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Cuomo Briefed on Firms’ Ties
Cuomo Briefed on Firms’ Ties
In memo on campaign fundraiser, aide cited relationships with executives named in corruption complaint
ENLARGE
Todd Howe, in 2009. A memo laid out his role as the organizer of a fundraiser for the governor. PHOTO: WILL WALDRON/TIMES UNION/ASSOCIATED PRESS
By
MIKE VILENSKY and
ERICA ORDEN
Updated Oct. 17, 2016 1:38 p.m. ET
8 COMMENTS
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has sought to distance himself from many of the nine people charged in a federal corruption case last month, saying they weren’t part of his inner circle and he didn’t know the details of their business relationships.
“I was not aware of who some of these people were representing, and who were their business consultants,” Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, said last month. “The situations laid out in the complaint were breathtaking to me.”
But a memo prepared for the governor in advance of a May 2014 campaign fundraiser—and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal—outlines the ties between Mr. Cuomo’s administration and some of the alleged conspirators who attended the event.
And it shows that his campaign sought to brief him explicitly on lobbyist Todd Howe’s role as the event organizer and on Mr. Howe’s representation of the attendees; Mr. Howe is now cooperating with the government.
Additionally, according to emails reviewed by the Journal, a senior aide who was vetting contributions to Mr. Cuomo’s campaign a month before the fundraiser raised concerns about the optics of the timing of the contributions from several of those donors. The two donors who were vetted have now been charged in the case.
ENLARGE
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has denied ties to those charged. PHOTO: MIKE GROLL/ASSOCIATED PRESS
In the emails, the aide recommended the contributions be delayed because the donors had been recent beneficiaries of state contracts.
Neither the memo nor the emails detail any of the alleged criminal activity that is at the core of the complaint filed by the office of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo said: “As is common practice for all campaigns, donations are vetted before receipt for conflicts of interest. As stated in the emails, in these cases, any state-related business was awarded via... processes run by local governments, state agencies, or other entities.” The governor’s office didn’t select the awardees in any of these cases, the spokesman said.
Both the briefing memo and the emails, however, show that Mr. Cuomo’s administration had knowledge of the business relationships of some of the companies named in the criminal complaint, including their potential conflicts of interest, and had concerns as far back as 2014 about the appearance of them having secured government contracts.
The memo alerted Mr. Cuomo that the intimate May 2014 fundraising breakfast at Ca Va restaurant in Midtown Manhattan was to be hosted by Mr. Howe, a longtime member of the governor’s orbit. Mr. Howe has since pleaded guilty to eight counts in connection with the alleged schemes, including extortion, conspiracy and wire fraud.
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The memo stated that all 11 expected attendees were clients of Mr. Howe’s lobbying firm’s parent company, Whiteman Osterman & Hannah LLP.
The document highlighted three of the attendees: Steve Aiello, president of Syracuse-based COR Development Co. LLC; Louis Ciminelli, chief executive of Buffalo-based construction firm LPCiminelli Inc.; and Ray Rudolph, CEO of Albany-based firm CHA Consulting Inc.
Two months after the fundraiser, COR allegedly agreed to begin paying bribes disguised as “consulting fees” to Mr. Cuomo’s then-campaign manager, Joseph Percoco, according to the criminal complaint. An attorney for Mr. Percoco declined to comment; he has said his client will plead not guilty.
Messrs. Ciminelli and Aiello were among those charged last month by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. According to the complaint, Mr. Ciminelli’s company allegedly paid Mr. Howe to help secretly doctor bid solicitations to benefit the firm, and Mr. Aiello’s company allegedly paid Mr. Percoco in exchange for government favors.
“All LPCiminelli company officials acted lawfully and professionally,” a spokeswoman for the company said. “We are confident they will be cleared of all charges.” An attorney for Mr. Aiello has said he is innocent. Mr. Howe’s attorney declined to comment.
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Mr. Aiello, the memo noted, had already hosted a fundraiser for Mr. Cuomo at Mr. Aiello’s Corvette garage in Baldwinsville, N.Y. And the memo flagged for the governor that Mr. Aiello’s son was working for the state at the time.
The criminal complaint charging Mr. Percoco and the others cites emails showing that Mr. Percoco helped secure a pay raise for Mr. Aiello’s son as part of the alleged favors Mr. Percoco performed while he was receiving payments from COR. Mr. Aiello’s son wasn’t charged.
In addition to those three attendees, the breakfast also included Michael Laipple, another LPCiminelli executive who was also charged last month. An attorney for Mr. Laipple said his client “acted appropriately and lawfully.”
