Rogue Dem dough
IDC stash had $1.4M in illicit gifts that must be returned: judge
ALBANY – The former members of a breakaway Senate Democratic conference may have to return hundreds of thousands of dollars in questionable donations in the midst of bruising primary battles.
A campaign account created in 2016 by the now dissolved Independent Democratic Conference through the state Independence Party was found by a state judge in June to be in violation of state election law.
The Senate Independence Campaign Committee created by then IDC boss Jeffrey Klein (D-Bronx) raised $2.5 million and transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations it received to various IDC members’ campaign accounts.
Now, state Board of Elections Chief Enforcement Officer Risa Sugarman found that $1.4 million in the donations to the committee need to be refunded.
She also wants former IDC senators to return any money that was over the legal limit that they received from the committee and file amended campaign disclosure statements reflecting the changes.
Among those who could be affected are Sens. Marisol Alcantara of Manhattan, Tony Avella of Queens and David Carlucci of Rockland County.
Alcantara, by far, received the most, $540,000, from the campaign committee.
The order, in a letter sent Friday by Associate Counsel Carla DiMarco and first reported Tuesday by the Albany Times Union, comes just weeks before the former IDC members, who in April broke their leadership coalition with the Republicans to rejoin the mainline Democrats, face Sept. 13 primary challenges.
The committee was used to “illegally raise and spend funds in support of IDC candidates and thereby evaded contribution limits,” DiMarco wrote.
Barbara Brancaccio, a spokeswoman for the former IDC members, ripped Sugarman for overstepping the court ruling.
“This is an enforcement counsel unwilling to abide by the decision of the court, and the counsel to the committee will be asking the court to sanction her if she persists in distorting the judgment of the court,” Brancaccio said.
“Her release of this letter to the press in the middle of a heated political campaign is an abuse of her powers,” she said.