By: Mike Madigan
Albany is now on notice that there is a new sheriff in town in the name of US Attorney Preet Bharara.
It is quickly becoming apparent Bharara is committed to rooting out the pervasive corruption that controls both major political parties in NY State.
The corruption in NY is so widespread most voters believe both major Parties have been consumed by it and their vote no longer has any meaning. Many voters believe they are powerless to stop this corruption resulting in voter apathy.
Initially the Moreland Commission and now the US Attorney Preet Bharara are restoring hope to many voters that perhaps the corruption actually can be rooted out in NY State.
Investigations and indictments have begun to flow out of the US Attorney’s office in recent months that provide the source of that hope.
In April 2014 NY Governor Andrew Cuomo abruptly shutdown the Moreland Commission – a commission Cuomo appointed as an election prop to make it appear he was committed to rooting out NYS government corruption.
Cuomo’s apparent intent was to have a symbolic commission to protect him in the election from accusations of supporting and being a key part of the corrupted system that voters and taxpayers are negatively impacted by and mad as hell about.
The Moreland Commissioners took their appointed task seriously and they quickly began uncovering just how badly corrupted state government is from the very top to the bottom.
Cuomo benefits from and is empowered by NY State corruption and once he learned he could not control the commissioners and that they were uncovering corruption he shut it down.
Following the abrupt shutdown of Moreland by Cuomo it was revealed that the commissioners would not go quietly. The US Attorney Preet Bharara was recruited to continue the corruption probe where they left off.
Soon after US Attorney Bharara took over the corruption probe he began investigating Republican NY Senator George Maziarz. The reported investigation allegedly resulted in his sudden decision not to run for re-election for NY Senate in 2014 after almost 20 years in office.
At the same time in 2014 NY Republican Senator Tom Libous was indicted by Bharara for allegedly lying to the FBI associated with possible corrupt actions associated with his Senate position and himself and his son.
2015 started with the announcement by Bharara that NY Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver has been indicted for allegedly receiving millions in kickbacks associated with NY State Taxpayer funded grants.
It should be noted that oddly Republican Assembly minority leader Brian Kolb quickly jumped to the defense of the indicted Democrat Assembly Leader Silver and blocked a principled bi-partisan attempt to remove Silver from his leadership position. Link
It is now being reported NY Senate Leader Dean Skelos is under investigation by Bharara for alleged corrupt transactions associated with his conduct in office that may have benefited him. Link
Two of the three men in the room (Skelos and Silver) who control the corrupted NY State government appear to be in serious trouble with the US Attorney’s office for their possible illegal activities.
Corrupted Albany politicians who viewed Carl Paladino as a nuisance in the past now fear him as four of the six individuals he called out for corruption are targets of the US Attorney (Libous-R, Maziarz-R, Skelos-R and Silver-D). The other two (Cuomo-D and Kolb-R) have not yet been identified by Preet.
Based on Democrat Cuomo’s actions resulting in the abrupt termination of the Moreland Commission corruption probe and Republican Kolb’s shocking defense of indicted Democrat Silver against principled Democrats and Republicans it would seem there is more of the story yet to be written – Stay tuned!
It should be noted that the news media such as the the Buffalo News, New York Times and Democrat & Chronicle all have for decades turned a blind eye to the corruption. The media historically rooted out corruption through effective and passionate investigative reporting disabling it – it is now enabling it. The NY State media has been corrupted concurrently with our government. The closest comparison is how Pravda was a controlled by and a essential part of the propaganda campaign carried out by the USSR to maintain and support the communist state. Bloggers and activists now must be relied on as the Fourth Estate since the News Media has chosen to subjugate itself by parroting the propaganda provided by New York State Government.