By Roger Stone
The sun setting of the New York State Temporary Commission on Lobbying brings retirement to the private sector for the Commission’s celebrated Executive Director, David Grandeau. One cannot deny that Mr. Grandeau has cut a wide swath in Albany in his efforts to bring ethics to State Government, particularly the Legislature.
I think Mr. Grandeau is a bit like Joe McCarthy. While his motives maybe pure, his methods at times have been excessive or reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment which allows free speech. Mr. Grandeau had the view that New York State lobby law somehow abridged free speech rights.
In my own tussle with Mr. Grandeau in which Donald Trump paid the largest single fine in New York State lobby law enforcement history, $200,000, it is vitally important to note that this was a $200,000 settlement and not a fine. The settlement was not a fine because it included no admission of guilt or of violating State law. I would not have settled without this proviso.
Mr. Grandeau’s view was that an entity airing Television commercials in the Albany media market would be running advertising that a State Legislator might see, and thus, he concluded, that entity must register with the New York State Temporary Commission on Lobbying. In this case, the organization running the ads was a 501(c)4 filed with the Internal Revenue Service under which the reporting of contributors was not due until the year of which the settlement was reached. No effort to conceal Mr. Trump’s contributions were required or made. Running these ads was clearly within the organizations First Amendment rights and the idea that they would have to register with the Commission before they could exercise their First Amendment rights is noxious.
While I’m sure that Mr. Grandeau may have been pure, one must wonder where he was when Speaker Sheldon “Shelly” Silver used taxpayer money to hush-up a scandal when his top Aide sexually assaulted a Capital staffer. One must also wonder how the Speaker held what is essentially a no-show job at a Personal Injury Law Firm, while at the same time blocking tort reform in the Assembly. Where was Mr. Grandeau?
Most recently I heard from New York State Temporary Commission on Lobbying when something called ‘RADAR On-Line’ published a story which said that my long-time client and friend, Donald Trump, introduced me to Steve Wynn who hired me on behalf of his venture EXCELSIOR in its efforts to win the New York State contract to operate the State’s pari-mutuel tracks and gaming operations. The story alleged that I was hired to lobby Senator Bruno. The Commission was inquiring as to the validity of this report. Every single aspect of this story is false.
Although I have never discussed the matter with Mr. Trump, I believe it would be unlikely that he would be helpful to EXCELSIOR in view of the fact, according to the Florida newspapers, that he is involved in a bitter multi-million dollar civil litigation with some of the partners of EXCELSIOR. I have never met Mr. Wynn nor spoken to him or anyone from his office and I have never lobbied Senator Bruno or any other State Official. I have received no compensation whatsoever from EXCELSIOR, and in fact, I have friends involved with both EMPIRE GAMING and CAPITAL PLAY. When the piece appeared I got calls from both the New York Daily News and the Albany Times Union and I shot the story down on the record. The Albany Times Union did not write and the New York Daily News posted my comments on their blog. Interestingly, both reporters told me that staffers from super-lobbyist Pat Lynch’s office called to push the story. Lynch represents EXCELSIOR’S competitor and arch rival, EMPIRE GAMING.
Needless to say, the RADAR piece did make reference to allegations of some years ago that my wife and I had engaged inappropriate behavior that was probably not acceptable with the Republican Party, and RADAR linked to a bare-chested photo of me. So, the smear is revealed. Mr. Grandeau’s agency went out of business before he could look into this hit-job. I have decided to demand a retraction from the RADAR On-Line writer, Jeff Bercovici and pursue a lawsuit aggressively if a retraction is not forthcoming. The allegation that I have lobbied anyone without registering is injurious to my reputation and thus, actionable. As for Mr. Grandeau, the man is a bull-dog and I wish him well in his future endeavors.
