U.S. Attorney Subpoenas Working Families Party

What a surprise that a group closely tied to ACORN would come under suspicion.

The feds are joining the numerous investigations of the Working Families Party.

Dan Cantor, the party's executive director, disclosed today that it has "received requests for information" from the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan, as have campaigns that have worked with the party's campaign affiliate, Data & Field Services.

Sources said it was a subpoena served Monday.

"We welcome this inquiry," said Cantor.

"(We) are confident that it will ultimately demonstrate what we have said before: our work has complied with both the spirit and letter of new York City's campaign finance law as well as all relevant state and federal election laws, tax and not-for-profit corporation laws."

Oh yes, I'm sure they welcome such inquiries and are eager to help out.

The party is being sued for its work on Staten Island Councilwoman-elect Debi Rose's campaign. A judge ruled last week that the trial can go forward.

It was also the subject of at least one complaint filed with the CFB.

Three days after the Nov. 3 elections, the party announced it had hired Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom to conduct a thorough review of the structure and relationship between the WFP and its for-profit arm, Data & Field Services. The review is being led by former Chief Judge Judith Kaye.

Sources say the party is paying dearly for Kaye's time and good name: Somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000 an hour.

In his statement, Cantor expressed a desire for a "prompt resolution" to the investigation. It goes without saying that the longer this stretches on, the worse it will be for the party - particularly if it continues deep into the 2010 cycle.

It's hard to overstate how bad this could be for the WFP.

Does that name Data & Field Services sound familiar?

According to tax, campaign finance and other records, all four arms have been based in one office on the third floor of 2-4 Nevins Street in Brooklyn. The three co-chairs of the Working Families Party—Bob Master, Sam Williams and Bertha Lewis—were, along with now-White House political director Patrick Gaspard (a founding board member of the Party), the initial directors of the Working Families Organization, and their ongoing positions give them control over Data & Field Services. They were also, as of 2005, the respective president, secretary and treasurer of the Progressive America Fund. Dan Cantor, the executive director of the Party and of the Organization, oversees Data & Field Services, and is a former board member of the Progressive America Fund. According to records, they are not alone: nearly every person listed as an employee of one of these entities is also listed as an employee of at least one of the others. People who have visited the offices say they see no clear distinctions between desks, resources, staff and leadership.

ACORN and the WFP: Perfect together. Another name should also sound familiar.

SEIU.

Similarly, though the existence of Data and Field Services (DFS), a for-profit company incorporated in February 2007, had been mentioned in passing in prior press reports and as an ambiguous line on a dozen campaign finance reports over the last year and a half, never before have the details of the company and the extent of its ties to the Working Families Party been revealed.

The company was set up by Kevin Finnegan, then acting as a lawyer on behalf of the WFP, and currently the political director of 1199SEIU. Explaining the benefit of having a private company to the New York Post in April, Finnegan said that having a private for-profit company would allow candidates to avoid potential problems with the campaign finance laws, which put limits on the amount of money candidates can give to political parties. In New York City, that amount is $10,000.

The SEIU, of course, is famous for their goons beating up Kenneth Gladney this past summer.

All one big happy family living under that Democratic Party tent.