FH Patch- Turner Dings Weprin for Council Slush Fund Flap

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Let the mud-slinging begin! Bob Turner's campaign for Congress released a statement Tuesday morning accusing Assembylman David Weprin, D-Little Neck, of being complicit in the 2008 slush fund scandal that engulfed City Hall.

"David Weprin either knew about these fake charities or he wasn't doing his job; there is no in-between,' said William O'Reilly, Turner's spokesman, in the statement. "Dummy charities were fabricated to park taxpayer money out of the public eye and David Weprin was supposed to be watching that money. Did he look the other way, or is Mr. Weprin really that careless with the public's money? It is a legitimate question and Brooklyn and Queens voters deserve a clear answer."

Weprin's campaign returned fire immediately, saying the Turner campaign was telling outright lies.

"Bob Turner is lying about David Weprin in a sad, pathetic attempt to distract the people of Brooklyn and Queens from his extremist Tea Party-inspired plan to slash trillions from Medicare and Social Security," said Weprin campaign staffer Jake Dilemani.

The scandal in question involved City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, while Weprin was as a council member from eastern Queens. Published reports at the time indicated that it had become a common practice for the council speaker to funnel some of her discretionary funds to phantom groups that would act as dummy accounts.

At the time, Quinn said the illegal practice was being perpetrated by two of her staffers. She added that she was the person who turned over the information about the slush funds to state and federal authorities.

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