New York City government’s ethics watchdog ordered former Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday to pay nearly $475,000 for misusing his personal police detail during his 2020 presidential campaign — the largest fine ever levied by the agency.
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In a three-page decision, Williams said that New York City ethics laws bar public servants from “using city resources for any noncity purpose.”“[De Blasio’s] conduct plainly violates this prohibition,” Williams wrote of his NYPD-protected campaign travels. “COIB’s action — which seeks to saddle elected officials with security costs that the city has properly borne for decades — is dangerous, beyond the scope of their powers, and illegal,” Celli said.“Every mayor faces threats, and all mayors are entitled to protection — regardless of party or politics,” he added. “That’s why the NYPD is charged with determining what level of protection is necessary for such officials, when, and how.
The Conflicts of Interest Board’s ruling was based on a probe launched by the city Department of Investigation in 2019 afterthat de Blasio had used his detail for a number of eyebrow-raising purposes. In addition to the campaign trips, he deployed his detail to shuttle his son back and forth from Yale University, and to help his daughter move out of a Brooklyn apartment.
Conflicts of Interest Board Executive Director Carolyn Miller declined to comment on why Thursday’s ruling doesn’t touch on the other alleged misuses by de Blasio. “It’s a pattern of behavior that lasted throughout his administration — ‘I’m going to do whatever I want to do, even if it isn’t prudent,’” the ex-de Blasio aide said.
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