As the late Sen. Lloyd Bentsen might have said: “Councilman, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”
Indicted city Councilman Larry Seabrook’s lawyer compared his client to the slain 35th president in court this morning as he attacked charges that Seabrook steered city funds to non-profits that employed his relatives.
“I’m not not trying be cute, but the Kennedy bothers all worked in government, and nobody said that was nepotism,” Murray Richman said.
The defense lawyer also played the race card by insisting that Seabrook committed no crime in helping a minority contractor win a job on the new Yankee stadium, saying: “Yankee Stadium doesn’t normally award minority contracts.”
Seabrook — who’s accused of shaking down the contractor for a $50,000 bribe — remained free on bail after Richman took the blame for recent delays in the wide-ranging corruption case.
Richman said he had a potential conflict of interest involving an unidentified witness who Richman described as a “colleague” for the past 15 years.
But Richman said he planned to continue representing Seabrook unless that person took on a “major” role in the case.
A Yankees spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokeswoman for the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment.