The Independent View: NYC Campaign Finance Board Probe of the Working Families Party

The New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB), which audits spending by local political candidates, is employing a high-powered law firm in connection with a special prosecutor's probe into the labor-backed Working Families Party (WFP).

The special prosecutor, Roger Adler, was set to empanel a grand jury Sept. 5 and had issued subpoenas. Campaign Finance Board officials may be called to testify.

The criminal probe centers on whether a consulting firm set up by the Working Families Party, Data & Field Services, undercharged favored candidates for campaign services in 2009. The Campaign Finance Board has recently been using the law firm, Debevoise and Plimpton, in dealing with Mr. Adler’s probe, sources said.

The Campaign Finance Board audits all campaigns for City Council, borough president and citywide offices, and is known for scrupulously going through candidates' expenditure reports. Staten Island Councilwoman Deborah Rose, one of the WFP-backed candidates in 2009, won a Democratic primary for her seat nearly five years ago, but the Campaign Finance Board still hasn’t released an audit of the campaign, which attracted special scrutiny because of a related lawsuit filed against it.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio helped found the Working Families Party back in 1998, and one of his top aides Emma Wolfe has reportedly been sought for questioning by Mr. Adler. Mr. de Blasio was also a client of Data & Field Services during his successful 2009 run for public advocate. Those potentials conflicts would make it more difficult for the CFB to use the city’s corporation counsel, Zachary Carter, who was appointed by Mr. de Blasio.

In 2010, the WFP settled a civil lawsuit alleging that its consulting arrangement violated campaign-finance laws and gave Ms. Rose an unfair advantage in her council race. The party, which didn't admit wrongdoing, agreed to pay $100,000 in legal fees to five Staten Island residents whose lawsuit was brought by Randy Mastro, a former deputy mayor in the Giuliani administration. The party also agreed to formally separate from Data and Field Services.