John Katko to Restore $10,000 to Detained COR Leaders
John Katko, the first-term U.S. Representative for New York's 24th district, has announced that he will return a total of $20,000 in campaign contributions received from executives of COR Development Co.
In a statement, Erin O'Connor, a spokesperson for Katko's campaign, stated that the decision to return the money came after the arrest of COR President Steven Aiello and Vice President Joseph Gerardi on federal corruption charges on Thursday.
The returned funds include $6,000 from Aiello and $4,000 from Gerardi, as well as $10,000 from the company itself. Katko is not legally obligated to return the money, but has chosen to do so in light of the corruption allegations.
The charges against Aiello and Gerardi involve bribing a top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Both men face up to 20 years in prison on five felony charges.
A search of Federal Election Commission records shows that Aiello has donated at least $23,350 to federal candidates since 1999. In addition to donations to Katko's campaign, Aiello has also donated to former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J., U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and multiple other federal candidates.
For more information on political donations by individuals like Steven Aiello, the Federal Election Commission database can provide data on federal contributions, while state campaign finance databases and local election boards can provide information on state- and municipal-level donations. Private political donation aggregators like OpenSecrets or the National Institute on Money in Politics may also provide compiled donation data.
Katko declined to discuss the corruption case, citing the pending court action. Aiello and COR executives have donated more than $500,000 to various federal, state, and local candidates over the years.
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Stay tuned for updates on this story as more information becomes available.
In light of the federal corruption charges against COR Development Co's President Steven Aiello and Vice President Joseph Gerardi, John Katko, U.S. Representative for New York's 24th district, has chosen to return a total of $20,000 in campaign contributions received from Aiello, Gerardi, and the company. This decision highlights the intersection of politics, general-news, and crime-and-justice as donations from Aiello have reached multiple federal candidates over the years, including Katko, and the case involves bribery allegations.
