Faso’s lobbying record: big oil & gas and payday lender clients, pay-to-play scandals, ponzi-like scandals
For a ‘proud lobbyist,’ Albany insider John Faso really doesn’t want Hudson Valley voters to know about his lobbying scandals.
Yesterday, he complained about an ad that simply outlined the pay-to-play scandals and investigations that dogged his lobbying career.
Here are just a few examples:
Example 1) In 2010, Faso’s lobbying firm at the center of a pay-to-play scandal that cost it $550,000 and a 5-year lobbying ban.
The scandal prompted the New York Attorney General to specifically subpoena Faso in what was described as a “probe of a massive pay-to-play pension fund scandal” related to his lobbying firm.
In the end, Faso’s firm quickly settled with the Attorney General’s office, paying the state $550,000 and agreeing to a 5-year ban on lobbying any state pension funds.
Example 2) Faso was involved in another scandal involving a “Ponzi-like” scheme in which he was named as an “Albany politician” who accepted $18,750 from a financial firm that ripped off investors to pay for “lavish” expenses and had “burned ‘moms and pops.’”
Example 3) Recently, Faso lobbied on behalf of payday lending industry as it pushed for less regulation on high-interest loans.
Example 4) As an Albany lobbyist, Faso worked for the Constitution Pipeline company as it tried to build a natural gas pipeline across New York state. Faso directly represented the company, which used eminent domain to force landowners in Pennsylvania to allow the pipeline across their property. Faso himself was supportive of eminent domain [AP, 3/01/06].
Faso’s response to all of this? Dodge. Deny. Disown.
Faso’s lobbying baggage is so heavy, even the chairman of the Columbia County Conservative Party called Faso “unfit” during his run for governor. [AP, 2/07/06]
“Only an Albany insider lobbyist like John Faso would try to get away with covering up his past pay-to-play scandals and investigations,” said Bryan Lesswing at the DCCC. “Between Albany pay-to-play pension investigations, ponzi-like scandals, and siding with big oil & gas and pay day lenders, John Faso has always sided with special interests over the Hudson Valley.”