Earlier today, New York State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox crowed in light of Kruger’s surrender to federal authorities:

This [corruption] is definitely a Democratic problem and it started with [former Queens Assemblyman] Brian McLaughlin, who was also the head of the Labor Council in New York City.

Of course, the press was quick to respond about the arrest of former Republican State Senator Vincent Leibell and the conviction of former Republican State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno on corruption charges, among other incidents.

Cox then replied:

It seems like it is mostly a Democratic problem. But I agree with you about Senator Leibell.

Now you know that many Brooklyn Young Republicans, and especially me personally, have been honest about the problems on both sides of the aisle.  Corruption can occur among Democrats as much as Republicans.  It has nothing to do with the principles of our party, or who its voters are.

It does have a lot to do, however, with the men and women who lead the party and let these problems go undetected because of the allure of a much bigger political and financial payoff.  That happens in all politics, regardless of party.

Unfortunately, such broad–and perhaps unintentionally disingenuous–generalizations like that which Cox made hurt our party’s credibility to be the party of reform.  I would wholeheartedly agree with Cox that Democratic monopolies, like what we have in New York City, can and do breed rampant corruption.  After all, in not less than 6 years, Democratic City Council Members, State Assembly Members, State Senators, a State Comptroller, and a host of Democratic operatives on government payrolls have been arrested and convicted on a variety of corruption charges.

More importantly, the number of Republican corruption cases pales in comparison to the huge number on the Democratic side.

But let’s not forget that as entrenched as Democrats are here in New York City (in some notable cases with the help of local Republican leaders), there are places in New York State where the Republicans have a stranglehold on electoral outcomes.

It is a fact that your less-than-well-intentioned “political animals” are naturally going to seek public office through whatever organization can get them elected as easily as possible.  In New York City, they run with the Democratic machine.  In some places in New York State, such as Nassau County in its hey-day, they run with the Republican machine.

The only factor that can mitigate the payoffs of corruption is electoral competitiveness.  If Republicans leaders in Brooklyn, for instance, had not allowed Democrat Carl Kruger to run unopposed for over a decade in the second-most Republican district in Brooklyn, do you really think Kruger would have taken the risk of ending his political career and going to jail by performing the kinds of acts that the feds have accused him of?  Probably not.  Heck, we might have even had a Republican in that seat, and that would have been one less corrupt State Senator to talk about!

It is a well known factor in the science of corruption that elected legislative officials who have reason to believe they could lose an election at any time and therefore lose all protection from prosecution are less likely to take the risk of performing corrupt acts.  Carl Kruger is one of many perfect examples of what happens when someone gets too comfortable with cutting deals, running unopposed, and abusing their office to get as much power and money as they can extract from the public without electoral consequence.

(As a rule of thumb, always be cautious of the elected official who never has an opponent, especially if there isn’t even token opposition.  That is, I assure you, never an accident.)

Republicans, however, should not be afraid to speak honestly about our own elected officials when they do wrong.  We should be especially vigilant with our own party leadership and question why Kruger, among many others, have been allowed to go seriously unchallenged for so long.  And looking even beyond whatever our party’s compromised leadership has done, we should be, as Young Republican activists, actively recruiting and supporting principled, reform-minded Republican candidates to challenge and expose the deeds of any incumbent, whether within our own party or not, so that the public knows that it is getting the best, most principled service their tax dollars can provide.

Jonathan J. Judge is President of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club.

(The views and opinions expressed herein are not necessarily that of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club).

Source: Nicholas Confessore, William K. Rashbaum / New York Times

State Senator Carl Kruger, a powerful and at times controversial Brooklyn Democrat; a state assemblyman; and an influential lobbyist are expected to turn themselves in on Thursday to federal authorities in Manhattan on corruption charges, according to several people briefed on the matter.

Mr. Kruger had been under investigation by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn who were looking into accusations that he had helped businessmen surmount bureaucratic hurdles in exchange for assistance raising campaign money, but the charges stemmed from an investigation by Manhattan federal prosecutors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Others, including William F. Boyland Jr., a four-term Democratic state assemblyman from Brooklyn, and Richard Lipsky, a lobbyist, and two hospital executives, were also expected to face charges in the case, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the charges had not been made public.

Some of the charges were expected to center on actions that the men took supporting the activities of hospitals in Brooklyn and Queens, the people said.

Mr. Kruger led the powerful Senate Finance Committee until Democrats lost control of the chamber last year, a position from which he amassed the Senate’s largest campaign war chest.

In the Brooklyn investigation, one of Mr. Kruger’s campaign donors, Michael Levitis, who is suspected of serving as an intermediary between the senator and those seeking favors, pleaded guilty this month to lying to federal investigators in the case.

Details of the Manhattan case against Mr. Kruger and Mr. Lipsky were not available on Wednesday night. The United States attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, and officials with the F.B.I. were expected to hold a news conference on Thursday to announce the charges.

Mr. Kruger’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, declined to comment on Wednesday, as did Gerald B. Lefcourt, who represents Mr. Lipsky. It could not be determined Wednesday night who represents Mr. Boyland.

Mr. Levitis, who owned the Rasputin nightclub on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn, was accused by prosecutors in Brooklyn of lying about a discussion he had had with an F.B.I. confidential informant who was posing as a businessman looking for help with an inspection. The discussion was secretly recorded.

