NY-22: This week, the New York Post uncovered a late July memo from a campaign consultant for GOP Rep. Claudia Tenney that warned staff and volunteers to watch out for their safety because of Democrat Anthony Brindisi's family. The memo read, "Brindisi’s family has used their political connections to get away with violence, intimidation and thuggish behavior for years," and added, "As the Brindisi family watches Anthony’s political career end, they may return to what they know—violence and intimidation."
The memo didn't list anything about the candidate and instead focused on several allegations involving his father, attorney Louis Brindisi, and brother, Andrew Brindisi. Most of the alleged incidents are from the 1970s and 1980s, with the memo highlighting how Louis Brindisi used to represent mobsters: The older Brindisi had in fact stopped handling criminal cases in 1983 after his law partner was shot and killed inside his office. It also cited how he pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine over 25 years ago.
The memo also alleges that in 2014, Andrew Brindisi was accused of trying to murder a man with his car, but wasn't charged. A contemporary report from the Observer-Dispatch says that Andrew Brindisi was ticketed for driving away after crashing into a gas line. A man argued that Andrew Brindisi had run him over twice and hit the gas line on his third attempt, but Andrew Brindisi was never charged with this.
This isn't the first time that Tenney has thrown the "mafia" card at Anthony Brindisi. Last year, she declared that Louis Brindisi, was "very heavily involved with the organized crime in Utica for many years, representing them," and added, "I'm not saying Anthony is part of any of that but that's the family you come from." The candidate was not happy with this attack on his father, and members of the local Italian-American community, which makes up one in seven residents of the 22nd, condemned Tenney for using an anti-Italian slur.
Tenney doesn't seem to have changed much over the last year, and she did not distance herself from the memo. While she first insisted to the Post that she didn't blame Anthony Brindisi or his family, she immediately told them to "[l]ook at what the father has been charged with and somehow has been able to get out of … I’ve never even had a speeding ticket," and that her opponent's brother was "charged with running over a guy …. It was caught on a camera and many police have said this should have been attempted murder. It was not." She also implied that Louis Brindisi's donations to the mayor of Utica helped Andrew Brindisi keep his job with the city.
Anthony Brindisi condemned Tenney, declaring, "To know that she’s sitting in some room and feeling this immense pressure to attack my family and Italian-Americans as part of some plan to hold on to her seat is kind of sad, really." A few prominent local Republicans also said that his family should be left alone. Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, who called Tenney a "national embarrassment" months ago, characterized Tenney's latest comments as "absurd, bigoted and shameful yet wholly unsurprising."
GOP state Sen. Joseph Griffo also condemned smears against Italian-Americans and added that, "Disparaging stereotypes are disappointing and unnecessary. The Tenney campaign should refrain from ethnic smear tactics." We're not holding our breath on that.