State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s largest campaign contribution so far this year came courtesy of Playboy’s 2010 Playmate of the Year.
Texas beauty Hope Smith donated $65,100 to Schneiderman’s 2018 re-election campaign on Jan. 13, WNBC reported.
Smith, formerly Hope Dworaczyk, recently married venture capital honcho Robert Smith, who has poured lots of money into Schneiderman’s coffers in the past.
Her hubby is the founder of Vista Equity Partners, which has attracted nearly $1 billion in investments from the New York Common Retirement Fund over the last seven years. He donated over $150,000 to Schneiderman during that period.
So far, there have been no charges or settlements related to the investigation and there is no evidence that Smith’s private equity fund has been subpoenaed, the station reported.
Schneiderman’s office told WNBC that political donations have had no influence on any probe by the state’s top prosecutor.
His spokesman, Damien LaVera, said Schneiderman has launched investigations regardless of whether the companies or industries being investigated made contributions.
“Attorney General Schneiderman has fought throughout his career to combat fraud and provide New Yorkers the open and honest government they deserve, which is why he has prosecuted more than 70 corrupt officials and their cronies, proposed the most comprehensive set of ethics and campaign finance reforms the state has ever seen, and taken on some of the worst offenders on Wall Street,” LaVera said.
Schneiderman’s policy requires donors “to certify they and the entities they own or control have no matters currently pending before or recently resolved by his office.”
He did not say if there were policies on returning donations to those who may be unaware they are being investigated.
