John Liu’s campaign is in legal trouble again. The New York City comptroller has again found himself the subject of scrutiny since his campaign treasurer has been charged with funneling illegal contributions to his campaign, allegedly in order to circumvent the $4,950 limit on individual contributions.
Campaign treasurer Jia “Jenny” Hou was accused of failing to disclose the names of contribution bundlers until January, despite having used them for more than two years, as well as offering to reimburse donations illegally and instructing campaign staff to make the donations look legitimate. She could face up to sixty years in prison, according to the New York Post.
Recently lauded in a speech by former New York governor Andrew Cuomo as a model for the state, New York City’s campaign finance system, which offers candidates who raise qualifying contributions substantial matching funds in exchange for adhering to strict contribution limits, has produced a variety of bad behavior in the New York City government, including protecting incredibly corrupt incumbents (New York City Council boasts a 97% incumbency rate). Comptroller Liu had run into trouble a few months back when a campaign bundler was indicted for similar offenses.
It seems likely this will not be the last bit of trouble we will hear from Mr. Liu, who is considered a contender for New York City Major in 2013.
In the words of Neil Young: the devil fools with the best laid plans.
You can read the New York Post article here.
