Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has been ordered to pay a $475,000 penalty for improperly using public funds to cover a police security detail during his unsuccessful presidential campaign, a judge ruled this week. The judge dismissed de Blasio’s legal arguments against the fine as “confusing” and “completely without foundation.”
The ruling puts an end to de Blasio’s latest attempt to overturn the significant fine issued by the city’s ethics board in 2023. In his motion, de Blasio claimed that the board had failed to provide clear guidance on the rules for using public funds for security during his campaign travels and argued that the board exceeded its authority in imposing the fine.
In an 80-page decision released Monday, Judge Shahabuddeen Ally rejected these claims, stating that de Blasio had been “specifically and clearly” informed that the city would not cover the costs of security for campaign-related travel. Despite this, the former mayor chose to use his police detail for the trips.
“(His) position essentially eliminates his own agency in the choices he made,” the judge wrote, further emphasizing that “the extraordinary assertion that he is exempt from the City’s conflicts-of-interest laws is without merit.”
As a result of the ruling, de Blasio is responsible for repaying $320,000 in travel expenses for his security detail accrued during the four-month campaign he embarked on in 2019, during his second mayoral term. He must also pay an additional $5,000 fine for each of the 31 out-of-state trips taken by the detail, totaling $155,000.
The fine, amounting to $475,000, is the largest ever imposed by New York City’s Conflicts of Interest Board, an independent agency tasked with upholding ethical conduct among local officials.
Carolyn Lisa Miller, the executive director of the ethics board, stated that the judge’s decision “speaks for itself.”
Andrew G. Celli Jr., de Blasio’s attorney, declined to comment on the ruling, and de Blasio himself did not respond to a text message seeking his reaction.
In court documents, de Blasio’s legal team argued that requiring him to repay the cost of the security detail’s travel violated his 1st Amendment rights by placing an “unequal burden” on candidates who are career public servants as opposed to wealthy individuals. They also contended that reimbursing the city would have “no significant impact on the NYPD’s budget.”
De Blasio has faced prior accusations of misusing his security detail. In 2021, a report by the city’s Department of Investigation revealed that he had used the officers for personal tasks, such as helping his daughter move into an apartment and transporting his son to college.
Since stepping down as mayor in 2021, de Blasio has taken on roles as a lecturer at several universities, most recently the University of Michigan, and has delivered paid speeches in Italy.
{Matzav.com}