Posted on 04/02/2013 5:11:06 AM PDT by dead
State Sen. Malcolm Smith and city Councilman Dan Halloran were arrested this morning on charges they plotted to rig this year’s mayoral election through fraud and bribes.
The pols allegedly formed an alliance built on cash payments and fraud to get Smith — one of the state’s top Democrats — placed on the GOP mayoral ballot, sources said.
FBI agents arrested them both at their Queens homes shortly after 6 a.m.
“I have no idea,” Republican Halloran, in handcuffs, told a Post reporter when asked if he knew why he was being arrested.
“I’m sure the truth will come out once I have an opportunity to find out what’s going on.”
Smith would not say anything as he was hauled off.
The FBI declined to comment.
Smith was trying to buy off Republican leaders because he needed the party’s support in at least three boroughs in order to run as a GOP candidate without even changing his own party affiliation, the sources said.
“It’s incredible,” a source said of the alleged plot.
To get on the GOP ballot, Smith allegedly enlisted Halloran, a Republican, to set up meetings with party leaders and negotiate thousands of dollars in bribes. The money was masked as payments for legal and accounting services, sources said.
Halloran allegedly collected thousands in bribes for himself along the way, the sources said.
He is separately charged with taking bribes from a consultant in return for up to $80,000 in City Council discretionary funding.
Read more: State Sen. Malcolm Smith and City Councilman Dan Halloran face charges in alleged bribe plot to get Smith on GOP mayoral ballot - NYPOST.com http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bribing_his_way_onto_the_ballot_3XFvV67oWZHFo7bVdoCkcO#ixzz2PJ6KzcHC
(Excerpt) Read more at newyorkpost.com ...
He was also implicated in the Aquaduct Casino bid-rigging scandal.
Thanks, guys. So that's Smith.
What about Halloran?
People who do seem to be a bit shocked by the charges.
Disgusting.
“Smith is one of the Democrats caucusing with the Senate Republicans.”
was the republican supposed to win so this is why this is a crime?
I wouldn’t say that exactly. More like he does what he thinks is best for him (then again, that can describe about 99% of politicians). He believes he gets more out of caucusing with the GOP & Dem majority coalition. It’s an unusual situation in NY, anyhow, as the Dems have proven that they couldn’t run the Senate during the time they had it, so a few of them believe it’s better with the GOP in nominal or de facto control. Washington State has a similar situation at present.
What I’m trying to figure out is whether Halloran was attempting to outright deliver the GOP nomination for NYC Mayor to Smith, something that is ludicrous on its face (given that there are other serious GOP candidates already in the race). Although Smith might’ve surmised he’d have an easier time getting the GOP nod than going through the Democrat primary circus (and the last time that nomination was worth anything was in 1989 when David Dinkins, then Manhattan Borough President, knocked off Ed Koch).
Not to say Smith, once elected, would switch back to the Democrats (since it’s unlikely they’d forgive him for doing so, and he wouldn’t survive renomination), he’d just merely play it like Bloomberg. Of course, all this chicanery being blown up publicly will likely end any viable chance he has.
If you’d read the article you’d know the answer to those questions.
Smith has the nonprofit issues and was one of a gang of four Dems to plot to hand State Senate power to the GOP, as long as they were in on it.
Halloran is being investigated for bid rigging.
The article has actually almost doubled in size since it was first posted.
A lot of data has been added to it that was not there earlier this morning.
> Smith allegedly met with the informant and undercover
> agent at his Albany office on March 21 and told them not
> to pay GOP co-conspirators “even a nickel more” until
> they publicly stated support for his mayoral candidacy,
Kind of reminds me of the conservatives who mysteriously decided to endorse Romney during the primaries.
No problem!
BTTT!
Halloran is pro-life. A pagan professing pro-life. But that is the circus that is life in 2013.
Smith is a democrat, so there you go.
LOL. Yeah he must be a follower of Loki, who surely would have no problem with any of this.
Well I knew Smith wanted the GOP ballot line. He probably is better than Bloomberg, which is sad.
This is low. I don’t see how Halloran could have delivered the nomination to Smith.
This is first I’ve heard of Washington State also having a Senate coalition. 2 democrats have joined with the Republicans. One of them no surprise is Tim Sheldon , I was wondering 10 years ago why he was a democrat. He endorsed Bush in 2004 and somehow wasn’t primaried out of office.
The indictment, and its accompanying evidence, is pretty damning for Halloran.
Plus the NYPD is saying that he was never NYPD - which has been part of his election resume for a while now.
You’re a big man/woman, Freeper wideawake.
Today’s news is pretty damning. In hope against hope, I’d love if somehow the players started singing such that Bloomie could be implicated for having bought his way onto the ticket 12 years ago.
I know, not happening.
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