One City Council member wants ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo cut off from public matching funds in his comeback campaign for mayor.
Council member Lincoln Restler (D-Brooklyn) called on the city’s Campaign Finance Board (CFB) to reject any taxpayer funds from boosting Cuomo over accusations his campaign illegally coordinated with the Super PAC “Fix the City.”
“Andrew Cuomo is not following the rules,” Rester said outside City Hall on Thursday, three days after the CFB denied Cuomo $600,000 in matching funds over the alleged violation.
“He is breaking the rules at every turn,” said Restler, chair of council’s Government Operations Committee. “There needs to be accountability.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” the council member added. “We’re asking for a pause in the disbursement of matching funds. We’re asking to see the CFB to investigate and hold him accountable.”
Restler, joined by Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and election reform groups, called for the CFB to do a “full and complete” investigation of the Cuomo campaign — even though it wouldn’t be completed before the Democratic Party primary next month.
“We want to make sure that the elected officials are working for the people and not corporations,” Reynoso said ahead of the CFB’s budget hearing.
Cuomo, the frontrunner in the crowded primary, was slapped with a CFB complaint by rival mayoral candidate Zellnor Myrie that claimed the ex-governor’s campaign of “Redboxing” — an illegal campaign finance practice in which candidates direct PACs to use specific data points or phrases.
Despite the suspicions, Cuomo did net $1.5 million from the CFB on Monday.
Restler bashed Cuomo for allegedly benefitting from at least three undisclosed lobbyists who were fundraising on his behalf, and has ignored multiple warnings from the board about incorrectly soliciting private donations, as was previously reported by The Post.
The CFB dodged specifics on their ongoing investigation when questioned at the budget hearing Thursday.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss any specific candidates with ongoing matters before the board,” CFB executive director Paul Ryan said.
Ryan testified that the board is backlogged as far back as 2021 in their auditing processes — with only 43% of audits from that year completed.
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi slammed Restler as a “lackey” of mayoral candidate and current city Comptroller Brad Lander. He said New Yorkers would “see right through this feeble attempt at election interference.”
Our campaign has operated in full compliance with the campaign finance laws and rules, and everything on our website was reviewed and approved by our legal team in advance of publication — as I’m sure [candidates] Scott Stringer, Justin Brannan and others did when they launched similar pages,” he said.
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