The independent enforcement counsel’s inquiry into the Independent Democratic Conference’s campaign committee is based on a “bogus complaint” from a discredited former officeholder, Sen. Jeff Klein insisted on Wednesday in a radio interview on WCNY’s The Capitol Pressroom.
The Times Union reported on Wednesday the IDC’s political action committee, the IDC Initiative, was investigated by Independent Enforcement Counsel Risa Sugarman after former city Comptroller and one-time Senate candidate John Liu filed a complaint that IDC Sen. Tony Avella had received over-the-limit contributions from the PAC.
Liu challenged Avella in a 2014 Democratic primary, and lost narrowly following a heated campaign.
“This was a bogus claim made by John Liu, which is kind of ironic because his career was destroyed by campaign finance violations,” Klein said in the interview, referencing Liu’s former campaign treasurer being found guilty of using straw donors to gain more public matching funds in the 2013 mayoral race in New York City.
The complaint raised questions, though, over the IDC’s retained lawyer, former Senate Minority Leader Marty Connor, who was working for both the committee and Avella.
Klein said Connor “works on retainer and helps us with our compliance” while also helping with the petitioning process.
“This is just I think a bogus complaint,” Klein added. “All complaints that are made need to be looked into by the enforcement complaint. Just because they make the complaint doesn’t mean it’s true.”
The IDC formed a PAC in 2011, months after forming as an independent entity in the chamber that has been aligned with Senate Republicans.
By law, PACs cannot donate more than $16,800 to a candidate, making them different from conference campaign committees. In 2014, the IDC moved to re-register as an independent expenditure committee, allowing it to expend unlimited funds, but not coordinate with any candidates’ campaigns.