{"id":435375,"date":"2022-04-21T00:55:35","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T21:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/brian-benjamin-reaches-for-the-de-blasio-defense\/"},"modified":"2022-04-21T00:55:35","modified_gmt":"2022-04-20T21:55:35","slug":"brian-benjamin-reaches-for-the-de-blasio-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/brian-benjamin-reaches-for-the-de-blasio-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"#Brian Benjamin reaches for the &#8216;de Blasio&#8217; defense"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28c7ff237d9\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28c7ff237d9\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/brian-benjamin-reaches-for-the-de-blasio-defense\/#%E2%80%9CBrian_Benjamin_reaches_for_the_%E2%80%98de_Blasio_defense%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Brian Benjamin reaches for the &#8216;de Blasio&#8217; defense&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CBrian_Benjamin_reaches_for_the_%E2%80%98de_Blasio_defense%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Brian Benjamin reaches for the &#8216;de Blasio&#8217; defense&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>It looks like disgraced ex-Lt. Gov Brian Benjamin\u2019s defense will resort to the \u201cget out of jail free\u201d card that worked for then-Mayor Bill de Blasio: a claim that it\u2019s not bribery if the pol doesn\u2019t <em>personally <\/em>profit.<\/p>\n<p>Back in 2017, recall, Acting US Attorney Joon Kim declined to charge Blas for his various pay-to-play ploys because the payoffs for various political favors had gone to the mayor\u2019s pet nonprofit the Campaign for One New York and other cutouts. Kim deemed it hard to prove \u201ccriminal intent in corruption schemes where there is no evidence of personal profit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now Benjamin\u2019s lawyer is arguing that the charges against his client are based \u201csolely on political contributions\u201d and not \u201cpersonal benefits\u201d to Benjamin.<\/p>\n<p>But de Blasio was actually careful not to have his own campaign funds reap the benefit, and the donations themselves met the letter of the law. <\/p>\n<p>By contrast, Benjamin\u2019s own campaign funds reaped the benefit of what prosecutors allege were tens of thousands in illegal \u201cstraw\u201d donations arranged by a real-estate developer (widely suspected to be Harlem bigshot Gerald Migdol). The nominal donors weren\u2019t even aware of the \u201cgifts.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The feds also allege the payoffs were part of a <em>quid pro quo <\/em>that saw Benjamin steering state money to a charity run by that same developer, among other favors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/bill-de-blasio-1.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Former Mayor Bill de Blasio used a similar defense to avoid indictment in 2017.\" class=\"wp-image-21977767\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/bill-de-blasio-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/bill-de-blasio-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/bill-de-blasio-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Former Mayor Bill de Blasio used a similar defense to avoid indictment in 2017.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang for the NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Indeed, US Attorney Damian Williams says it all looks like \u201cbribery, plain and simple.\u201d That the feds have already charged Benjaimin shows confidence they can win a conviction, where their colleagues never charged de Blasio (even as they slammed his practices).<\/p>\n<p>That Benjamin\u2019s defense is still trying the \u201cno personal benefit\u201d dodge suggests it doesn\u2019t  have anything better \u2014 and that Gov. Kathy Hochul and her vetting team were utterly asleep at the switch when they t<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ed him as her No. 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Oh, and the fact that Benjamin apparently thought he was in the clear right up until his arrest is a prime sign that schemes like his are rampant in New York state politics.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/04\/20\/brian-benjamin-reaches-for-the-de-blasio-defense\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Brian Benjamin reaches for the &#8216;de Blasio&#8217; defense&#8221; It looks like disgraced ex-Lt. Gov Brian Benjamin\u2019s defense will resort to the \u201cget out of jail free\u201d card that worked for then-Mayor Bill de Blasio: a claim that it\u2019s not bribery if the pol doesn\u2019t personally profit. Back in 2017, recall, Acting US Attorney Joon Kim&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":435376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/brian-benjamin-7.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[128221,71386,5042,128328,71478,70673,43,98806,128329],"class_list":["post-435375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-4-20-22","tag-albany","tag-bill-de-blasio","tag-brian-benjamin","tag-bribery","tag-corruption","tag-editorial","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-rivington-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}