ACORN-Endorsed DA Won’t Prosecute ACORN

4 Comments / Politics / By

Wow, what a *shocker*.

Hat Tip to Founding Bloggers.
http://www.foundingbloggers.com/wordpress/2010/03/the-best-da-money-can-buy/

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes has declined to bring charges against ACORN, even after it was caught red handed on video giving advice on how to use profits from underage prostitution as a tax shelter.

Might have something to do with this: Hynes got an endorsment by ACORN/Working Families Party.

Office District Incumbent Borough Endorsement
Mayor – (Mike Bloomberg Citywide Bill Thompson
Comptroller – (open) Citywide John Liu
Public Advocate – (open) Citywide Bill De Blasio
District Attorney – (open) Manhattan Richard Aborn
District Attorney – Charles Hynes Brooklyn Charles Hynes

http://www.workingfamiliesparty.org/2009/08/wfp-announces-nyc-endorsements/

A commenter on the site brought up this item of interest:

Adam (NY) on March 3, 2010 12:08 pm
How this is NOT a conflict of interest in New York (but would be in every other state except for Oregon) is because of electoral fusion, where smaller parties such as WFP, Green, and Conservative can endorse a candidate of one of the two major parties (Democrat or Republican), and that person does not have to consent to the endorsement.

……Correction to above: There are eight states where this would not be a conflict of interest: CT, DE, NY, OR, ID, SC, VT, and MS.

Which would indicate that at least 8 states don’t view a DA’s ties to an organization as a conflict of interest, even when the DA is tasked with the investigation of the organization.

But another pointed out:

Good Lt. on March 3, 2010 3:23 pm
Hynes APPLIED for the endorsement from the WFP. It says so on their site.

Since Hynes actively sought the political nod from ACORN/WFP, he had no business conducting an investigation or weighing in on a decision.
The conflict of interest is blatant, but Hynes didn’t have the ethics to recuse himself. Politics as usual.

4 thoughts on “ACORN-Endorsed DA Won’t Prosecute ACORN”

    1. sfcmac

      Robert,
      Yep, I covered this before:

      The new organizations, he said “will be constituted under new banners and new bylaws and new governance,” he said, consistent with the recommendations of an outside panel.

      Much of the group’s strength lay in its local chapters in places like New York, which appear to be continuing to operate as normal. New York’s City Hall News reported today that the local group there had re-emerged under the name “New York Communities for Change.”
      http://sfcmac.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/acorn-breaks-up-into-smaller-pieces-gets-a-name-revamp/

      We’ll still keep an eye on them, though.

      SFC MAC

      Reply
  2. sfcmac

    DVL-NYC,

    I’ve never heard of Bill Thompson, so I did a little research. This is some of what I retrieved:

    Former Comptroller and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson failed to release a scathing audit of a politically influential union until long after Election Day — and a year after his staff had completed a preliminary examination of the union.

    When the final audit of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 30 finally came out, it was unsparing.

    Thompson’s auditors slammed the union for running up a $117,298 deficit in the benefits funds for its active members in 2005, and then merging with the benefits fund of retirees in February 2006 to get out of the hole.

    ……But the audit wasn’t released until Thompson was 10 days from leaving office.

    If he was trying to score political points during his campaign by the delay, he failed.
    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/candidate_thompson_held_back_union_mIZWbD3pj54gHoOBfaSDUN

    The race card:

    At dinner last year I, cutting-edge brilliant, told Bill Thompson: “Because we have an African-American president and governor, no chance you could win as mayor.” Said Bill Thompson: “It’s exactly why I have a chance. This is the voting bloc that’s now empowered.” Bill Thompson — lots sharper than I am.
    http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/cindy_adams/win_lose_or_draw_conclusions_XY2eoTuUzVHfMLSJEpWHLI

    Apparently, skin color wasn’t enough:

    ALBANY — A union leader yesterday said Democratic Bill Thompson could have won Tuesday’s surprisingly close mayoral election if Gov. Paterson had backed an aggressive attack on Mayor Bloomberg.

    Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said he offered Paterson and state Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs union funds to hire “a Howard Wolfson-like strong advocate” to take on Bloomberg, but that the offer was refused.
    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gov_blew_it_for_thompson_labor_big_zO8Dq9yXvC0z6HzNxTMlEP#ixzz0hGAuooTC

    Interesting, indeed.

    SFC MAC

    Reply
  3. DVL-NYC

    You’re gonna love this. David Patterson, himself on the verge of being made to step down as Governor of NY has placed Bill Thompson as the Chairman of The Battery Park City Authority. The BPCA collects ground rents and handles billions of dollars that go to NYC. Should be an interesting show. Wait for it …

    Reply

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