Everyone is entitled to a day in court, but City Comptroller John Liu and his cronies are fast learning that theirs doesn’t come with free money — or freebie sessions with a shrink.
Liu’s top moneyman, Oliver Pan, tried to have his felony conspiracy and wire-fraud charges thrown out last week — whining to a federal judge that FBI investigators had squeezed him so hard he had flashbacks to Communist China, where he grew up.
Nice try: Judge Richard Sullivan wisely told the defense to ditch the “squishy stuff.”
“This is a court of law, not a psychiatrist’s couch,” he said. “I was hoping you’d have more legal arguments here.”
Liu’s former campaign treasurer, Jenny Hou, did try out some legal arguments — and sought to have the incriminating evidence in her felony case dismissed.
No dice: She and Pan will stand trial together on Feb. 4 over their alleged scheme to fill Liu’s campaign coffers with illegal cash from “straw donors,” who were reimbursed for making their donations.
Liu himself hasn’t been charged with a crime, but he’s very much on trial here.
And if the only way to get any straight answers about the nest of alleged criminality that was Liu’s campaign office is by hauling the relevant actors into court — so be it.
February should be enlightening.
And Sullivan’s slap at the defense last Monday means New Yorkers are one step closer to getting to the bottom of Liu’s mess.
That doesn’t mean the FBI’s three-year investigation into his fund-raising has humbled the comptroller.
On the contrary — he’s getting worse.
As comptroller, Liu is entrusted with monitoring the city’s finances but has spent years refusing to take care of his own — and here’s where that free money comes in.
Liu owes the city $527,400 in fines he incurred for posting campaign signs on city property during his 2009 run — but he thinks a state court will wipe the debt away.
He rejected the city fine twice when it was first applied, then appealed the fine to a local judge, then appealed that ruling to a city panel — and lost each and every time.
So on Halloween, he filed another appeal, this time to state Supreme Court.
Is he hoping the fifth time’s the charm?
We expect he’ll be ordered to pay up: Liu admits he violated city law. But he’s just so shameless he hopes to get away with it.
And we expect a replay of last week’s scene when February’s trial begins — more whimpering, more denials and, we hope, just as much sense from the judge and jury.