The feds yesterday arrested City Comptroller John Liu’s campaign treasurer, Jia “Jenny” Hou, alleging that she’s been funneling illegal donations into Liu’s campaign accounts while conspiring to mask the contributions using phantom “straw donors.”
Hou faces up to 60 years in prison. So the comptroller, who insists that he’s pure as the driven snow, has to be wondering today what she knew, when she knew it — and whether she’ll be willing to cut a deal to soften the potential hard time.
The indictment relates to fund-raising that took place in 2011 — presumably in anticipation of Liu’s once-all-but-certain mayoral run.
That’s much less certain now that the feds say Hou instructed volunteers to falsify signatures on donor forms, offered to reimburse a friend $500 for a campaign donation and taught workers how to hide the evidence of what she’d done.
Why the skullduggery?
Every donation, legal or not, could net Liu’s campaign up to $1,050 in public matching funds — which means, if the feds are right, that his staff was actively engaged in defrauding taxpayers of substantial sums.
And, in Liu’s own words, Hou has been right in the middle of it: “Jenny is the heart of the ’13 [mayoral] campaign,” he said last year — which, in turn, seems to mean that conspiracy, wire fraud and obstruction of justice are part and parcel of John Liu’s life.
Obviously, Hou’s arrest — and that of a top campaign donor last year — must lay to rest his mayoral ambitions.
More immediately, they mean that whatever moral claim he has remaining on the office he now holds has expired.
Though Liu himself isn’t named in the federal complaint, it’s simply not credible that he was unaware of Hou’s activities.
Read more:
===========================================================
NTDTV -
Comptroller John Liu's 2013 mayoral campaign suffered another blow on Tuesday. Campaign treasurer Jia “Jenny” Hou was arraigned today.
TimesLedger -
By Joe Anuta A campaign staffer for city Comptroller John Liu was arrested Tuesday afternoon, making her the second person associated with Liu's mayoral ...
|
Chicago Tribune -
(Adds comments) NEW YORK, Feb 28 (Reuters) - A top campaign aide for Comptroller John Liu, New York City's financial overseer, on Tuesday was charged with ...
|
NY1 -
In a serious blow to City Comptroller John Liu's 2013 campaign effort, authorities on Tuesday announced the arrest of one of his top campaign aides on fraud ...
Wall Street Journal -
By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL Federal authorities charged New York City Comptroller John Liu's campaign treasurer with fraud on Tuesday and accused her of impeding ...
Washington Post -
NEW YORK — New York City Comptroller John Liu — a Democrat who had been widely viewed as a potential successor to Mayor Michael Bloomberg — said he plans to ...
Courthouse News Service -
By BARBARA LEONARD MANHATTAN (CN) - A campaign treasurer for New York City comptroller John Liu used straw donors to funnel illegal contributions and ...
Albany Times Union -
NEW YORK — The campaign treasurer for New York City Comptroller John Liu was arrested on fraud charges Tuesday in a continuing probe of fundraising efforts ...
|
Capital New York -
By Azi Paybarah The arrest of John Liu's 25-year-old campaign treasurer, Jenny Hou, is the latest setback for the embattled comptroller, who is struggling ...
New York Daily News -
Embattled New York City Controller John Liu, shown earlier this year, has seen a second member of his political circle busted amid an ongoing federal probe ...
Politicker -
By Hunter Walker 2/28 4:10pm Comptroller and potential mayoral candidateJohn Liu released a statement this afternoon expressing his surprise at the arrest ...
New York Daily News (blog) -
BY Celeste Katz Embattled mayoral hopeful John Liu may have known some of the contributions being funneled into his campaign were fishy, court records ...
Gothamist -
City Comptroller John Liu's mayoral campaign was rocked by the arrest of campaign treasurer today. The NY Times reports, "The treasurer, Jia Hou, .
|
New York Magazine (blog) -
So it's possible John Liu knew nothing about alleged violations of fund-raising law during his successful 2009 run for city comptroller.
Crain's New York Business -
Jia Hou charged with fraud and obstruction of justice for allegedly funneling money from “straw” donors to John Liu's political campaign funds.
|
Politicker -
By Hunter Walker 2/28 1:58pm Jenny Hou with John Liu greeting supporters in the background at a 2009 event in Flushing. (Photo: Facebook) Jia “Jenny” Hou, ...
================================================================================
As we always say follow the money and it seems the "FEDS" are doing it.
So who's NEXT ?
Before there was the "Oracle of Delphi" there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli
VJ Machiavelli
Power to the People Who VOTE
