Katz accuses challenger of flouting election law
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Melinda Katz’s campaign accused Devian Daniels of improperly filing her campaign with the state Board of Elections. AP file photo by Seth Wenig/via Daniels
By Ryan Schwach
Just days before the Democratic primary election, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz accused one of her opponents, Devian Daniels, of failing to properly register her campaign.
In a June 22 letter to the New York State Board of Elections, a lawyer representing Katz’s DA re-election campaign alleged that Daniels, a public defender from Southeast Queens, failed to establish a political campaign committee and register with the BOE, and also failed to disclose financial contributions made to her campaign. The letter was first reported by the New York Post.
“Upon information and belief, Ms. Daniels has been a candidate for nomination for election
as District Attorney of Queens County since at least March 2, 2023,” the letter, written by campaign lawyer Vito Pitta, reads. “Despite this candidacy, however, there is no record that she has registered a candidate committee with the BOE.”
Pitta said that Daniels “has engaged in traditional campaign activities that generally require raising and spending significant sums of money,” like printing out palm cards and sending mass texts.
“Even though the above identified activities are likely not an exhaustive list of the campaign activities in which Ms. Daniels has engaged without disclosing the associated financial activity, they are significant enough to warrant examination by the Division of Election Law Enforcement, particularly as the Primary Election for District Attorney of Queens County is less than one week away,” Pitta wrote.
“For sake of comparison, the other candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for election to the office of District Attorney of Queens County have expended and disclosed considerable amounts of money related to the petitioning process,” Pitta continues. “Katz NYS expended and disclosed a total of $80,844 in connection with the printing, collection, preparation, and submission of its designating petitions. Similarly, Grasso for Queens, the authorized single candidate committee supporting the candidacy of George Grasso, expended and disclosed a total of $163,300.03 in connection with the printing, collection, preparation, and submission of its designating petitions.”
Daniels’ 2023 DA campaign is not listed on the state Campaign Finance Board’s website – an omission previously reported by the Eagle. Only her two previous unsuccessful bids for Civil Court judge are available on the CFB’s site.
Despite the alleged impropriety, Daniels will appear on the ballot Tuesday, having filed the requisite number of petition signatures.
Daniels denies the allegations in the complaint, and says that she has been unable to file properly, saying the State Board of Elections for not giving her candidate number.
When the Eagle reached out to Daniels to respond to the allegations, Daniels initially said that she had been prevented from filing properly because the BOE had yet to give her a “candidate number.” She then referred all comments to attorney Brian Byfield, who identified himself as a volunteer who had not been retained by the campaign.
Byfield, speaking to the Eagle over the phone, read out the following statement on Daniels’ behalf:
“In response to allegations regarding the registration of my candidacy for Queens District Attorney, I’m confirming that I filed my candidate registration papers timely with the New York State Board of Elections in early March 2023,” the statement said. “I'm on the ballot, because I timely registered my candidacy.”
“I have yet to receive a candidate number from the New York State Board of Elections,” the statement continued. “The candidate number is necessary for my campaign finance board filings. I timely notified both the New York State Board of Elections and the New York State Campaign Finance Board about this matter and they're resolving this issue. The allegations are simply a distraction used by my opponents to avoid discussing and campaigning on issues which are relevant to voters.”
However, officials with the New York State Board of Elections told the Eagle that their records show that they received some, but not all of the required paperwork from Daniels’ campaign in April. The BOE says they contacted Daniels shortly after, asking for additional documents, and sent a follow up in June but have not received a response.
In regards to the letter from Pitta, the Board of Elections Division of Election Law Enforcement says it does not comment on complaints they have received and have yet to decide on.
After receiving the BOE’s response, the Eagle again contact Daniels and Byfield, who confirmed that the agency had reached out in June, but claimed that the BOE had misplaced the documents they said they never received.
“The first time she got a contact from the Board of Elections was [on June 23] that they had a form missing,” said Byfield. “The form that they're alleging is missing is the committee authorization for campaign finance form, she submitted that to them back in March on or about the 20th.”
“It seems as though they misplaced it,” he said.
Daniels then added that she was “going to make sure if they need another copy that they get it, so this can be behind us.”
George Grasso, the former top judge at Queens Criminal Court, is the third candidate running against Katz and Daniels in Tuesday’s primary.
“I think the allegations on their face are quite serious,” he said. “Beyond that, we'll just have to let the process play out.”
However, Grasso did commend Daniels, saying that she had shown up to debates and civic meetings and has been “respecting the democratic process.”
“She’s been showing up, unfortunately Melinda Katz has refused each and every opportunity for a live forum,” he said.
Regardless of the accusations, Daniels is optimistic about Tuesday’s primary, telling the Eagle that she was “editing my victory speech” on Monday.
“People are willing to give me a chance to try to make a difference with the criminal justice system,” she said.
