Today’s charges against Malcolm Smith, Daniel Halloran and four others are a political disaster for New York City’s Republican Party. The alleged corruption goes to the heart of what little influence remains for the New York City Republican county organizations and their chairmen.
Leaders of two of the five county organizations and one of the four Republican members of the City Council were criminally charged. The Complaint suggests that at least one, and possibly two, other county county chairmen were expected to support Smith in exchange for a quid pro quo payment. According to the Complaint, Halloran expected to be able to drag along in his corrupt scheme any of the county chairmen who were not being bribed. Continue reading GOP Disaster