During that conversation, according to the charges, Mr. Levitis, a personal-injury lawyer, solicited a $3,000 payment, telling the informant that he would pass on $2,000 to an aide to Mr. Kruger and keep the rest. Mr. Levitis also told him that he might have to hold a fund-raiser for the lawmaker.

Read the rest here.

Special Note: Democratic State Senator Carl Kruger has always had a “special” relationship with the Brooklyn Republican Party leadership.  After all, he has not had an opponent on the Republican line since at least before 1998, according to state records.

That’s definitely no accident when the 27th Senate District, represented by Kruger, has one of Brooklyn’s best Democrat-to-Republican ratios (77/23), second only to the 22nd Senate District’s (70/30), currently held by Brooklyn’s lone Republican, State Senator Marty Golden.

In fact, in 2002, when then-State Senate Republican Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (who also has been convicted on federal corruption charges) made a number of partisan redistricting deals to draw a Republican-friendly 22nd Senate District in Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Republican Party leadership gave Kruger a Wilson-Pakula to run on the Republican line.

To-date, Kruger’s token opposition in each election has been on the Conservative Party’s line.

This is a key example of the inexcusable collusion that breeds among the Republican and Democratic Party leaderships in Brooklyn, not the least of which entails the ideological compromises during elections required by the ugly sausage-making of Brooklyn’s “bipartisan” noncompetitive political system.

–Jonathan Judge

State Sen. Carl Kruger (D-Sheepshead Bay) didn’t have an opponent in this year’s Democratic Primary, but he’ll be embroiled in the David vs. Goliath showdown on Nov. 2 as voters choose between the notorious legislator and 19-year-old (yes, we said 19) Avrahom Rosenberg, a Midwood resident and full-time Touro College student running on the Conservative line. We caught up with the young upstart this week:

Courier Life: Let’s get this straight: You’re 19? Shouldn’t you be out on dates and attending college parties instead of running for office?

Avrahom Rosenberg: I go to college, but I felt that there was a need to run and see how this government works. I want to take a stand against the elected officials who aren’t serving our interests.

CL: It’s no secret that Kruger has many critics, but, specifically, what’s your beef with the man?

AR: There’s the allegations of corruption, but my major criticism of Kruger is that he hasn’t done anything for his constituents. People have sent him messages asking for his help and they haven’t gotten a response back.

CL: But how do you plan to beat a guy like Kruger as a Conservative in a sea of Democrats?

AR: I’m a registered Republican, but I have a Democratic platform, like fighting for Medicaid and social programs that will help everyone. No one’s against me because of my party affiliation. They don’t see my party as a problem. They’re just happy someone’s running against Carl Kruger.

CL: But party politics is a big problem in Albany. Right now, Democrats outnumber Republicans in the senate chamber, but only by two. If you’re elected, where do you see yourself fitting in?

AR: I would probably lean toward the Republican side, but I see myself more of a swing vote. I want to help both parties get over their differences and begin agreeing on things so they’ll see what they’re supposed to do — represent the people.

CL: That’s a very collegiate answer. Wait a minute … is your whole election some kind of class project?

AR: No, it’s not. But I get asked that a lot.

Source: Ned Berke / Sheepshead Bites

I know we already posted today about State Senator Carl Kruger, but I just came across this article in Courier-Life exposing the extravagance of that shyster, and his smugness in rebutting it.

Kruger’s been dipping into his $2.1 million campaign war chest – the largest in the State Legislature – to pay for all kinds of crud unrelated to getting reelected. Of course, it’s been a longtime tradition for state representatives to use leftovers from their reelection campaigns to fund a more comfortable living situation, but the shocking degree to which Kruger is making it rain shows just how far out of touch he is with his constituents.

Read the rest here.

State Sen. Carl Kruger’s $2.1-million campaign war chest brings new meaning to the phrase “money to burn.”

With no viable competition this year, Kruger (D–Sheepshead Bay) has spent a good chunk of that money on high-priced hotels ($8,630), swanky restaurants ($13,000), his car ($8,939) and even his iTunes account ($302), according to an investigation spearheaded by our sister publication, the New York Post.

But the biggest campaign expenses were saved for a massive renovation of his office on Avenue U and East 22nd Street, on which Kruger spent more than $90,000, including more than $23,000 on office furniture.

He also billed his campaign account nearly $1,000 for plumbing in his office bathroom. Donors also poneyed up the additional $288 that Kruger spent on bathroom supplies.

Read the rest here.

After a week of tight-lipped silence, state Sen. Carl Kruger is finally speaking out about the FBI’s probe into his campaign practices, saying that he’s just an innocent patsy despite allegations that he sold his sizable political clout at high-priced fundraisers.

“All I know is that I’m a victim in this whole thing,” Kruger (D–Sheepshead Bay) said about the arrest of local restaurateur Michael Levitis, who was caught on tape telling another restaurant owner that the senator would take care of his problems if he held a fundraiser.

In this case, though, Levitis was just bragging that he knew Kruger, the senator said.

“This guy went around boasting that he knew me and made representations that the government saw right through,” Kruger said.

Kruger claimed that the federal government isn’t investigating his campaign, even though Levitis, the manager of the Rasputin Supper Club on Coney Island Avenue and Avenue X, allegedly agreed to help funnel $2,000 to Jason Koppel, Kruger’s chief of staff, from the other restaurateur, who was acting as an agent for the FBI.

Read the rest here.