De Blasio denies breaking campaign finance laws, questions motivation behind leaked memo’s release

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio denied violating any campaign finance laws on Monday while also questioning how the New York Daily News got a hold of a state Board of Elections memo recommending a criminal probe into the fundraising efforts of the mayor and his allies, which he said contained “outrageous” allegations. He also expressed confidence the press would discover what prompted the leak.

“When you see an inappropriate leak, when you see the law being misconstrued in such an obvious fashion, of course, it begs the question of motivation,” de Blasio said. “I am quite certain all of you will get to the truth about that – I am quite certain that you will be able to uncover whatever motivations may have existed.”

On Friday, the Daily News published a memo that state Board of Elections Chief Enforcement Officer Risa Sugarman sent to the board’s commissioners contending that de Blasio and his team engaged in “willful and flagrant” violations of campaign finance laws while trying to help state Senate Democrats bolster their ranks in 2014. The board commissioners voted to refer the matter to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, according to the Daily News.

Several news outlets traveled to Brooklyn Monday, where the mayor announced the city would stop charging the water board a rental payment, which de Blasio said would ensure water bills issued by the board only cover the cost of running and maintaining the water system.

But during the mayor’s off-topic portion of the press conference, reporters continually focused in on the fundraising probe and trailed the mayor as he walked toward his vehicle and left. De Blasio repeatedly referred to a Freedom of Information law request his campaign finance lawyer, Laurence Laufer, wrote in response to the memo drafted by Sugarman, an appointee of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. In the FOIL request obtained by multiple media outlets, Laufer writes that Sugarman appears to exhibit a “profound misunderstanding of election law” and to “attempt to selectively criminalize” common political party fundraising tactics.

When asked, de Blasio said he could unequivocally say neither he nor any member of his team violated campaign finance laws. He called the allegations raised in the BOE memo “outrageous.”

“It’s outrageous, and again, I don’t know what’s motivating it,” de Blasio said. “Mr. Laufer’s letter raised a number of good questions about what might be motivating it, but the facts that he lays out about the consistency in our state law and the fact that my predecessor and so many other people lived by those exact same standards – I think it speaks for itself.”