The memo cites each of the development companies and their connections to Mr. Cuomo’s administration and notes that “all have felt the impact of the pro-business, pro-development policies of the administration.”
Mr. Cuomo has played down his relationship with Mr. Howe. “I didn’t really have—I wasn’t—I didn’t really have communications with Todd Howe,” the governor said in May. “I would see him at events, et cetera.”
According to the memo, Mr. Howe was to be front and center at the breakfast, which was to raise $300,000. “Todd will introduce you and begin the conversation,” the memo says.
It isn’t clear who prepared the memo. The organizer of the event is listed as Jennifer Bayer, Mr. Cuomo’s lead campaign fundraiser. Ms. Bayer didn’t respond to a request for comment.
A pair of vetting documents sent by a senior aide, Linda Lacewell, to a group of the governor’s top lieutenants a month before the event show she was concerned about the optics of taking money from companies awarded state contracts long before the heads of several of those companies were arrested on corruption charges.
The emails vetted two contributions: one from Mr. Aiello and one from Mr. Ciminelli. In each, Ms. Lacewell itemized state contracts recently awarded to both men’s companies.
In the case of Mr. Ciminelli, Ms. Lacewell noted that his company had won a contract to develop a massive factory at the RiverBend site in South Buffalo. And in the case of Mr. Aiello, Ms. Lacewell highlighted that COR had won a contract to develop Central New York’s nanotech projects after having been the only bidder.
The awarding of both contracts would arise in the criminal complaint as allegedly having been rigged to favor those companies.
In both cases, Ms. Lacewell wrote that the campaign could accept the money. But she recommended that the contributors hold off on cutting checks because of the timing of the donations in proximity to the contracts.
“[G]iven all this,” she wrote in the case of Mr. Aiello, “I do not think it is problematic to take his money, would prefer that it be near end of filing as nano was very recent.”
According to filings with the state Board of Elections, many donors didn’t end up delaying their contributions. But several who had previously donated under their own names instead donated at Mr. Howe’s fundraiser under the names of limited liability companies.
After the charges were unsealed last month, Mr. Cuomo said he plans to give donations from entities or individuals tied to the alleged schemes to the “people of the state” if the defendants are convicted or plead guilty.
Write to Mike Vilensky at mike.vilensky@dowjones.com and Erica Orden at erica.orden@wsj.com
Cuomo Briefed on Firms’ Ties
Cuomo Briefed on Firms’ Ties
In memo on campaign fundraiser, aide cited relationships with executives named in corruption complaint
Todd Howe, in 2009. A memo laid out his role as the organizer of a fundraiser for the governor. PHOTO: WILL WALDRON/TIMES UNION/ASSOCIATED PRESS
By
MIKE VILENSKY and
ERICA ORDEN
Updated Oct. 17, 2016 1:38 p.m. ET
8 COMMENTS
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has sought to distance himself from many of the nine people charged in a federal corruption case last month, saying they weren’t part of his inner circle and he didn’t know the details of their business relationships.
“I was not aware of who some of these people were representing, and who were their business consultants,” Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, said last month. “The situations laid out in the complaint were breathtaking to me.”
But a memo prepared for the governor in advance of a May 2014 campaign fundraiser—and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal—outlines the ties between Mr. Cuomo’s administration and some of the alleged conspirators who attended the event.
And it shows that his campaign sought to brief him explicitly on lobbyist Todd Howe’s role as the event organizer and on Mr. Howe’s representation of the attendees; Mr. Howe is now cooperating with the government.
Additionally, according to emails reviewed by the Journal, a senior aide who was vetting contributions to Mr. Cuomo’s campaign a month before the fundraiser raised concerns about the optics of the timing of the contributions from several of those donors. The two donors who were vetted have now been charged in the case.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has denied ties to those charged. PHOTO: MIKE GROLL/ASSOCIATED PRESS
In the emails, the aide recommended the contributions be delayed because the donors had been recent beneficiaries of state contracts.
Neither the memo nor the emails detail any of the alleged criminal activity that is at the core of the complaint filed by the office of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo said: “As is common practice for all campaigns, donations are vetted before receipt for conflicts of interest. As stated in the emails, in these cases, any state-related business was awarded via... processes run by local governments, state agencies, or other entities.” The governor’s office didn’t select the awardees in any of these cases, the spokesman said.
Both the briefing memo and the emails, however, show that Mr. Cuomo’s administration had knowledge of the business relationships of some of the companies named in the criminal complaint, including their potential conflicts of interest, and had concerns as far back as 2014 about the appearance of them having secured government contracts.
