A former Brooklyn district attorney was accused this week of using money seized from drug dealers and other criminal defendants to pay a political consultant in his failed re-election campaign last year.
The report from the New York City Department of Investigation alleged that Charles J. Hynes, a Democrat, improperly paid the consultant more than $200,000 and could now face larceny charges.
That’s not all. The probe also implicated Barry Kamins, described by the New York Times as a “widely respect jurist” in the city, for allegedly violating a judicial code of ethics through his advisory role on the Hynes campaign.
According to the Times, Kamins was relieved of all administrative duties with New York City’s criminal courts on Monday. Kamins’s lawyer, Paul Shectman, told the Times: “Anyone who knows Barry knows that he would not abuse his judicial position.”
The New York Daily News reported that Hynes was “in hiding” after the report came out, and he does not appear to have commented on the allegations.
