Metro

State commission says judge should be censured for $250G in ‘disguised’ compaign contributions

A Manhattan judge should be censured for accepting $250,000 in “disguised” campaign contributions, a state commission has found.

The state Commission on Judicial Conduct determined Surrogate’s Court Judge Nora Anderson had “undermined public confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary” by accepting the money from lawyer Seth Rubenstein, her longtime boss and mentor for the campaign, and then failing to report it on her disclosure forms.

Campaign contributions are supposed to be capped at just over $33,000, but Rubenstein gave Anderson a $100,000 gift followed by a $150,000 loan in 2008 — money that went straight into Anderson’s campaign.

Anderson and Rubenstein were later arrested, but cleared of criminal charges in 2010.

Anderson told the commission, the state agency charged with disciplining judges, that she had relied on faulty advice from Rubenstein that the transactions were on the up and up.

The commission, which has the power to move for a judge’s dismissal, recommended she be censured, noting that she was “an inexperienced judicial candidate” who “relied on a trusted adviser whose advice, viewed most favorably, exploited a loophole in the law while skirting the ethical mandates.”

“Having now examined and reflected upon the applicable law and rules, respondent acknowledges that is is the generally accepted view that a campaign financing structure such as employed by her and Mr. Rubenstein is improper,” the commission said.

The commission’s determination noted that Anderson has only repaid $14,000 of Rubenstein’s $150,000 loan.

Anderson’s lawyer, David Godosky, said, “She’s certainly glad to have this chapter closed and to get back to business.”

Anderson’s term runs until 2022.