Anatomy of a New York Pay to Play Scandal

The indictments of Alan Hevesi's political strategist Hank Morris and associate David Loglisci were just the tip of the iceberg. It appears that the pay to play scandal involving the New York State pension fund ($122 billion and managed by the Comptroller's office) extended to a scheme devised by aides to Governor George Pataki (R) and Liberal Party boss Raymond Harding among others to secure a seat for Hevesi's son Andrew in the New York State Assembly. It's also gotten the SEC involved in investigating the shenanigans. It's a bipartisan scandal.

The Post has a handy dandy cheat sheet to keep score. Fred Dicker reports:

Aides to Pataki conspired with Liberal Party boss Raymond Harding to rig up an Assembly seat for Democratic Comptroller Alan Hevesi's son, Andrew, sources said.

One of the Pataki aides is believed to be Adam Barsky, a onetime senior fiscal aide to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, The Post has learned.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's bombshell criminal complaint against Harding says that "official A" -- identified to The Post as Alan Hevesi aide Jack Chartier -- "solicited help from a high-level aide to the New York governor [Pataki] at the time, who agreed to help."

"Shortly thereafter, the 'governor's aide A' told 'official A' that the defendant [Harding] had pledged to introduce [an] assemblyman to a high-level executive at an insurance company," the complaint continued. It was referring to a private-sector job that would be provided to the incumbent assemblyman so he would resign and free the seat for the younger Hevesi.

Former Pataki aides said they believed that the "governor's aide A" was Barsky, a Harding friend who at the time was Pataki's assistant chief of staff.

Barsky denied any involvement, saying that while he may have been in social contact with Harding, he "absolutely did not discuss" an effort to find the then-assemblyman a private-sector job.

Cuomo's complaint also alleged a second Pataki aide later met with Chartier "and requested that the governor certify a special election for the vacant Assembly seat as quickly as possible, which would discourage competition for the seat." It remained unclear last night who the second aide was.

The Boston Globe notes:

Former Liberal Party chairman Raymond Harding and Dallas entrepreneur Barrett Wissman were charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday with participating in a scheme to collect kickbacks from financial firms seeking work managing the retirement fund's assets.

Both also face separate criminal charges filed by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has been investigating corruption at the $122 billion fund during the tenure of former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi.

Harding was arraigned Wednesday in Manhattan on charges that Hevesi aides rewarded him for a variety of political favors by arranging for him to receive $800,000 in illegal fees from investment firms seeking pension fund business.

Harding and Cuomo have a long history, going back to when Andrew Cuomo's father was running for Governor. That relationship became seriously strained during the 2002 race for governor. The 2002 race for governor was the ultimate downfall for the Liberal Party ticket when the party failed to get 50,000 seats to remain on the ballot. The ticket had long been seen as little more than a patronage mill and used to curry favors. Without a name on the ticket, the party folded.

So far, neither Alan Hevesi nor Andrew Hevesi face charges under the current round of indictments. That may not last.