Bloomberg made so many donations last year he can't even keep track of them all. Something shady is allegedly going on with one of them, a $750,000 contribution to the Independence Party, prompting Manhattan DA Cy Vance to investigate how the money was handled by a top aide and what exactly it was spent on. "We handed the money over to the Independence Party, and they have the full accounting, presumably, of how the money was spent," said Bloomberg's campaign lawyer Ken Gross. "The understanding was that the money was helping go to the party to pay for Election Day expenses such as poll watchers."
According to Gross, the money was used "primarily" for "typical" party expenses like Election Day transportation, poll watchers and food for volunteers, reports the Daily News. Aides have said that a company called Special Elections Operations (which was formed hastily and not registered with the state until a month after the election), through which the contribution passed, hired 200 to 300 poll watchers paid $500 each. But where did the rest of the money go?
Vance is on the case. To kick off his investigation he's subpoenaed two key players: the aide, John Haggerty Jr.—an unpaid "volunteer" who received a $120,000 contribution from Bloomberg for his recently-formed political committee—and Independence Party Chairman Frank MacKay. More to come, but it's fun to see the new DA pick up right where Morgenthau left off: being a pain in the neck to Bloomberg.
