Blasio might testify
Eyed by defense at LI ex-pol’s graft trial
He managed to avoid federal charges himself but Mayor de Blasio may yet wind up testifying at a political-corruption trial.
After opening statements Wednesday in the Long Island trial of former Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano (below, at court Wednesday), a defense lawyer said he may well call de Blasio to the stand.
Marc Agnifilo, who represents codefendant and former Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto, said he might call on the Big Apple mayor to answer questions about the prosecution’s star witness, crooked ex-restaurant owner Harendra Singh.
“We’ll see what Singh testifies to, in terms of [de Blasio], and probably make a decision from there,” Agnifilo said outside court.
During a closed court appearance in 2016, Singh testified that he bribed de Blasio with tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions so the mayor and other officials would arrange a “favorable” renewal of the lease on Singh’s since-shuttered Water’s Edge restaurant in Long Island City, Queens.
Long Island federal Judge Joan Azrack ruled last month that defense lawyers cancan crossexamine Singh about those allegations, but not about de Blasio not being charged by federal prose cutors or the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office following lengthy investigations. Singh is scheduled to take the stand Thursday for the first of at least two days of testimony. De Blasio has vehemently denied Singh’s claims, saying, “This guy, to save his own skin, struck a plea deal wwith the federal prosecutors . . . he agreed to certain charges forh is own selfpreservation .” Agnifilo also said Singh was introduced in to de Blasio by lawyer Thomas Garry, who specialize in publicly financed economic-de- velopment projects and helped Singh obtain loan guarantees from Oyster Bay.
Garry donated a total of $3,150 to de Blasio’s 2009 campaign for public advocate and 2013 campaign for mayor, records show. He also hosted five political fundraisers for de Blasio between 2010 and 2013.
De Blasio spokesman Eric Phillips said, “The mayor’s got nothing to do with that case and we don’t know anything about what the lawyer’s saying.” Garry didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
In opening arguments, prosecutor Lara Treinis Gatz said Mangano’s wife, Linda — who’s also on trial with her husband and Venditto — was paid $450,000 over four years by Singh for a no-show job as a “food taster” at Water’s Edge.
Gatz said those payments were among a “never-ending flood of kickbacks” that Singh paid the defendants “in exchange for lucrative contracts and other official actions.”