Prosecutors: No Charges Against de Blasio, Aides in Campaign Fundraising Probe

This morning, the Acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Manhattan District Attorney said that they have concluded their investigation into the campaign fundraising practices of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and will not be bringing any charges in the matter.  (Read my April 2016 blog post for background on the investigations.)

The two prosecutors’ offices had been investigating fundraising for de Blasio’s 2013 election campaign; by his now-defunct political non-profit, the Campaign for One New York; and the effort by de Blasio and his allies to raise money for Democratic State Senate candidates in 2014.  Federal officials were reportedly looking whether any favors were done for campaign donors, while state officials were looking into potential campaign finance violations.

This very good news for Mayor de Blasio, who is preparing to run for re-election this fall.  It means that de Blasio is unlikely to face any major Democratic opponent in September.

In a statement, Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said:

“After careful deliberation, given the totality of the circumstances here and absent additional evidence, we do not intend to bring federal criminal charges against the Mayor or those acting on his behalf relating to the fundraising efforts in question. Although it is rare that we issue a public statement about the status of an investigation, we believe it appropriate in this case at this time, in order not to unduly influence the upcoming campaign and Mayoral election.”

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance also said that his office will not bring charges against de Blasio for his role in raising money that for upstate Democratic state senate campaigns in the 2014 election.  But despite not bringing charges, in a 10-page letter, Vance said that de Blasio’s fundraising efforts “appear contrary to the intent and spirit of the laws that impose candidate contribution limits, laws which are meant to prevent ‘corruption and the appearance of corruption’ in the campaign financing process.”

A de Blasio spokesperson issued the following statement:

“We have been confident from the moment these reviews began that the actions of the Mayor and our Administration have always been within the law. The United States Attorney and Manhattan District Attorney have now put to rest any suggestion otherwise. We thank these prosecutors’ offices for conducting what were clearly diligent and exhaustive reviews – and for making public the conclusions of these probes. New Yorkers deserve honest, progressive government. With this Mayor, they will always get it.”

Read news coverage from the New York Times, the Daily News, the Wall Street Journal, the Journal News and Politico NY.