Showing posts with label The Wizard of Oz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Wizard of Oz. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Is Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Career Melting Over Moreland Commission Interference, Disbanding ? Wizard of Oz Meme

PUBLISHED : TUES, 15 APR 2014, 07:59 PM
UPDATED : MON, 21 APR 2014, 02:00 PM

First, U.S. Attorney for Manhattan Preet Bharara said that he would not rule out an investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo's possible obstruction of the Moreland Commission's independent investigations, and now comes the press, in a feeding frenzy, documenting all the many ways that the Cuomo administration has thwarted, undermined, or watered-down the investigative and reporting work by the Moreland Commission.

Is Gov. Cuomo's political career over ?

Is anybody noticing how two of former Sen. Hillary Clinton's likely challengers in the 2016 presidential campaign, namely, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and now New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have been sidelined by investigations ? No matter how overwhelming the merit that these investigations have, all of a sudden the political hacks behind Ready for Hillary must be feeling giddy -- as if they have been patiently waiting for this exact moment.

The New York Daily News spoke with close to 10 sources tied to the soon-to-be-defunct panel, and a number of them denounced what they said was interference from Cuomo's office.

Days after Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's office took possession of the Moreland Commission's investigation files, The New York Daily News interviewed commission members about the Cuomo administration's interference with the panel's corruption investigations.

"There was no trust there," one Moreland Commission source told The New York Daily News.

In the article, The New York Daily News noted examples when potential investigation targets with close ties to the Cuomo administration received what appeared to be preferential treatment, to the detriment of the Moreland Commission members' efforts to investigate corruption. "The frustration mounted when subpoenas were held back from entities with ties to Cuomo, including the powerful Real Estate Board of New York."

Mr. Bharara has said that a "show me the money" culture pervades all of New York government, and many bloggers and government reform activists agree. Last year, the political blogger and YouTube producer Suzannah B. Troy confronted New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and she asked him, "Are you part of the corruption ?"

Although the Department of Justice has a shaky record of prosecuting controversial cases -- some make the observation that President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have politicized the DOJ -- some reform activists hold out hope that Mr. Bharara has the integrity to fully investigate public corruption from Albany to City Hall.