Zephyr Teachout, running for state attorney general, calls out rampant political corruption

Steve Orr | Democrat and Chronicle

Show Caption Hide Caption Zephyr Teachout will take on corruption if she becomes New York's next Attorney General Zephyr Teachout stopped in Rochester on Sunday, Aug. 12 to talk about how she will take on corruption if she becomes New York's next Attorney General

When President Donald Trump lands in Utica on Monday, he'll be accompanied by a planeful of aides and coat-carriers. A small army of security personnel will protect him, and he'll almost surely be greeted a throng of flag-waving supporters.

When Zephyr Teachout arrived in Rochester Sunday to talk about how she'll rein in Trump if she's elected New York attorney general, it was just her and two aides in a small sedan.

This is how it is on a hot Sunday in downtown Rochester, a month before a primary election that many voters aren't yet following.

Teachout, a law professor and activist, is one of four Democrats vying for the party's slot in the race for attorney general. It's a wide-open race; the current office-holder, Barbara Underwood, who was appointed in May to replace the disgraced Eric Schneiderman, is not running.

Teachout was in town Sunday to talk corruption, which she believes is rampant in Washington, D.C., and in Albany.

"I’m going to make fighting corruption a priority, financial crimes and white-collar crimes a priority," she said. "Right now the wrong people are in jail. We have far too much focus on mass incarceration and far too little focus on white-collar crime and corruption."

She noted that New York's attorney general has a special ability to combat corruption, because so much financial and business activity occurs in the state — and because New York is the home state of Donald Trump.

Teachout had harsh words for the president, saying he was unlawfully profiting from his presidency.

She was one of several well-known lawyers who filed suit against him shortly after he assumed the presidency, accusing him of violating the Constitution by allowing foreign governments and their associates to stay in Trump hotels and buy apartments in his buildings.

The constitutional emoluments clause bars the president from accepting money or gifts from other nations while in office.

"I gotta tell you it’s Corruption 101 to try to use your public office for private gain," said Teachout, who may be best-known to voters for her unsuccessful runs for governor and Congress.

The suit she co-filed is hung up in an appellate court, though another emoluments case brought by Maryland and Washington, D.C., is proceeding. Teachout said she would have New York join that case if she is elected attorney general.

Teachout also cited the case of Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence, Erie County, who was indicted last week on insider-trading charges. Collins said Saturday he intends to pull out of his re-election campaign, though he will remain in office.

Teachout said Collins should leave Congress now. "I've read the indictment. It's pretty damning," she said. "I do think he should resign and take full responsibility."

In Buffalo, she left copies of her 2014 book, Corruption in America, for Carl Paladino and Roger Stone, two stalwart Trump supporters, "so that they might learn from the 240 years of history of this country fighting corruption."

Paladino announced Saturday that he is running for Collins’ seat.

She also dropped off an inscribed copy at Collins' office in suburban Buffalo.

I just stopped by the Lancaster office of Congressman Chris Collins and left him a copy of my book. pic.twitter.com/AO9EaSoqwf — Zephyr Teachout (@ZephyrTeachout) August 12, 2018

Teachout spoke to three journalists Sunday outside the federal building on State Street, her sole audience two men who stood out of earshot across the street.

The candidate then left for a town hall meeting at Abundance Co-Op on South Avenue, and from there planned to drive to Syracuse and Utica for more town halls and book-drops.

The Democratic primary for attorney general is Thursday, Sept. 13.

SORR@Gannett.com