Politics & Government
Newspaper Says Berlin Rep. Joe Aresimowicz Should Resign
The New Haven Register argues Areseimowicz and Rep. Larry Cafero should resign after their recorded interactions with an FBI informant ended up in a campaign corruption trial.
In a scathing critique, the New Haven Register editorialized on Monday that the top Democratic and Republican leaders in Connecticut should resign.
Citing testimony during a high profile political corruption trial that concluded last week, the Register said Reps. Joe Aresimowicz and Larry Cafero are part of a larger problem in state government.
“Is a culture of corruption so ingrained in Connecticut that the three top leaders of the House of Representatives are oblivious to what is wrong with casually skirting campaign finance laws and directly “fixing” legislation in exchange for cash?” The Register wrote.
Both Aresimowicz, of Berlin, and Cafero, of Norwalk, were caught in FBI recordings and testimony speaking to an information, Harry “Ray” Soucy, who was trying to bribe them with campaign donations in exchange for the defeat of legislation intended to impose taxes on tobacco shops.
The testimony was part of the trial of Robbert Braddock Jr., a former campaign finance director for ex-House Speaker Chris Donovan. Braddock was convicted last week in federal court in a scheme to trade $27,000 in campaign cash for the defeat of a piece of legislation.
Neither Aresimowicz, Cafero nor Donovan were charged and neither testified during the trial. Both have maintained that they did nothing wrong.
Aresimowicz said in an interview with Berlin Patch that he voted for the bill to impose the tobacco shop tax, adding that he said “no” every time to the shop owners’ attempts to get him to take money. He said he didn’t have any knowledge of the deal that was going on.
"I would say I make thousands of texts and calls during a session," Aresimowicz said in an interview last week. "There is jargon that is used back and forth throughout the process. I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know that people would be arrested and charged with committing crimes. But when it came to this case, I re-buffed all their attempts to give me money and voted for the bill."
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