Antoine keeps this picture on his bedside table . . .
So Antoine Thompson not only wanted to vote against expelling Hiram “The Ripper” Monserrate from the State Senate, but he also donated to his legal defense fund?
And now it seems Thompson opened up his campaign chest to donate to the defense fund to help Monserrate with his legal problems. Republicans are wondering if the donation was legal.
Looking for an explanation?
Thompson has been a difficult man to track down this past week . . .
Asked about his whereabouts Wednesday, a spokeswoman responded: “He’s out of town on business.”
Where? “I don’t know the exact itinerary,” Heather Zeist said.
“I just know he’s out of town,” she said, adding that he was in meetings “enlisting businesses to come to Buffalo.”
Requests to talk to Thompson went unanswered.
On Thursday, it was the same.
“Basically, all I know is what I told you yesterday,” Zeist said.
By Friday, calls to Thompson’s staff no longer were being returned.
Other senators and senior Senate officials did not know Thompson’s location or why he left town after Tuesday’s session.
The $1,000 August check was sent to the Queens home of P. Wayne Mahlke, a staff member of Monserrate . . .
It is illegal for a legislative staff member to be the trustee of a lawmaker’s legal defense fund. In this case, Monserrate is not supposed to be informed who is giving him money, and the proceeds can be used only for legal expenses.
But Thompson sent his check to Mahlke’s home. And Mahlke said last week that he is not the fund’s trustee.
Huh.
Let’s put aside Thompson’s ongoing support for a violent dirtbag like Monserrate. Maybe it’s just too much to expect that our public officials would take a stand against violent face slashings, what with the powerful face-slashing lobby and all. But shouldn’t we be able to expect them to get the basics right, like obeying campaign finance laws and having their whereabouts known?
And isn’t there a pretty clear pattern of those affiliated with Grassroots and Byron Brown having trouble with these basics? Heck, Brian Davis went MIA for months at a time to avoid having to discuss his campaign fund shenanigans.
And isn’t there also a clear pattern of Brown’s enemies — those in the Sam Hoyt camp — not having these sorts of difficulties? When was the last time you read a story questioning Mike Locurto’s integrity, or suggesting that David Rivera was skimming from the campaign till? Maybe those stories are out there, and it’s just a matter of time before we see the “Maria Whyte Injects Sleeping Nun With Heroin” headline, but somehow I doubt it.
So what is it about Byron Brown that attracts such scummy characters?
