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Thread: Mayors x- deputy talking to the FBI

  1. #1
    Member cheekman's Avatar
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    Mayors x- deputy talking to the FBI

    OMG Looks like mayor erkel could be in some big trouble. Casey could be spilling the beans on his buddy.
    I would have to say there is a lot going with these politicians. If casey spills the beans on all of them that could lead into some problems for mayor erkel.

    He was the mayor’s gatekeeper, chief political strategist and top policy adviser.

    And now, he’s talking to the FBI.

    Former Deputy Mayor Steven M. Casey, the man often credited with orchestrating Byron W. Brown’s climb to power, has met at least twice with FBI agents investigating public corruption, according to three sources with knowledge of the investigation.

    No one is certain what Casey is telling the FBI, but the three sources said he is believed to be cooperating with the federal and state probes into political operative G. Steven Pigeon, his former mentor and an on-again, off-again political ally. Pigeon was recently indicted on nine felony counts, most involving bribery.

    From Day One, Casey, who has not been charged with any crimes, has said he’s not a target of the investigation, but two of the sources familiar with the probe said they believe he is one now.

    And in addition to talking to investigators about Pigeon, Casey also may talking to investigators about Brown, the two sources said.

    “That’s the speculation,” one of the sources said.

    The News reached out to the Mayor’s Office for comment but received no reply.

    The FBI would not comment on the reports of Casey’s cooperation, but the agency’s interest in the former deputy mayor is well known. It’s also no secret Pigeon could face new federal charges on top of the state charges already pending against him.

    Casey’s involvement in the Pigeon investigation became front page news when state and federal investigators searched his East Aurora home last year. They also searched Pigeon’s waterfront condominium in Buffalo and the Akron home of Christopher M. Grant, another well-known political operative and former chief of staff to Rep. Chris Collins.

    Sources said Grant is no longer a target of the investigation.

    At the time of the three searches, the investigation appeared to focus on an independent political committee called the WNY Progressive Caucus and its ties to Pigeon, but sources believe it has since expanded.

    “Following the three searches we did in May of last year, there continues to be an ongoing, active investigation,” said Maureen Dempsey, spokeswoman for the FBI in Buffalo.

    The FBI also has made it clear the Pigeon probe is just one aspect of a larger investigation.
    God must love stupid people; He made so many

  2. #2
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    I was told by a retired city work that Mayor Brown is in trouble along with others. He was pretty sure of it. He said watch people like Casey cover his ass and narc on everyone else. He said when people face jail time the only ass they worry about is theirs.

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    The recent McDonnell decision by the SCOTUS will make it more difficult for the government to prove an honest service case because the "official act" needs to be something more than “setting up a meeting, hosting an event, or calling an official.”

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    Quote Originally Posted by nogods View Post
    The recent McDonnell decision by the SCOTUS will make it more difficult for the government to prove an honest service case because the "official act" needs to be something more than “setting up a meeting, hosting an event, or calling an official.”
    I'm not sure any of those things constitutes misconduct in most cases anyway. If elected officials can't schedule a meeting or call another official or host an event just how are they supposed to serve their constituents? Seems to me that what Pigeon Michalek and that crowd are up to goes well beyond.

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    Member nogods's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by grump View Post
    I'm not sure any of those things constitutes misconduct in most cases anyway. If elected officials can't schedule a meeting or call another official or host an event just how are they supposed to serve their constituents? Seems to me that what Pigeon Michalek and that crowd are up to goes well beyond.
    This thread is focused on the mayor of buffalo - so why don't you tell us the specific things you know of that would qualify as a violation of the honest service law that the Mayor did.

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    Quote Originally Posted by nogods View Post
    This thread is focused on the mayor of buffalo - so why don't you tell us the specific things you know of that would qualify as a violation of the honest service law that the Mayor did.
    Well, what Michalek confessed to and what Pigeon is accused of go well beyond theft of honest services. It was typical old style corruption, bribery and such. And the thread says it's about the former deputy mayor blabbing to save his ass. I didn't read it as being specifically about Erkel. I must confess I've never completely understood the idea behind theft of honest services. It sounds to me like a claim that one is devoting one's time to some other enterprise than that which one was elected or appointed to do. If that's the case than one could walk through every office in America on cyber Monday in November and round up thousands of wrongdoers placing orders on Amazon instead of attending to the people's work. They're stealing honest service by ordering Christmas gifts instead of doing their jobs. I'm no expert in it obviously but I think that nebulous nature of the alleged wrongdoing punishable under the law is why SCOTUS keeps pecking away at it. McDonnell wasn't the first case, wasn't there an earlier one involving one of the characters from Enron? As for Erkel and theft of services, who knows! Bribery and the other stuff, I guess we'll find that out, too. The other case was the Skilling case.
    Last edited by grump; July 20th, 2016 at 10:09 PM.

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    Member cheekman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
    I was told by a retired city work that Mayor Brown is in trouble along with others. He was pretty sure of it. He said watch people like Casey cover his ass and narc on everyone else. He said when people face jail time the only ass they worry about is theirs.
    yep!!
    God must love stupid people; He made so many

  8. #8
    Member nogods's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by grump View Post
    Well, what Michalek confessed to and what Pigeon is accused of go well beyond theft of honest services. It was typical old style corruption, bribery and such. And the thread says it's about the former deputy mayor blabbing to save his ass. I didn't read it as being specifically about Erkel. I must confess I've never completely understood the idea behind theft of honest services. It sounds to me like a claim that one is devoting one's time to some other enterprise than that which one was elected or appointed to do. If that's the case than one could walk through every office in America on cyber Monday in November and round up thousands of wrongdoers placing orders on Amazon instead of attending to the people's work. They're stealing honest service by ordering Christmas gifts instead of doing their jobs. I'm no expert in it obviously but I think that nebulous nature of the alleged wrongdoing punishable under the law is why SCOTUS keeps pecking away at it. McDonnell wasn't the first case, wasn't there an earlier one involving one of the characters from Enron? As for Erkel and theft of services, who knows! Bribery and the other stuff, I guess we'll find that out, too. The other case was the Skilling case.

    In other (and much less) words, you don't have any knowledge of any wrong doing.

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    Quote Originally Posted by nogods View Post
    In other (and much less) words, you don't have any knowledge of any wrong doing.
    Gee nogods, I never said I did have proof of wrongdoing by Erkel so I guess you're right. And of course this post isn't about Erkel it's about Steve Casey who almost everyone agrees was the de facto mayor of Buffalo. As I said, I'm not even convinced that the theft of honest services law makes any sense. So far it seems SCOTUS agrees because they strike down parts of it whenever presented with the opportunity. As an esq. perhaps you can educate the great unwashed like me on exactly what is theft of honest services. For example, just to pose a hypothetical, which law professors love, would it be theft of honest services were a mayor to divert a police investigation into a hit and run accident involving the mayor's car, from the mayors son?

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