Jun 26, 2009 6:14 am US/Eastern
CBS 2 Uncovers Alleged Espada Campaign Violations
Senator's Apparent Failure To Declare Certain Spending, Including Glossy Mailings And Bulk Postage, In Question
ALBANY (CBS) ―
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Bronx Sen. Pedro Espada (file)
CBS
Pedro Espada, the dissident Democrat who made the Albany coup possible, may find himself in more trouble.
CBS 2 HD has learned exclusively that Espada may have violated federal and state campaign finance laws.
CBS 2 HD has been on his trail for months.
It's a question we first asked Sen. Espada months ago.
Marcia Kramer: "I'm asking you why you don't file campaign finance records?"
Espada finally did file some of those reports last Friday, but a review by CBS 2 HD found an apparent failure to report significant amounts of spending, like for five glossy campaign mailings. Experts said mailings like this could cost as much as $20,000 apiece.
"It's hard to believe this information is not disclosed. He's a candidate for the office. He's been a senator before. There's really no excuse for the campaign filing info not to be there," said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group.
But a bigger problem for Espada may be the fact that the bulk postage stamps for two campaign brochures is the same as the one used to send out brochures for his Soundview health clinics. All of them say permit number 1235, Brooklyn, N.Y.
"Well that's forbidden," Horner said. "You're not supposed to be allowed to do that. A not-for-profit can only give a bulk permit for mail stamps to another not-for-profit, which a political campaign is not. So that's something the U.S. Postal Service should be looking at."
Here's why: Not-for-profits pay less than political campaigns for bulk mail.
"Essentially this could mean that the taxpayer lost money, that the U.S. Postal Service lost money because they were clearly not paying full freight," Horner said.
Other Espada mailings were sent from Portland, Maine and Hartford, Conn., which some campaign experts find curious. And while the video of Espada's 2008 Senate race shows posters and a float, there are apparently no records submitted to the state for those expenses.
"We think the state Board of Elections should do a forensic review of the filings to make sure, and right now there are enough questions," Horner said.
A lawyer for Sen. Espada disputed whether the same mailing permits were used for both the camp and his health clinics.
Espada claims the campaign and clinic literature have the same filing numbers because they were sent from the same mailing house.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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