Liu Vows to Continue Bid After Aide’s Conviction

Monday, May 6, 2013 12:31 am | 2 Minute Read

By Yochonon Donn

Even after a former top campaign fundraiser and aide were convicted of financial fraud, John Liu vowed to carry on with his mayoral bid and win.

“I’m deeply saddened by the turn of events today,” Liu, the city’s comptroller, said, according to Politicker. “I continue to believe that Jenny’s a good person, and we will continue to ask the voters of this city for their support in my campaign to be mayor of New York City.”

The donors, Xing Wu “Oliver” Pan, and his former campaign treasurer Jia “Jenny” Hou, were convicted on Thursday of orchestrating a straw donor scheme on Liu’s behalf.

But Liu insisted that nothing had to be changed about his fundraising team.

“I am proud of the way that my campaign has been conducted,” Liu told reporters following a campaign event in Brooklyn. “I’ve always said that all along. This is an investigation that has been going on now for almost four years including tapping my phones, interrogating thousands of my supporters. It is what it is. I’m moving forward with my campaign. And at the end of the day, the voters of this great city will decide.”

Liu, who is charged with growing the city’s huge pension fund, dared investigators to find any corruption on himself.

“The investigation is not approaching four years,” he said. “They can look at anything and everything they want. I’ve got nothing to hide. I’ve got a clear conscience. And we are going to present a very strong case directly to the voters of New York City.”

Liu continued his regular schedule Friday, attending a fundraiser and promising to win the race where he already is the underdog.

“We’re a little more than four months away from the Democratic primary and we’re going to win this thing,” Liu said. “And we’re going to win this thing and we’re going to beat back all the doubters and the haters and we’re going to win this thing.”

He said that the convictions were just a blip on his day.

“A campaign has ups and downs,” he said. “You get knocked down. And yesterday was a little bit of a knockdown. But we got right back up. And we’re going to keep building momentum until we win this election.”

This article appeared in print on page 5 of the May 6th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.