The New York Times is reporting that federal prosecutors are trying to figure out if Eliot Spitzer used campaign funds for any part of his liasons with call girls.
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Gov. Eliot Spitzer used campaign funds in connection with his meetings with prostitutes, including payments for hotels or ground transportation, three people with knowledge of the investigation said.
Prosecutors have asked the governor's lawyers about the travel arrangements for three trips, including his Feb. 13 rendezvous with a prostitute at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. The United States attorney's office in Manhattan has also asked about the governor's use of car services during trips to Washington.
The governor's lawyers have begun consulting with a campaign finance expert who has long worked for Mr. Spitzer's political organization to see whether campaign money was spent on the trips, including some as recently as last month, a person briefed on the investigation said.
Eliot has denied this to his aides and attorneys. That said, if this concern by the feds is worthy of an inquiry so is the acknowledged fact that Joe Bruno used campaign funds for a trip to Florida that only became "private vacation" after a trip to "Rachel's", a Florida Strip bar was revealed.
Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno used state-regulated campaign funds to pay for his stay at an exclusive south Florida hotel last year, during a three-day trip he has described as "a vacation."
His staff, too, initially insisted the trip was private.
However, state law makes "the personal use of contributions received by a candidate or political committee" a crime "if such personal use is unrelated to a political campaign or the holding of a public office or party position."
Bruno's claim that the trip was a private vacation raises questions about his use of campaign money to help pay for it. Last week, Bruno and his staff refused to answer additional questions or discuss details of the senator's visit to Florida.
Here's how the Albany Times Union described it at the time of the trip:
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno heads to Florida tomorrow for a two-day stay that will culminate in a $3,000-a-couple ($2,000-per-single, so two attendees is a regular bargain) fundraiser hosted by The Donald at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach.
The fundraiser will benefit the Senate Republican Campaign Committee, not Bruno's own re-election effort, I'm told. Bruno will not be staying at Mar-a-Lago, and his campaign committee will be picking up the tab for his trip.
Yeah, it was a "campaign trip", one of his yearly high dollar fundraisers at Donald Trump's place until we learned about this:
New York's legislative leaders had been in session only a few days last year when Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno quietly left town for a vacation in Florida.
It was Jan. 11, a Wednesday, and a bitter political debate over sexual offender laws was unfolding as Bruno boarded the private jet of his friend, Jared E. Abbruzzese, a Loudonville multimillionaire.
...
On the drive back from the golf course, the men pulled into Rachel's, a high-class strip club and steakhouse in the heart of West Palm Beach. There, patrons are greeted by overly polite valets who spend much of their time parking Range Rovers and customized BMWs driven by an almost exclusively male clientele.
...
Inside, $40 steaks and $90 bottles of wine are delivered by bow-tied waiters in a darkened four-star atmosphere. On two stages in the center of the club, female performers, some fully nude, move fluidly under pulsing strobe lights while tunes from rockers such as Tom Petty and Jimi Hendrix pierce the air.
For those seeking a closer encounter, the women, many resembling Playboy centerfolds, offer private lap dances -- at a $20 minimum -- on a leather-covered bench near a secluded spot in the back.
This revelation brought this from public servant extraordinaire, John McArdle:
Then, on Jan. 18, when pressed about Bruno's use of campaign funds at the hotel, and his activities while there, Bruno's office responded: "... a fundraiser was scheduled in Florida the following month, (and) a portion of the trip did involve meetings and talks with potential campaign contributors about supporting the Senate majority."
Bruno apparently gets to have it all ways, not just both.
Oh, and if you hard working federal prosecutors tire of investigating the purely tawdry, you could always look into this:
In 2001, the Board of Elections declined to investigate Bruno's use of more than $4,300 in campaign funds for extermination services, landscaping, and to buy a swimming pool cover at his property in Brunswick. Bruno said he has used the area for political events.
So, am I to assume that the feds are grilling Bruno's attorney's about this subject as well? |
