Slaughter Calls for Investigation on the Heels of Audit
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
"I think that what happened here is beyond belief."
Congresswoman Louise Slaughter was referring to a State Comptroller's audit which Democrats say proves a multi-million dollar contract given by the Republican-controlled Monroe County government was not competitive. She's calling for the state Attorney General to investigate.
"This bid was rigged. This bid was rigged," said Slaughter, (D).
The comptroller's audit concludes Navitech, which was awarded the county's $224 million public safety communications contract, unfairly received insider information about the deal. Stephen Gleason, the former county Chief Financial Officer, is Navitech's Chief Operating Officer.
"What are we getting? If county people are doing the work, what did we get? What's going on here? It's a stunning thing to me and this corruption has got to be dealt with."
Brooks was not available to talk to us on camera Monday, but her campaign manager released a statement. It labels the call for an investigation "unsubstantiated."
"The only scandal in this race is Louise Slaughter being found guilty of lying to voters in three independent fact checks," said Noah Lebowitz, the Brooks campaign manager and the county executive's own former Director of Communications.
He went on to invoke the name of Vito Lopez, the downstate Assemblyman involved in a sexual misconduct scandal, taking Slaughter to task for not criticizing him publicly. "From lying to shielding sexual predators, Louise Slaughter just isn't for us anymore."
The earlier part of that statement referred to a Fair Elections Committee ruling that a Slaughter campaign ad overstated the amount of money that could be accurately tied to losses due to corruption. Slaughter stands by the ad.
"The fact of the matter and truth of the matter is they were arguing about is how much corruption is too much corruption," Slaughter said.
The race in the 25th Congressional District has featured attack ads and counter ads from both sides attacking those attack ads. The most recent Sienna poll showed Slaughter with a five percent lead over Brooks, with Brooks closing the gap from twice that, in a previous poll.