https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Cuomo-challengers-blast-corruption-call-for-13004769.php
Cuomo challengers, critics blast pay-to-play culture at Kaloyeros trial
Updated 5:23 pm, Monday, June 18, 2018
Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Molinaro, center, is joined by Republican Lt. governor candidate Julie Killian, right, and New York State Reform Party Chairman Curtis Sliwa,left, outside the Manhattan Federal Courthouse on Monday, June 18, 2018. (Campaign Photo)
lessRepublican gubernatorial candidate Marc Molinaro, center, is joined by Republican Lt. governor candidate Julie Killian, right, and New York State Reform Party Chairman Curtis Sliwa,left, outside the Manhattan
... moreKaloyeros stands across from new construction on the other side of Washington Avenue Extension at the college on Tuesday Sept. 27, 2011 in Albany, NY. ( Philip Kamrass / Times Union)
Todd Howe was a long-time Cuomo friend who in September 2016 pleaded guilty to multiple felonies, including several related to his role of bagman in schemes involving the exchange of cash from developers in exchange for official favors from former top gubernatorial aide Joe Percoco.
who was supposed to be the government's star witness in the bribery trial of Joseph Percoco, a former top aide to Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. In the weeks before the Percoco trial, it came to light that Howe tried to improperly recover the cost of a fancy Manhattan hotel room from a credit card company after signing an agreement not to commit any more crimes. (Will Waldron/The Albany Times Union via AP, File)
lessTodd Howe was a long-time Cuomo friend who in September 2016 pleaded guilty to multiple felonies, including several related to his role of bagman in schemes involving the exchange of cash from developers in
... moreSteven Aiello, an executive of Syracuse-based COR Development, was a co-defendant in the corruption trial of Joseph Percoco. Aiello was found guilty of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud.
Aiello faces additional charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, though prosecutors dropped a charge that Aiello allegedly made a false statement to federal agents. His trial is scheduled to begin June 18.
Here, Aiello arrives at federal court during the Percoco trial on Thursday, March 8, 2018, in New York.(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
lessSteven Aiello, an executive of Syracuse-based COR Development, was a co-defendant in the corruption trial of Joseph Percoco. Aiello was found guilty of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud.
Aiello
... moreLouis Ciminelli, CEO of Buffalo-based development company LPCiminelli, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The charges stem from an alleged bid-rigging scheme involving Buffalo Billion-funded development.
Louis Ciminelli, CEO of Buffalo-based development company LPCiminelli, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The charges stem from an alleged bid-rigging scheme involving Buffalo Billion-funded
... moreKevin Schuler, a former executive at the Buffalo development firm LPCiminelli, pleaded guilty on May 18, 2018, to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Kevin Schuler, a former executive at the Buffalo development firm LPCiminelli, pleaded guilty on May 18, 2018, to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Peter Galbraith Kelly Jr., who is known as "Braith," a former executive with Competitive Power Ventures Holdings, a Connecticut company pleaded guilty on May 11, 2018, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud: He admitted to defrauding CPV by misrepresenting that Percoco had obtained state ethics approval for his wife to work at CPV.
Peter Galbraith Kelly Jr., who is known as "Braith," a former executive with Competitive Power Ventures Holdings, a Connecticut company pleaded guilty on May 11, 2018, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud: He
... moreJoseph Gerardi, an executive at COR Development in Syracuse, was found not guilty on the charge of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud.
Joseph Gerardi, an executive at COR Development in Syracuse, was found not guilty on the charge of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud.
ALBANY — Candidates for governor and critics of his economic development programs are seizing on the second "Buffalo Billion" bid-rigging trial that began Monday in Manhattan, calling for campaign finance reform and increased oversight over the state's economic development programs.
The federal criminal case focuses on the role of SUNY Polytechnic Institute founder Alain Kaloyeros in directing nearly $1 billion in contracts to donors of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's re-election campaign. Executives from two upstate New York real estate development firms that benefited from the government business are on trial alongside Kaloyeros.
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Marc Molinaro blasted Albany's culture of corruption outside the Manhatatn courthouse Monday morning, calling on Cuomo to return millions of dollars in "dirty donations" given to him in pay-to-play schemes over the past eight years.
Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive, has pledged to ban all pay-for-play donations as governor. He was joined by Republican lieutenant-governor candidate Julie Killian, and Reform Party Chairman Curtis Sliwa.
"Follow the money," Molinaro said. "Look at all the corruption -- then look at Andrew Cuomo's obscene campaign account. Do that and everything else makes sense. It's very simple: Mr. Cuomo placed a 'For Sale' sign on his office eight years ago, people are going to jail for it, but the corrupt Cuomo cash continues to roll in. This has to end."
Democratic candidate Cynthia Nixon took the message a step further, introducing her agenda to curb the corrupting influence of big money in politics at a press conference at noon at the Tweed Courthouse, the same location where eight years ago Andrew Cuomo announced his inaugural run for governor on a promise to clean up Albany.
Nixon, an actress, noted that Cuomo has financed his campaign entirely from big donors, with just 0.2 percent coming from small donors, while 90 percent of Nixon's donors gave $100 or less.
"The unchecked influence of big money in state politics isn't just the root cause of corruption - it's also why our state government currently serves corporations and the rich, and leaves the rest of New Yorkers behind," Nixon said ahead of the release of her plan.
Former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner announced her independent ballot line bid for governor Monday morning in the New York Times, citing persistent corruption in state government as her inspiration to run.
"I cannot be a silent witness to what I think is a corrupt political culture that is hurting real people every day," Miner told the paper.
Democratic attorney general candidate Zephyr Teachout attended the trial to hear Monday's opening statements, and later spoke to reporters outside the courthouse. Government watchdog groups also gathered outside the Manhattan courthouse to demand that Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie allow a vote on key transparency and oversight legislation that has already passed the Republican-controlled Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support. The measures were included in the Assembly's one-house budget.
The legislation, which would create a "database of deals" and return pre-approval authority to New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, is co-sponsored by dozens of Assembly Democrats, but advocates say Cuomo won't allow Heastie to bring the legislation to the floor.
The attention around the federal criminal trial stands in contrast to the start of January's bid-rigging and bribery trial involving Cuomo's close friend and former top aide Joe Percoco, who was convicted of corruption for accepting bribes.
At the Percoco trial, Sen. John DeFrancisco, then a Republican candidate for governor, stood alone demanding increased oversight, including the passage of the procurement reform bill, which he sponsored in the Senate. DeFrancisco dropped out of the race when Molinaro was endorsed by a majority of county Republican party leaders across the state.
ReInvent Albany executive Director John Kaehny said the increased attention around this trial was warranted given the sheer scale of the Buffalo Billion scandal and its direct ties to the governor, who he said is actively working to thwart the passage of the transparency and oversight bills in the Assembly.
"This an exercise in raw political power by the governor. At the last trial, you could plausibly claim it was about Joe Percoco going rogue, but at this trial, campaign contributions to the governor are front and center," Kaehny said. "It is mind-boggling to see an incumbent governor with a reputation for micromanagement and being big into the mechanics of government, preventing the state Assembly from voting on this."
