Brian Benjamin

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In 2021, Benjamin ran for the Democratic nomination for New York City comptroller. In the Democratic primary he ran against State Senator Kevin Parker, entrepreneur, nonprofit founder, and former US Marine Zach Iscol, City Councilmember Brad Lander, and Assemblymember David Weprin. [67]

Candidates who raised at least $125,000 from at least 500 donors qualified for matching city funds from the New York City Campaign Finance Board, on an 8-to-1 match basis. [68] As of February 16, 2021, Benjamin was one of three candidates who had qualified for these funds. [68] Former governor David Paterson endorsed Benjamin, as did former U.S. Representative Charles Rangel and New York State Senator John Liu. [69]

Lander won the primary, while Benjamin received 11.6% of the vote, placing fourth behind Corey Johnson and CNBC contributor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera. [70]

Lieutenant governor of New York

On August 26, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed Benjamin to the position of lieutenant governor of New York. [71] Hochul, as lieutenant governor, had become governor two days earlier, following the resignation of Governor Andrew Cuomo; this created a vacancy in the lieutenant governor position. [72] [71]

Benjamin was sworn in on September 9, 2021, [73] so that a special election to fill the vacancy in his State Senate seat could be held concurrently with the November general election. [74] [75] [76] He is the second Black lieutenant governor in the history of the State of New York. [77]

Following his swearing-in, Benjamin stated that he had reimbursed his campaign account for a large payment that was made to an event venue in October 2018, the same month he and his wife held a wedding party. The payment had been questioned by the New York Board of Elections. [73]

Corruption indictment and resignation

Benjamin was questioned about a dozen instances when he sought thousands of dollars in travel reimbursements as a state senator while using a campaign account for these expenses, including payments that were made outside the state of New York. After the New York Board of Elections investigated, Benjamin repaid $3,500 in gas expenses to his campaign account. Despite this incident, he later told state police that he had never been contacted by a regulatory body while being vetted for lieutenant governor. [78] In March 2022, The New York Times reported that the FBI was investigating whether Benjamin played a role in funneling fraudulent contributions to his 2021 campaign for New York City Comptroller, and that they would be issuing subpoenas to his campaign advisers. [79]

On April 12, 2022, Benjamin resigned as lieutenant governor after a federal indictment charging him with bribery, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and falsification of records was unsealed. [80] [81] [82] Federal prosecutors allege that in 2019, when Benjamin was a state senator, he used his position to steer a $50,000 state grant to a nonprofit, Friends of Public School Harlem, run by Harlem real estate developer and lawyer Gerald Migdol, who in turn arranged thousands of dollars in unlawful "straw donor" campaign contributions to Benjamin's campaign for city comptroller. [83] [84] Migdol pleaded guilty to bribery in 2022 and gave evidence against Benjamin. [84] In the indictment, prosecutors also allege that Benjamin falsified campaign-contribution paperwork and provided false information on forms during an August 2021 background check, before his selection as lieutenant governor. [83] He pleaded not guilty to all charges. [85]

Pretrial motions focused on whether the facts alleged by the prosecution were legally sufficient to allow a jury to find a "corrupt quid pro quo" in accordance with U.S. Supreme Court decisions that narrowly interpreted federal anti-bribery law. [83] On December 6, 2022, U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken dismissed the federal wire fraud and bribery charges against Benjamin, although he denied the defense's motion to dismiss the two counts of falsification of records. [86] In March 2024, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit unanimously reinstated the charges, saying that the charges had "sufficiently alleged an explicit quid pro quo". [83] Migdol died in February 2024; this threw the case into doubt, as Migdol had been anticipated to be the prosecution's key witness. [83] [84] On December 16, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a motion to dismiss some of the charges against Benjamin. [87]

On January 17, 2025, the United States Attorney's Office dropped its case against Benjamin, including the charges of bribery and federal wire fraud, citing the difficulty of proving the charges after Migdol's death. [88]

Television

In 2014, Benjamin appeared in Oprah Winfrey Network's reality television show Love in the City as the boyfriend of a woman who, three years later (when he was a State Senate candidate), alleged that he stole some items from her. [89]

Personal life

Benjamin and his wife, Cathleen, live in Harlem, New York, with their two daughters. [90]

See also

References

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Brian Benjamin
LIRR Elmont, Brian Benjamin (cropped).jpg
Benjamin in 2021
Lieutenant Governor of New York
In office
September 9, 2021 April 12, 2022
Political offices
Preceded by Lieutenant Governor of New York
2021–2022
Succeeded by