liu to you

John Liu Is Now Spending More Defending His Fund-raising Than He’s Taking in From Fund-raising

John Liu, New York City comptroller, speaks to a reporter prior to a speech by U.S. President Barack Obama on financial reform at Cooper Union in New York, U.S., on Thursday, April 22, 2010. Obama called on the financial industry to drop its
Photo: Bloomberg/2010 Bloomberg

John Liu, the scandal-ensnared city comptroller, is still holding fund-raisers for … something. It’s definitely not for reelection to his current office, according to a Post source, who told the paper that “he’s either running for mayor or not at all.” A mayoral race would be awfully fraught, to say the least. So what might Liu want with a restocked campaign chest? According to political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, “Liu’s campaign fund is turning into a legal-defense fund.” To date this year, he’s spent $162,354.92, more than $100,000 of which went for legal fees and crisis management. That’s compared with just $82,305 in cash raised. Seems unsustainable, but hey, we’re not comptrollers ourselves.

John Liu Is Now Spending More Defending His Fund-raising Than He’s Taking in From Fund-raising