The little matter of a federal-court trial involving illegal campaign contributions hasn’t affected Comptroller John Liu’s sense of humor.
With his former campaign treasurer and a key contributor scheduled to go on trial next month, Liu’s mayoral campaign sent out an e-mail inviting reporters to a birthday fund-raiser last night at the Jin Fong restaurant in Chinatown this way:
“Embattled Comptroller John Liu would like to invite you as a guest to his birthday fund-raiser tonight . . .”
But during his 46th-birthday festivities, Liu offered a sobering prediction for this year’s mayoral race.
“Every New York City campaign is pretty nasty,” he said.
His former treasurer and a key donor are charged in federal court with funneling illegal contributions to his campaign.
But at the party, he said he’s looking forward to the trial to set the record straight.
“There have been lots of things thrown at me, lots of things thrown at my campaign, all sorts of insinuations and allegations — but none of them proven,” Liu said to cheers.
At the invocation, a minister said Liu was “a man of character, a man of integrity.”