The memo alerted Mr. Cuomo that the intimate May 2014 fundraising breakfast at Ca Va restaurant in Midtown Manhattan was to be hosted by Mr. Howe, a longtime member of the governor’s orbit. Mr. Howe has since pleaded guilty to eight counts in connection with the alleged schemes, including extortion, conspiracy and wire fraud.
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
Have something to say about an article in Greater New York? Email us, along with your contact information, at gnyltrs@wsj.com. Letters will be edited for brevity and clarity. Please include your city and state.
The memo stated that all 11 expected attendees were clients of Mr. Howe’s lobbying firm’s parent company, Whiteman Osterman & Hannah LLP.
The document highlighted three of the attendees: Steve Aiello, president of Syracuse-based COR Development Co. LLC; Louis Ciminelli, chief executive of Buffalo-based construction firm LPCiminelli Inc.; and Ray Rudolph, CEO of Albany-based firm CHA Consulting Inc.
Two months after the fundraiser, COR allegedly agreed to begin paying bribes disguised as “consulting fees” to Mr. Cuomo’s then-campaign manager, Joseph Percoco, according to the criminal complaint. An attorney for Mr. Percoco declined to comment; he has said his client will plead not guilty.
Messrs. Ciminelli and Aiello were among those charged last month by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. According to the complaint, Mr. Ciminelli’s company allegedly paid Mr. Howe to help secretly doctor bid solicitations to benefit the firm, and Mr. Aiello’s company allegedly paid Mr. Percoco in exchange for government favors.
“All LPCiminelli company officials acted lawfully and professionally,” a spokeswoman for the company said. “We are confident they will be cleared of all charges.” An attorney for Mr. Aiello has said he is innocent. Mr. Howe’s attorney declined to comment.
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Mr. Aiello, the memo noted, had already hosted a fundraiser for Mr. Cuomo at Mr. Aiello’s Corvette garage in Baldwinsville, N.Y. And the memo flagged for the governor that Mr. Aiello’s son was working for the state at the time.
The criminal complaint charging Mr. Percoco and the others cites emails showing that Mr. Percoco helped secure a pay raise for Mr. Aiello’s son as part of the alleged favors Mr. Percoco performed while he was receiving payments from COR. Mr. Aiello’s son wasn’t charged.
In addition to those three attendees, the breakfast also included Michael Laipple, another LPCiminelli executive who was also charged last month. An attorney for Mr. Laipple said his client “acted appropriately and lawfully.”
The memo cites each of the development companies and their connections to Mr. Cuomo’s administration and notes that “all have felt the impact of the pro-business, pro-development policies of the administration.”
Mr. Cuomo has played down his relationship with Mr. Howe. “I didn’t really have—I wasn’t—I didn’t really have communications with Todd Howe,” the governor said in May. “I would see him at events, et cetera.”
According to the memo, Mr. Howe was to be front and center at the breakfast, which was to raise $300,000. “Todd will introduce you and begin the conversation,” the memo says.
It isn’t clear who prepared the memo. The organizer of the event is listed as Jennifer Bayer, Mr. Cuomo’s lead campaign fundraiser. Ms. Bayer didn’t respond to a request for comment.
A pair of vetting documents sent by a senior aide, Linda Lacewell, to a group of the governor’s top lieutenants a month before the event show she was concerned about the optics of taking money from companies awarded state contracts long before the heads of several of those companies were arrested on corruption charges.
The emails vetted two contributions: one from Mr. Aiello and one from Mr. Ciminelli. In each, Ms. Lacewell itemized state contracts recently awarded to both men’s companies.
In the case of Mr. Ciminelli, Ms. Lacewell noted that his company had won a contract to develop a massive factory at the RiverBend site in South Buffalo. And in the case of Mr. Aiello, Ms. Lacewell highlighted that COR had won a contract to develop Central New York’s nanotech projects after having been the only bidder.
The awarding of both contracts would arise in the criminal complaint as allegedly having been rigged to favor those companies.
In both cases, Ms. Lacewell wrote that the campaign could accept the money. But she recommended that the contributors hold off on cutting checks because of the timing of the donations in proximity to the contracts.
“[G]iven all this,” she wrote in the case of Mr. Aiello, “I do not think it is problematic to take his money, would prefer that it be near end of filing as nano was very recent.”
According to filings with the state Board of Elections, many donors didn’t end up delaying their contributions. But several who had previously donated under their own names instead donated at Mr. Howe’s fundraiser under the names of limited liability companies.
After the charges were unsealed last month, Mr. Cuomo said he plans to give donations from entities or individuals tied to the alleged schemes to the “people of the state” if the defendants are convicted or plead guilty.
Write to Mike Vilensky at mike.vilensky@dowjones.com and Erica Orden at erica.orden@wsj.com