Decision Not to Prosecute NYC Mayor Over Putnam Campaign Money Dismays Murphy

The Acting U.S. Attorney won't bring charges against New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio over campaign finance practices that stretched up the Hudson Valley including Putnam County in 2014, and State Senator Terrence Murphy, who's been pushing hard politically on the issue, is disappointed.

The original corruption probe was launched after a complaint from Murphy's campaign about De Blasio's activities supporting his opponent, Justin Wagner, in the 2014 race for the 40th District seat in Albany.

De Blasio and allies were raising and funneling money through small Democratic Committees in an unsuccessful attempt to change the majority in the New York State Senate. The Putnam Democratic Committee got $547,300 that went to Wagner and to Terry Gipson, who failed to hold onto District 41.

SEE: Big Contributions to Putnam Democrats Irk Republicans

The contributions were legal, the State Board of Elections told the Mahopac News at the time.

But investigators said last year they found willful and flagrant violations warranting prosecution, news sources reported.

On Thursday, Joon H. Kim, who replaced Preet Bharara after Bharara was fired by President Donald Trump, announced that no charges would be brought in relation to the complaint.

Murphy responded:

"Today's announcement by the US Attorney's Office, as well as the Manhattan DA's Office, are incredibly disappointing. The fact remains, as corroborated by Manhattan DA Cy Vance, that Mayor de Blasio and his inner circle funneled $671,329.79 to the Putnam County Democratic Committee in a blatant attempt to evade campaign finance limits imposed by New York State and used people with business in front of New York City to do so.

"The details of this case has been well documented including similar actions taken by the Mayor's Office to influence races in Monroe, Suffolk and Ulster Counties. Prosecuting authorities said earlier today that these actions were 'contrary to the intent and spirit of the laws that impost candidate contribution limits.

"Now more than ever we must pass legislation to update our campaign finance laws starting with the closure of the Bill de Blasio Loophole. I have authored legislation that would classify these existing criminal acts as money laundering in an effort to prevent future violations of the campaign finance law."

And, Murphy's office noted, prosecutors were silent as to whether the investigations into the other pay-to-play allegations regarding the Mayor were ongoing. Murphy's legislation to upgrade the "de Blasio loophole" from an E felony election law crime to a D felony money laundering crime, Senate Bill S2097, is currently on the Senate floor awaiting a vote.

Grand juries were said to have been convened over the probe in December, the New York Post reported.

Here is Kim's complete statement:

In response to allegations of misconduct, this Office, along with the FBI, has been investigating fundraising by and on behalf of Mayor Bill de Blasio for his 2013 election campaign, the Campaign for One New York, and the 2014 State Senate effort. We have conducted a thorough investigation into several circumstances in which Mayor de Blasio and others acting on his behalf solicited donations from individuals who sought official favors from the City, after which the Mayor made or directed inquiries to relevant City agencies on behalf of those donors. In considering whether to charge individuals with serious public corruption crimes, we take into account, among other things, the high burden of proof, the clarity of existing law, any recent changes in the law, and the particular difficulty in proving criminal intent in corruption schemes where there is no evidence of personal profit. After careful deliberation, given the totality of the circumstances here and absent additional evidence, we do not intend to bring federal criminal charges against the Mayor or those acting on his behalf relating to the fundraising efforts in question. Although it is rare that we issue a public statement about the status of an investigation, we believe it appropriate in this case at this time, in order not to unduly influence the upcoming campaign and Mayoral election.