News
Campaign finance complaint filed against Christine Quinn
NYC mayoral candidate challenged over Victory Fund travel reimbursements
Christine Quinn (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
A Brooklyn attorney has filed a complaint against New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn over travel reimbursements she accepted from an LGBT political action committee while raising funds for her mayoral campaign.
The Wall Street Journal on Thursday reported that Garfield Heslop filed a complaint with the New York City Campaign Finance Board on June 24 asking it to investigate Quinn over more than $20,000 in contributions her campaign received from donors in Houston, San Diego and Chicago after she attended Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund events in the three cities in 2011 and 2012.
The newspaper reported last month the Victory Fund paid Quinn to travel to the three cities to attend their fundraisers.
Quinn, who hopes to become New York City’s first gay and female mayor, spoke at the Victory Fund’s annual National Champagne Brunch in D.C. in April alongside U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Pennsylvania state Rep. Brian Sims.
Heslop did not immediately return the Washington Blade’s request for comment, but the Wall Street Journal reported that he wrote in his complaint that Quinn “may have broken both the letter and the spirit of New York City campaign finance laws” when she “participated in fundraisers for both the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and her own mayoral campaign.”
The New York City Conflicts of Interest Board opined on May 5, 2011; Nov. 21, 2011 and Oct. 18, 2012 that the Victory Fund could reimburse Quinn for travel costs to their events because she attended them in her official capacity as an openly gay government official.
The Victory Fund declined comment.
Quinn spokesperson Mike Morey defended the campaign’s actions.
“We work diligently to report any and all costs related to fundraising for the campaign,” he told the Blade. “We continue to review any expenses related to fundraising for the campaign to ensure full compliance of reporting requirements.”
New York City campaign finance records indicate the Victory Fund has contributed $165,078 to Quinn’s mayoral bid as of May 15.
Edith Windsor, the Manhattan widow who successfully challenged the Defense of Marriage Act before the U.S. Supreme Court, is among the prominent LGBT New Yorkers who have endorsed Quinn to succeed Mayor Michael Bloomberg in Gracie Mansion. Long-time LGBT rights advocate Allen Roskoff, who co-founded the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, are among Quinn’s most vocal opponents.
“Anyone seeking the highest office in New York City government should avoid even the appearance of the possibility of conflict of interests,” Pauline Park, a Queens, N.Y.,-based transgender activist who frequently criticizes Quinn, told the Blade. “Christine Quinn failed to adhere to that standard when she accepted expense reimbursement from the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund for fundraising trips that clearly benefitted her own mayoral campaign as well.”
Quinn’s campaign has raised $7,174,177 and spent $1,342,502 as of the same date. Former Congressman Anthony Weiner, who declared his candidacy in May, reported $5,139,175 — which includes $4.5 million left over from his 2009 mayoral bid — in his campaign account and spent $869,109 as of May 15.
Republican Joe Lhota, who is the former chair of New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, reported his campaign had raised $1,283,793 and spent $449,089 as of May 15.
The Wall Street Journal/NBC New York/Marist Poll released on June 26 shows Weiner leads Quinn among registered New York City Democrats by a 25-20 percent margin. A Quinnipiac University survey released on the same day found Quinn ahead of Weiner by a 19-17 percent margin.
Former New York City Comptroller William Thompson came in third among Democratic voters in the five boroughs with 16 percent.
The New York City primary will take place on September 10.
District of Columbia
Mayor Bowser signs bill requiring insurers to cover PrEP
‘This is a win in the fight against HIV/AIDS’
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on March 20 signed a bill approved by the D.C. Council that requires health insurance companies to cover the costs of HIV prevention or PrEP drugs for D.C. residents at risk for HIV infection.
Like all legislation approved by the Council and signed by the mayor, the bill, called the PrEP D.C. Amendment Act, was sent to Capitol Hill for a required 30-day congressional review period before it takes effect as D.C. law.
Gay D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5) last year introduced the bill.
Insurance coverage for PrEP drugs has been provided through coverage standards included in the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. But AIDS advocacy organizations have called on states and D.C. to pass their own legislation requiring insurance coverage of PrEP as a safeguard in case federal policies are weakened or removed by the Trump administration, which has already reduced federal funding for HIV/AIDS-related programs.
Like legislation passed by other states, the PrEP D.C. Amendment Act requires insurers to cover all PrEP drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Studies have shown that PrEP drugs, which can be taken as pills or by injection just twice a year, are highly effective in preventing HIV infection.
“I think this is a win for our community,” Parker said after the D.C. Council voted unanimously to approve the bill on its first vote on the measure in February. “And this is a win in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, will visit Hungary next week.
An announcement the White House released on Thursday said the Vances will be in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, from April 7-8.
JD Vance “will hold bilateral meetings with” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The announcement further indicates the vice president “will also deliver remarks on the rich partnership between the United States and Hungary.”
The Vances will travel to Hungary less than a week before the country’s parliamentary elections take place on April 12.
Orbán, who has been in office since 2010, and his Fidesz-KDNP coalition government have faced widespread criticism over its anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
The Associated Press notes polls indicate Orbán is trailing Péter Magyar and his center-right Tisza party.
President Donald Trump removed Attorney General Pam Bondi from her post Thursday, following growing criticism over how she and the Department of Justice handled a range of issues, including matters related to sex offender and Trump ally Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump announced Bondi’s removal on Truth Social, where he also said Todd Blanche will serve as acting head of the Justice Department.
“Pam Bondi is a great American patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my attorney general over the past year,” Trump wrote on the platform. “Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown on crime across our country, with murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900.”
Trump was seen as recently as Wednesday with the now-former attorney general at a Supreme Court hearing on citizenship.
The decision contrasts with Trump’s previous public praise of Bondi, the 87th U.S. attorney general and former 37th attorney general of Florida, who served in that role from 2011-2019 before joining the Trump-Vance administration. He has frequently lauded her loyalty and said he speaks with her often. Bondi was also one of president’s defense lawyers during his first impeachment trial.
Privately, however, Trump had grown frustrated that Bondi was not “moving quickly enough” to prosecute critics and political adversaries he wanted to face criminal charges, according to multiple sources. The New York Times reported that her inability to charge former FBI Director James B. Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James with any crimes is a large factor in the president’s choice to fire her from the government’s primary law enforcement agency.
The move comes as Trump has sought to minimize public turmoil within his administration, avoiding the perception of a revolving-door Cabinet that defined his first term.
Lee Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from New York who unsuccessfully ran for governor, has emerged as a leading contender to lead the Justice Department. He has been one of Trump’s most reliable allies.
“He’s our secret weapon,” Trump said of Zeldin in February during a White House event promoting the coal industry, adding, “He’s getting those approvals done in record-setting time.”
Bondi has also growing faced scrutiny from Congress.
The House Oversight Committee recently subpoenaed her to testify about the department’s handling of certain files, where she declined to answer key questions during a contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing in February.
The Tampa native has a long history of opposing LGBTQ rights through her roles in government. As Florida attorney general, she fought against the legalization of same-sex marriage, arguing it would cause “serious public harm,” pushing forward a legal battle that cost taxpayers nearly half a million dollars. She also asked the Florida Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that found the state’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional.
More recently, Bondi established a “Title IX Special Investigations Team” within the Justice Department focused on restricting transgender women and girls from participating in women’s and girls’ sports teams and accessing facilities aligned with their gender identity. She also told Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to turn over the medical records of anyone under 19 who received gender-affirming care.
Her removal follows Trump’s decision last month to oust another controversial female Cabinet figure, Kristi Noem.
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