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The campaign manager and a fundraiser of New York City comptroller John Liu were found guilty yesterday in a trial over illegal contributions to Liu's campaign. Jia Hou, Liu's campaign manager and Xing Wu Pan a fundraiser were found guilty in a scheme to use straw donors to with thousands of dollars in matching funds from the city for Liu's campaign. Hou and Pan were found guilty of wire fraud while Hou was also found guilty of obstruction of justice and making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Both face up to 20 years in prison and will be sentenced after the mayoral primary. Their attorney's say they plan to appeal. Liu is currenly running a campaign for mayor. Prosecutors portrayed the Liu campaign as condoing the behavior of Hou and Pan. Liu held an emergency press conference last night. Liu noted the investigation has been going on for 4 years and that his phones have been tapped. “They can look at anything and everything they want," Liu said. "I’ve got nothing to hide. I’ve got a clear conscious. And we are gong to present a very strong case directly to the voters of New York City.”




Other Stories We're Following

Bloomberg Unveils His Last City Budget Amid Race to Succeed Him (NY Times)

Business Owners Take Aim At Proposed Smoking Laws (NY Times)

Grieving Mother Tells of Son's Police Stop (NY Times)

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The 14-month wait for a new state inspector general is over.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed Catherine Leahy Scott to the position today. Scott had been acting inspector general.

The vacancy at the IG's office was created when Cuomo appointed then-IG Ellen Biben as executive director of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics — a move that cause some to question whether JCOPE was actually independent of the executive branch. Biben worked for Cuomo during his time as attorney general.

It just so happens that Biben is now officially stepping down in her position at JCOPE to pursue work in the private sector. Biben's departure from JCOPE comes on the heels of the resignation of JCOPE Chair and Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore. DiFiore left to pursue her reelection bid. 

JCOPE has had more than its share of troubles since coming into existence last year. Its biggest case so far has languished as its report about the Assemblyman Vito Lopez scandal has remained out of public sight thanks to a request from the Staten Island district attorney, who is reviewing whether to bring criminal charges against Lopez.

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A judge ruled on Wednesday for the city to extend its hotel program for displaced victims of Hurricane Sandy. The city had originally planned on kicking remaining 196 evacuess out of hotels on April 30 but an extensionwill give victims until May 15. Five Sandy evacuees filed a lawsuit to gain the extension on Monday. The city Department of Homeless Services provided hotel rooms to victims who did not qualify for the FEMA hotel program. The FEMA program had previously been extended untill May 29. 


Other Stories We're Following

Vito Lopez is Formidable Candidate For Council Despite Scandal (Daily News)

Quinn Pushes NYPD Inspector Bill (NY Post)

Mayoral Candidates As Cause Celebrities (Wall Street Journal)

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A Manhattan judge has ruled that hundreds of Sandy evacuees currently living in hotel rooms paid for by the city can stay until at least mid-May.

After meeting with attorneys in chambers for almost 30 minutes, Judge Margaret Chan announced today that the 365 Sandy evacuees with no current housing alternatives can stay in the hotel rooms until May 15.

The city had said they would be evicted from the hotels on April 30, after funding for the program ended. 

Attorneys for the city said that they planned on extending the deadline to the same date regardless of how the judge would have ruled today.

The city's Law Department said that the city had spent close to $60 million on helping households transition into stable living arrangements. Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond told reporters last week that the hotel program had cost the city $40 million.

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo's open.gov.ny just got a major data dump. The transparency section of the site has been updated with campaign contribtuion and expenditure records dating back to 1999, lobbying and enforcement data from the Joint commission on Public Ethics, attorney registrations as far back as 1898 as well as a log of state employee phone numbers. 

"Today, we have added millions of records on campaign finance, lobbying, ethics enforcement, the state budget, and other information related to public integrity," said Cuomo in a statement. "It is another example of how the State is using technology to bring the people back into government – empowering voters, strengthening our democracy and promoting transparency and accountability in the Empire State.”

Cuomo touted his new open-date tool in his State of the State Address in January of this year and officially launched it in March. The Cuomo administration has been criticized for a lack of transparency. Cuomo officials have fought to keep some records from his time as Attorney General secret and Cuomo's promise to make his schedules public has been seen as incomplete by many in the press. The administration also keeps close tabs on press calls

But a number of open data enthusiasts trumpted the latest data push from the administration. 

"Credit Governor Cuomo for using the state's powerful open data website, Open NY, to make it easier for New Yorkers to find and use the state's wealth of information. Data set by data set, Open NY is giving New Yorkers a more complete picture of how our government works," said John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany, in a statement. 

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Tagged in: Gov. Andrew Cuomo