The city Conflict of Interest Board last week finally got around to closing the barn door on the “nonprofit” gimmick Mayor Bill de Blasio used to get away with pay-to-play games in his first years in office — but left wide open the door he’s using now.
As The Post’s Julia Marsh and Nolan Hicks reported, the COIB on Thursday voted to codify rules banning city officials from soliciting anyone doing business with the city for donations to government-affiliated nonprofits, like de Blasio’s Campaign for One NY.
The new rule sets penalties at $25,000 per violation, which is great. Except that the mayor disbanded CONY in 2016 after it raised millions for his pet projects while operating outside of the city’s strict campaign finance rules.
And now he’s using his federal Fairness PAC to similarly end-run the rules — sucking up otherwise forbidden cash from the same donors.
That is, those looking for City Hall favor are still giving to a fund that de Blasio controls.
It’s as clearly wrong now as his old scheme was then. Indeed, the city Department of Investigation found that the mayor had violated city ethical rules after being warned not to solicit donations from those seeking favors from his administration.
Under the City Charter, however, only conduct that’s explicitly prohibited can be punished. And US Supreme Court rulings have made it almost impossible to get a federal conviction for this kind of corruption.
This is why state and federal prosecutors both slammed the mayor back in 2017, even as they announced they weren’t bringing charges.
Acting US Attorney Joon Kim pointed to “several circumstances” in which de Blasio “made or directed inquiries to relevant City agencies on behalf of” donors seeking official favors from the city. Manhattan DA Cy Vance similarly cited the mayor’s manipulation of loopholes in the state campaign finance laws.
Why didn’t the COIB close the loophole de Blasio’s using now? Well, he appoints the board’s members — who currently include at least one of his donors.
Keep that in mind the next time he gets shirty about how his fundraising follows all relevant laws and rules.