It’s come to this: Mayor de Blasio says he’ll do fund-raising down the line to pay the lawyers representing him in all those corruption probes into . . . his fund-raising, and possible favor-selling.
He’s spending $11.7 million in public funds on outside lawyers for several top aides also caught up in the investigations. But for the cash for his own attorneys, the mayor now says he’ll handle things through a legal defense fund or a future fund-raising event.
To which, presumably, the usual fat cats will give, with the usual expectation (at least) of return favors down the line. So the public can still end up paying . . .
It boggles the mind.
But while de Blasio’s aides don’t have to foot their own legal bills, they’ve reportedly got other reasons to be nervous. As The Post’s Aaron Short reported Monday, the mayor’s minions are scared stiff that one or more of them could wind up as a sacrificial lamb when federal prosecutors question de Blasio this month.
The mayor seems to think he can convince US Attorney Preet Bharara that everything was kosher. But if that doesn’t work, he just might blame one of those aides.
Could that be top confidante Emma Wolfe? The Post’s Michael Gartland reports she’s been noticeably absent from key City Hall meetings for four months.
Political intrigue aside, de Blasio’s Campaign For One New York was set up to operate outside of city campaign-finance rules. That meant it could — and did — accept money from people doing business with the city, who didn’t exactly suffer from having written big checks.
Which raises the next big question: Will such people be banned from donating to a legal-defense fund? That could get tricky — since it sure looks like the mayor is going to need a lot of deep-pocketed “supporters.”
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