He hasn’t even officially entered the governor’s race but Republican millionaire Harry Wilson’s past donation to embattled Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has come back to haunt him.
Wilson confirmed to The Post on Sunday that he gave $1,000 to Bragg on June 21, 2020 — about a year before the Democratic primary election for Manhattan’s top prosecutor — saying they were pals from their time together at Harvard University.
“I thought he would be a strong prosecutor as Manhattan DA based on his years as a prosecutor,” Wilson said, referring to Bragg’s career working as a Manhattan federal prosecutor and as the chief deputy Attorney General for the state.
State Board of Elections records show that contributors with the name “Harry Wilson” provided three donations of $1,000 each to Democrat Bragg’s campaign. One donation came from the potential GOP gubernatorial candidate’s Scarsdale address, while two others were listed at different Manhattan addresses.
Wilson, chairman and CEO of investment management firm MAEVA Group, said the two Manhattan donations were from someone else with the same name.
Bragg’s controversial “Day One” memo issued on Jan. 3 directed his assistant district attorneys to no longer seek prison sentences for many criminals and to downgrade some felonies to misdemeanors. His leadership has already created a firestorm that has led to an online petition calling for his removal and prompted staff resignations.
Other candidates in the Republican primary for governor pounced on Wilson’s donation.
“It doesn’t matter if he gave a penny or a million dollars. The donation certainly raises questions about whether the Republican Party wants a person at the top of the ticket for governor who supported a candidate for district attorney who was pro-criminal in the middle of a crime wave,” said former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.
“Anyone who donated to Bragg had to know he was running on a soft-on-crime platform.”
Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin, the GOP leadership’s presumptive nominee for governor, said, “I will never turn my back on our law enforcement officers and the New Yorkers they are sworn to protect.
“My support in the Manhattan District Attorney’s race was fully behind [Republican] Tom Kenniff and it’s unfortunate that Bragg is now in office refusing to prosecute many crimes at all across the board and downgrading many others.
“As Governor, I would remove the Manhattan District Attorney for his refusal to enforce the law. I fully support repealing cashless bail, enacting a law enforcement bill of rights, keeping criminals in prison where they belong, and much more.”
Andrew Giuliani, the third GOP candidate for governor, urged New Yorkers to support his Change.org petition to try to oust Bragg. More than 9,000 people have signed the petition.
Wilson yanked his support for Bragg after reading about the new DA’s progressive policies.
“I was incredibly disappointed by his memo. I’m 100 hundred percent opposed to any district attorney who will not prosecute crimes,” Wilson said.
“Gov. Hochul must take action to either stop his policies or remove Bragg.”
Hochul, meanwhile, has come under criticism for trying to duck the controversy over Bragg.
Word of Wilson’s contribution to Bragg circulated after The Post reported last week that the businessman was strongly considering entering the race for governor.
Wilson, sources said, has been interviewing campaign consultants and political operatives to help run his campaign. Among those contacted was Battleground Strategies, which helped run successful campaigns to elect Republicans Larry Hogan governor of Maryland and Jim Douglas to the statehouse in Vermont.
Wilson is known as an expert in corporate restructurings and turnarounds and served on former Democratic President Barack Obama’s Auto Restructuring Task Force after the recession of 2008. The task force was responsible for reviving General Motors and Chrysler.
The son of Greek immigrants, Wilson narrowly lost the 2010 race for state comptroller to Democrat Tom DiNapoli.