ALBANY — New York’s anti-corruption commission took its boldest step yet Wednesday in a growing conflict with the Legislature by deciding to force the Senate’s Republican campaign committee to comply with a subpoena for internal documents.
The rising conflict over the commission’s probe into the Legislature also ignited a fight among Democrats — the executive director of the state Democratic Committee told a leading Democratic senator she should consider registering as a Republican, prompting the senator to accuse the party executive of having a six-figure, no-show job.
The anti-corruption commission has sought details of how campaign committees use their “housekeeping” accounts, which have few limits on donations and few regulations on how the money is spent. The commission has also faced opposition to its effort to identify lawmakers’ clients in private law firms.
“We had hoped the Senate Republicans would willingly cooperate and they did not. We will prevail in court,” stated the chairmen of the Commission to Investigate Public Corruption created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo under the state Moreland Act. The chairmen argued Wednesday that they have the authority to investigate the Senate Republican Campaign Committee and lawmakers because they were deputized by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
That claim could be tested in this new escalation.
Lawmakers have bristled at the commission’s focus on the Legislature and particularly on Republicans and their allies in the state Independence Party, which had also received a subpoena regarding its housekeeping account. Lawmakers note the Moreland Act doesn’t allow a commission to investigate the legislative branch, but Cuomo sought to overcome that obstacle by having the commission members deputized.
The Senate Republican committee late Tuesday filed a motion to quash the commission’s subpoena. The committee said the subpoena sought too many records in an effort it called “overbroad” and which infringes on the campaign committee’s rights to free political expression. The Senate Republican committee said it isn’t getting “equal protection” under law, apparently as compared to Democratic organizations.
Republicans said the documents sought include “the committee’s most sensitive internal documents and communications” which “go to the heart of the committee’s political functions,” going beyond the campaign finance focus of the commission.
The Republicans had no immediate comment. Despite a nearly 2:1 Democratic enrollment advantage statewide, Republicans have controlled the Senate for decades. Republicans now share control under partnership with the four-member Independent Democratic Conference.
In what may be a further rift between Cuomo and the Senate majority, a spokesman for the Democratic Party, which is headed by Cuomo, lashed out a member of the Independent Democratic Conference, Sen. Diane Savino of Staten Island.
Savino has co-sponsored a Republican bill that would put a wall between the governor and an investigative commission created under the Moreland Act. The bill would “require greater transparency … (and) ensure independence” of a commission from the governor.
State Democratic Committee Executive Director Rodney Capel advised Savino: “Register Republican.”
Savino said it was “extremely disappointing” to have a member of her own party be so hostile to calls for greater transparency in government.
“He can spare me the bull or find himself another six-figure, no-show job,” Savino said.