Even City Comptroller John Liu agrees — the arrests of his campaign treasurer and his top donor for allegedly scheming to make straw donations have likely torpedoed his planned run for mayor in 2013.
“That’s certainly an understandable assessment,” Liu told The Associated Press.
He also acknowledged the suspicions among his supporters that his campaign was targeted because he — and the bulk of his donors — are ethnically Chinese.
“People ask me almost every day: ‘How come they’re only investigating your campaign?’ ” he said. “I can’t answer definitively if there’s racial or ethnic targeting going on here.”
When asked about the charges yesterday, Liu told The Post, “No election has ever been an easy ride for me. Whatever I do, I always put my all into it.”
Liu gave no hint as to his political plans.
The FBI, which is conducting the probe with the US Attorney’s Office, had sent an undercover agent posing as a potential contributor looking to evade campaign regulations to meet with Liu’s staff and donors.