NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio Busted for Using Taxpayer Funds for Personal and Political Expenses
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio used the city’s police department for his and his family’s personal benefit, as well as to assist his 2020 presidential bid, according to a report.
New York City’s Department of Investigation this week released a 47-page report that concluded de Blasio violated conflict of interest procedures.
The Democratic mayor was found to have improperly used the New York Police Department as a private security and chauffeur service.
The New York City Department of Investigation opened a probe into de Blasio’s security detail in August 2019, the report said.
“First, DOI’s investigation probed whether Mayor de Blasio had ordered members of his security detail to move his daughter, Chiara de Blasio, from her Brooklyn apartment to Gracie Mansion.
“Second, DOI investigated whether Mayor de Blasio ordered his security detail to drive his son, Dante de Blasio, to Yale University and to various destinations throughout New York City.
“Third, DOI investigated whether Mayor de Blasio ordered his security detail to transport mayoral staff members, or members of his presidential campaign staff, without him in the vehicle.
“Lastly, DOI reviewed whether the City of New York had borne the ancillary travel costs for the Mayor’s security detail during his presidential campaign.”
Investigators found that members of the NYPD’s Executive Protection Unit helped de Blasio’s daughter move out of her apartment in 2018.
“DOI’s investigation determined that multiple EPU members were present during Chiara de Blasio’s move from her apartment, and that an NYPD sprinter van was used to transport some of Chiara’s belongings from her apartment to Gracie Mansion,” the report stated.
The DOI could not conclude that the police department helped de Blasio’s daughter move at the direction of her father.
However, the report said that “an EPU sergeant and a former mayoral staffer recalled several instances when Mayor de Blasio directly requested that Dante de Blasio be driven to locations throughout New York City, such as train or bus stations, without the Mayor or First Lady present in the EPU vehicle.”
The investigation also found that the mayor used more than $300,000 in city resources on his failed presidential bid. De Blasio owes the city exactly $319,794 for using the NYPD as a private security force throughout his campaign.
The DOI also said police officers patrolled properties in the city that the mayor owned but did not live in.
Last year, de Blasio agreed to defund the NYPD of more than $1 billion amid unrest following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Chiara de Blasio, 25, was among numerous people who were arrested during an anti-police riot in Manhattan in May 2020.
The DOI report was released after the NYPD’s second-biggest union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, was raided by the FBI. The SBA has been critical of de Blasio in recent years and supported the 2020 candidacy of former President Donald Trump.
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