Ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio recently agreed to pay back taxpayers $330,000 for his misuse of an NYPD detail during his ill-fated 2019 campaign for the White House, admitting that he’d made a mistake and withdrawing a lawsuit fighting the demand for restitution.
The hardworking taxpayers of New York City, however, aren’t off the hook.
Public records obtained by THE CITY via Freedom of Information Law request show that the Law Department has paid out more than $284,000 to an outside firm, Clarick Gueron Reisbaum, to defend the city against de Blasio’s lawsuit, including his short-lived appeal after the case was tossed by a lower court.
Questions about who should pay for de Blasio’s presidential campaign police coverage first emerged in a 2019 article in THE CITY. Two years later, the city Department of Investigation issued a devastating report excoriating the mayor for dragging the NYPD detail across the nation during 31 campaign stops as he struggled in vain to gain traction in the presidential sweepstakes.
DOI advised the city Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB) that de Blasio must pay back $319,000 for the cost of travel, lodging and meals for the cops who shadowed the mayor and his wife during his quixotic political endeavor. In June 2023, COIB ordered the now ex-mayor to cough up the $319,000, and also to pay a $155,000 fine — the first such sanction against a mayor.
De Blasio immediately sued COIB, alleging that it had no jurisdiction to tell the mayor what to do and that restricting his use of the detail effectively violated both his First Amendment free speech rights and his 14th Amendment rights to equal treatment under the law.
Entering the litigation on COIB’s behalf, Clarick Guerson Reisbaum soon responded in kind, moving to dismiss the case. Attorney Emily Reisbaum labeled the mayor’s argument as “a chilling vision of an imperial mayoralty,” arguing that the taxpayers should not foot the bill for the costs of de Blasio’s political ambitions.
This January, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shahabudden Abid Ally dismissed his suit, calling de Blasio’s arguments “remarkable” and finding that the case was “meritless.” De Blasio then filed an appeal.
On May 14, he suddenly reversed course, signing off on an unprecedented settlement with COIB by withdrawing his appeal and agreeing to pay the $319,000 in restitution plus a $10,000 fine. “I made a mistake and I deeply regret it,” he said.
De Blasio did not return a call from THE CITY seeking comment.
Additional reporting by Reuven Blau
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