In apparent violation of the law, a top adviser to Gov. Paterson’s now-ended campaign provided thousands of dollars’ worth of services to the governor for free while lobbying him for the controversial Aqueduct casino contract.
Bill Lynch, a prominent Democratic operative and longtime Paterson associate, was signed to a $7,500-a-month contract by would-be Aqueduct operator SL Green on Nov. 1 for the purpose of “assisting in the venture’s bid for a license to operate the video lottery facility at Aqueduct,” a copy of the contract filed with the Public Integrity Commission (PIC) shows.
But from Nov. 1 until early February, when Lynch abruptly left SL Green’s employ, he regularly gave “free” campaign advice to the governor, who made the final decision on awarding the Aqueduct contract, Lynch and Paterson campaign manager Richard Fife conceded.
A state ethics panel ruled in 2002 that “gifts” of services by a registered lobbyist to a person whom he or she is lobbying were illegal.
“I think the PIC absolutely has an obligation to investigate the facts in this situation,” said David Grandeau, former head of the state Lobbying Commission, which was absorbed by the PIC in 2007.
Lynch received $10,000 from the Paterson campaign before going to work for SL Green, records show.
Immediately after leaving SL Green’s payroll last month, he was placed back on the payroll of the Paterson campaign, Fife said.
Lynch said he didn’t clear his campaign work with the PIC, but he contended that his private attorney, election lawyer Henry Berger, told him that “because of my longstanding relationship with the governor, there’s nothing illegal.”
Berger did not return messages left at his office and on his personal cellphone.
A PIC spokesman refused to discuss Lynch’s actions but said lobbyists could give gifts to public officials only “when the circumstances establish that it is the personal relationship that is the primary motivating factor.”