de Blasio Legal Fees to Be Paid for by the Same Deep Pocket Developers That Funded CONY Now Under Federal Investigation

Why are City Tax Payers the Bill for de Blasio Lawyers in A Crimial Investigation by the Manhattan DA That Has to Do With Politics and . . .
That Has Nothing to Do With City Govt Business?

de Blasio Bushes Off Political Work After This True News Report

Paying for his mistakes: Taxpayers are putting upmillions to fund the de Blasio administration's legal defense (NYDN)  Taxpayer funds can only be used for legal services that apply to city workers doing city business — not to consultants paid by de Blasio’s now-shuttered Campaign for One New York or his failed effort to secure Democratic Party control of the state Senate. 

De Blasio defends spending $11.7M on city’s legal bills (NYP, WNYC)  At one point in the 30-minute interview, de Blasio grew irritated when Lehrer suggested city funds were being used to defend the mayor’s political campaign work — which is also under law enforcement scrutiny. “That’s entirely inaccurate,” de Blasio shot back. “That’s just crazy.”  The campaign probes include one by the Manhattan District Attorney into de Blasio’s fund-raising on behalf of state Senate Democrats in 2014. The mayor said this week he was interviewed by DA officials in late December.

Taxpayers to payup to $11.65M for legal defense of de Blasio administration in probe offund-raising practices (NYO)   Contract to Defend De Blasio and Aides to Cost City $11.6 Million (NYT) The bill for defending Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city officials in state and federal criminal investigations into fund-raising practices has grown, with six city contracts for outside law firms now totaling more than $11.6 million.  The contracts, filed with the city comptroller’s office and obtained by The New York Times through a request under the state’s Freedom of Information Law, provide the bare minimum of detail as to their purpose other than representing city employees in possible grand jury hearings related to what the Law Department calls, in its paperwork, the “John Doe Investigation.”  Taken together, the contracts contain a constellation of white-collar criminal defense and trial lawyers from law firms big and small, as well as the maximum they can bill in the city’s defense: Debevoise & Plimpton, $10 million; Carter Ledyard & Millburn, $750,000; Walden Macht & Haran, $350,000; Lankler   Lawyers from the firms, all of which declined to comment on the contracts, are tasked with preparing witnesses who may be subpoenaed or asked to give testimony to a grand jury. State and federal grand juries have begun hearing evidence from prosecutors, according to people familiar with the matter.

$11.6 Million of Tax Payer Money is Not Enough for deB Legal Bill He Needs A New Entity to Raise Money 
Is He Expecting An Indictment? 

De Blasio ducks immunity questions in federal probe (NYP)  de Blasio on Friday ducked questions on whether he’s seeking immunity from federal prosecutors in their ongoing probe of his fund-raising operations.  “I want you to report accurately I am not answering the question because I want to defer to lawyers to answer the question,” de Blasio told reporters during an unrelated press conference in Queens.  “I just think that is healthier in this case because these are legal matters.”* Mayor's Upcoming Meeting with Federal Prosecutors an Unwelcome Distraction for City Hall (NY1)

de Blasio Tries to Eliminate A Campaign Issues By Claiming Tax Payers Will Not Pay for His Lawyers But Only His Aides 

de Blasio Won the Mayor's Race By Going Around the Election Law With NYCLASS and He is Governing the Same Way Campaign for One NY

Hizzoner also insisted that taxpayers won’t pay his legal fees in federal and state investigations of his fund-raising.  He claimed that more than $11.6 million in city payouts to six outside law firms were only for his aides — but not him. When asked who is picking up his bill, de Blasio said, “It is money that will have to be raised.”

“I am not going to go into details on how lawyers prepare, but I want to ask [the media] to accurately report the fact that all legal efforts on my behalf are not paid for by taxpayers, as opposed to other city employees,” he said.

Not One City Official Has Protested the Legal Fees to Defend the Mayor - $10 Million in City Funds AND INCREASING

