Elmont Online

Scandal Senator may have accepted millions in taxpayer money to flip from SL Green to AEG

State officials are eyeing a potentially explosive and more damaging revelation in the already massive AEG scandal, and it directly implicates State Senator Craig Johnson, Elmont.org has learned.  The scandal infuriates Elmont community members who worked tirelessly to redevelop Belmont racetrack and have been seemingly lied to by the Senator regarding his efforts to assist the community.  This is not the first time the Senator has been caught misleading community members and these new revelations have local community members outraged.

Seemingly out of the blue, Johnson was named on page 160 of the Inspector General's bombshell report, as part of a four-person block of senators that had committed to support AEG's bid, as a way to alleviate the group's concerns following Malcolm Smith's recusal from the process because of his close ties to AEG.

According to one Senate insider, Craig Johnson received $9 million in pork last year (60 percent of the pot for the entire year)  in exchange for flipping his support from SL Green, whom he had publicly backed in an August 3 letter to the Governor, to AEG.  Another Senate Democrat from the Buffalo area was given 26 percent of those funds, likely because a local Western New York firm was also bidding for the contract.

This pork funding has been the center of a local scandal where countless community groups have been promised grant funding by the Senator only to have the funds never come after he swoops in to take one of his now infamous photo opportunities.

Johnson was viewed by those familiar with the process as a potential stumbling block in the leadership's all-out effort to hand the sweetheart deal to AEG, even though the State's lottery division had deemed them unqualified.

The timing of the allocation of taxpayer money has raised eyebrows among Capitol insiders, who note that it took place on September 10, just weeks prior to the October 1 expected final decision on which firm would operate the slot machines at Aqueduct racetrack in Queens.

"Everyone who has read the Inspector General's damning report understands that some Senate Democrats were engaged in a massive pay-to-play scheme when it came to rewarding this contract, even requesting that AEG associates funnel campaign contributions to specific campaigns to bring the conference into line for AEG," an Albany insider said.

"But, the Inspector General never looked at what may have been happening on the government side to entice Senators to go along with Smith and Sampson's pick.  If prosecutors show that millions in taxpayer money was used to buy off Johnson and another one of his colleagues, this scandal gets exponentially bigger.  Malcolm Smith, John Sampson and Craig Johnson could be subject to criminal charges if law enforcement officials take a serious look at this," the insider continued.

Senate documents show that Johnson and a single Western New York colleague received a stunning 86 percent of the discretionary capital funds in the September 10 Senate resolution.

"The corruption in this case leads right to Craig Johnson," said a Senate source familiar with how member items are dispersed.  "Taxpayers will be furious when they find out the jaw-dropping lengths they went to ensure AEG was given this contract.  The Inspector General's report, as bad as it was, didn't even scratch the surface of what went on here."

According to news reports, Senate Democrats held a "champagne party" at the Albany home of an AEG lobbyist after originally selecting AEG for the contract, one of the largest in state history.  The deal was eventually revoked amidst questions over how the deal was awarded, and a new firm - - Genting New York - - will operate the casino.

Locally, Elmont community members who have been shown the documentation were very direct in their comments, “he’s a crook and needs to be shown the door. Tuesday can’t come quick enough,” said a prominent Elmont community leader.

Johnson faces a stiff reelection challenge from Mineola Mayor Jack Martins on Tuesday.  Martins has repeatedly attempted to tie him to the corrupt Democrat leaders who now control Albany.