A GOP political activist filed a complaint with the Campaign Finance Board accusing Bill de Blasio and key allies of illegally operating a super PAC that spent more than $1 million attacking Christine Quinn in the Democratic primary race for mayor, The Post has learned.
In the complaint, E. O’Brien Murray, a political consultant and adviser to Republican candidate Joe Lhota, spells out de Blasio’s ties to the anti-Quinn political action committee New York City is Not For Sale and the Advance Group, a consulting firm the PAC hired to bludgeon the City Council speaker.
The complaint notes that top officers at the Advance Group are de Blasio allies.
Development director Ben Kalish was finance director for de Blasio’s 2009 public-advocate campaign, it says, and Michael Gaspard, a senior adviser, is the brother of de Blasio confidant and former White House political director Patrick Gaspard. Founder Scott Levenson worked “side-by-side” with de Blasio on David Dinkins’ 1989 mayoral campaign, the complaint says.
NYC is Not for Sale was largely financed of handful of contributors who were also big de Blasio backers. The biggest one was Communications Workers of American Local 1180,which endorsed de Blasio in May, and also donated $500,000 to the anti-Quinn PAC.
De Blasio supporters also contributed funds to NYCLASS, the animal -rights group that opposed Quinn and funneled $250,000 to NYC is Not for Sale.
PACs by law must operate independently of political campaigns and are forbidden from coordinating their efforts with campaigns.
“This complaint puts forth evidence providing reason to believe that agents of mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio initiated the independent expenditure campaign opposing mayoral candidate Christine Quinn. The success of the anti-Quinn independent expenditure campaign was a seminal moment of the mayoral campaign,” said Murray, who filed the complaint as a Manhattan voter, not on behalf of Lhota’s campaign.
“Bill de Blasio talks about campaign-finance reform, but ends up bending the rules so much I am surprised they didn’t break,” Murray said. “The hypocrisy is amazing.”
The de Blasio campaign dismissed the accusations.
“This complaint redefines the term ‘frivolous.’ The de Blasio campaign had zero involvement with the PAC in question. Even by Joe Lhota and his allies’ low standards, this is desperate,” said spokeswoman Lis Smith.