New Yorkers, the matter is better known as the federal inquiry into Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, and his aides, one that is said to focus on whether they traded favorable government actions for political contributions.  Last week, the de Blasio administration quietly filed with the city’s comptroller its contract with a law firm, Debevoise & Plimpton, that has for months been acting as outside counsel for the mayor and his aides. The contract, obtained by The New York Times through a request under the state Freedom of Information Law, offers the most detailed look yet at the cost of defending actions that the mayor has insisted were appropriate and legal. The Law Department, which arranged for the legal services through negotiation as opposed to a competitive bid process, described in concise terms its need for a firm “with expertise in criminal defense law to provide legal services in support of the John Doe Investigation and any related litigation.”  The department checked several boxes saying it required a contractor to “obtain special expertise” not available at the agency, “provide services not needed on a long-term basis,” “accomplish work within a limited amount of time” and “avoid a conflict of interest.” The city’s corporation counsel, who oversees the department, waived a requirement for a public hearing on the contract, the documents show, on the ground that a hearing could “disclose litigation strategy.”  The de Blasio administration, prompted by required budgetary reports, has in recent days offered a limited accounting of its spending on outside lawyers: $6.5 million through the end of the year for overlapping investigations of the mayor, said Eric F. Phillips, Mr. de Blasio’s spokesman. The contract with Debevoise & Plimpton — described as a “multiyear agreement” — is retroactive to April 25, several weeks after news reports surfaced that an investigation by the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan into corruption at the Police Department had spread to include fund-raising by Mr. de Blasio. It is set to last “through final disposition,” one document says. Elsewhere, the end date is given as July 31, 2020.  The contract with Debevoise & Plimpton — described as a “multiyear agreement” — is retroactive to April 25, several weeks after news reports surfaced that an investigation by the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan into corruption at the Police Department had spread to include fund-raising by Mr. de Blasio. It is set to last “through final disposition,” one document says. Elsewhere, the end date is given as July 31, 2020.  A Nov. 14 memo from the Law Department included with the contract said that because of “severe time constraints,” the firm had commenced work before the contract was officially registered, but that it had “not yet been paid.”  In the more than 80 pages of documents in the filing, the mayor’s name is not mentioned in connection with the matter. And only once is the nature of the John Doe Investigation hinted at: in a letter from the Law Department to Mr. Fishbein, which describes the inquiry as being “conducted by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, the Department of Investigation and other entities.” The letter says the firm would represent city employees — and “the employees of other entities the city has agreed to represent and/or defend” — in interviews or if subpoenaed to give grand jury testimony.* Law firms fighting de Blasio probes have cost taxpayers over $10M (NYP) The two high-powered law firms tapped to represent the city in the string of federal and state investigations swirling around the de Blasio administration have quietly received no-bid contracts expected to cost taxpayers at least $10.75 million. The city’s Law Department agreed to pay out $10 million through the end of the 2017 fiscal year to the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, which has been representing de Blasio and his operatives for months in regard to investigations of Hizzoner’s fund-raising activities. The department also negotiated another, smaller contract awarded last month without competitive bidding with the law firm of Carter Ledyard & Milburn. When asked whether the city expects to spend beyond the $10.75 million allocated, de Blasio spokesman Eric Phillips said, “We have no idea how long the outside reviews will last. We budget prudently.”

Even de Blasio Rivington Deed Change is Costing the City Legal Fees 

That amount includes $400,000 for lawyers at Carter Ledyard & Milburn, who have helped defend the city in state and local inquiries — including one by the comptroller — into the sale in February of Rivington House, a former nursing home in Manhattan whose deed restricted use of the property to nonprofit residential health care. Mr. Phillips declined to comment on whether the firm continued to work for the city on that matter.  Mr. de Blasio, asked at a news conference on Friday about the costs, said: “We’ve been asked to provide information; we’ve been very, very cooperative, and as many times as the investigators want to talk to members of the administration, of course they will have that opportunity. But each time requires preparation and representation. That’s why.”

$6.5 Million of City Funds Legal Fees For de Blasio Criminal Investigation Campaign For 1NY Fees Paid By Someone WHO?

New city budget allocates $6.5 million for de Blasio administration legal costs (NYDN)  The hefty lawyers’ bill is larger than the previously reported figure of $5.4 million, which covered his legal fees through the end of October.  De Blasio said the high costs were because of the “many elements of the investigation.” The mayor also said he has not been quizzed by investigators, who are looking at several aspects of his fund-raising.

A spokesman for the mayor said the $6.5 million in taxpayer money does not included representation for the investigations into the Campaign for One New York — the mayor’s now-disbanded political nonprofit — or his City Hall campaign.  They pay their legal fees separately, said press secretary Eric Phillips.


$5 Million + in Legal Fees for de Blasio What Happens After He and His Team is Indicted?

De Blasio Investigations Cost Taxpayers Millions in LegalFees (WSJ)  City Hall has spent at least $5.4 million for lawyers related to fundraising probes; mayor denies wrongdoing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration has spent at least $5.4 million in taxpayer money on lawyers related to state and federal investigations into his fundraising activities, according to a person familiar with the matter. Work continues into several of the investigations, and the fees to local law firms are likely to climb further, this person said. The current tally represents fees through early October, the person said. Investigators are looking at whether Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, exchanged government actions for donations, according to people familiar with the matter. Several of the mayor’s closest allies have received subpoenas as part of the investigation.* Investigations involving Mayor de Blasio have cost taxpayers $5.4M in legal fees (NYDN)