe - and has even quietly signed another firm, The Post has learned. White-collar crime specialist Steptoe & Johnson so far has been paid $122,173.
A $95,000 retainer for the firm Sullivan & Cromwell already has been depleted.
And ex-federal prosecutor Lee Richards, who charges $600 an hour, has been hired as personal criminal defense lawyer for Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
Now, The Post has learned, the firm Brune and Richard was hired Sept. 30 with a $90,000 retainer - and no public announcement. This, despite assurances from Quinn the process would be transparent.
COUNCIL IN $LUSH MESS
11 comments:
Quinn is tainted to say the least - stop hiding and the rest of the council should come clean on this issue once and for all. This is not their money - they should account for it, repay it so be the case or step down - don't waste citizen time on personal issues of wrong doing.
What's needed is a US Attorney like Chris Christie (New Jersey - who just resigned - New President), or Patrick Fitzgerald, Northern District of Illinois, who just collared Blagojevich - Blag recently replaced Republican Governor Ryan, who was also collared by Fitzgerald.
Christie nailed 130 elected and appointed corrupt NJ Democrats and Republicans.
Fitzgerald's quantity of cases against corruption doesn't match Christie's, but, it's a stellar record nonetheless.
Now, look up the record of Mike Garcia, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, which covers NYC.
Oh! You can find no cases where he nailed corrupt elected officials? Do you wonder why?
Perhaps we're all wrong believing that there are so many corrupt elected and appointed men and women on our payroll here in NY?
Or, is it at all likely that their corruption included the office of the US Attorney for the Southern District of NY?
You decide.
Good post, Taxpayer!
Funny how this is bearly covered by the local media (in the media capital of the world - yea right)
It's high time to clean out
the New City Council pig pen
by indicting its head sow
Speaker Quinn.
Oink, oink, oink!
When are we going to hear about some Council members being indicted for their rolesn the slush fund scandal & not just the scaped goated staffers. We all know this slush fund doesn't past the smell test. The Council is just using the economic crisis as a smoke screen. Let's get on it DOI!
This city is soaked with corruption like a sponge full of dirty sinkwater. Soaked! Back to square one on the slushfunds. Has anyone ever actually seen a copy of the budget and a list of the fake recipients. I would find it fine reading I am sure. imagine the names of those fake organizations! The amounts dispensed! As I recall the events, Quinn pulled a rope a dope, then supposedly took a reformist stance, but we passed over the THING ITSELF. Let us, please, please please see what might at trial be designated Exhibit A.
Also taxpayer Patrick Fitzgerald has gone after both sides of ilse as you may know.He brought down scooter "libby" leibowitz on 4 counts concerning the case revealing Valerie Plames identity.Others should have been charged but they had chocolate fountains of money and the vice pres helping them hide behind exec privelege.
Taken from court records:Libby "testified to a federal grand jury that he had been 'authorized' by Cheney and other White House 'superiors' in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to defend the Bush administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case to go to war with Iraq, according to attorneys familiar with the matter, and to court records," Murray Waas reported February 9, 2006, in the National Journal.
One other interesting fact about Lewis scooter libby is that he was a long time lawyer for Marc Rich who was we all remember the corrupt billionaire under Clinton.Strange bed follows or birds of the same feather.Not much difference.
Let this big fat pig pay for her own lawyers. These politicians rob the taxpayers blind and then expect us to pay their legal bills. Get rid of the city council. They are useless and only care about themselves. Quinn should have stepped down already. She had no credibility, yet she wants to be the next mayor. Let her pay for her own lawyers.
The first step should be to remove Pristine Quim from her position as speaker. Let's see how she does as a simple councilmember. Believe me, she will not stand out from the crowd.If you remove her from that post, Bloomie will start to fall like the Berlin Wall!
Her quim ain't so pristine either!
Ask someone who's been there.
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