Despite all those traffickers, crime bosses, money launderers and tomb raiders with whom Steinhardt did business, Vance said he decided not to prosecute Steinhardt in order to return the stolen subject to their rightful owners as quickly as possible. Suddenly, time is of importance with these extremely old treasures.
Vance also said he wanted to protect the identity of witnesses around the globe. Future tipsters. So thoughtful.
In comparison, studies of his office's prosecution rates show that low-level offenders (people in possession of less-pricey stolen property, for example) from Manhattan represent a significantly higher population of Rikers Island in New York City, than similar miscreants from Brooklyn, which has a significantly higher population of all types. Hey, if you do the crime in Manhattan, Vance says you gotta pay the time.
Then there are Vance's past decisions not to prosecute movie producer Harvey Wasserman on sexual harassment charges, or to charge Donald or Ivanka Trump on the usual fraud stuff. People who care about ethics in government have also criticized Vance"s practice of accepting campaign donations from lawyers and law firms whose clients had dealings with his office. The connection between money and influence is, well, elementary.
Now for the hopeful news in this story, the footnote.
This is Vance's swan song in Manhattan. He's retiring. That means the new, eager DA will get to work with New York Attorney General Letitia James on putting Trump and his cohorts behind bars on a variety of tax fraud charges.
James decided not to run for governor and to focus on the continuing Trump prosecution she has been working on with the Manhattan DAs office. She's already forced Andrew Cuomo to resign as governor because of sexual harassment allegations. Nailing Trump would make her a political rock star as well as establish a different, more balanced, atmosphere in the Manhattan DA's office.
Maybe Vance finally decided this was one political favor to a rich friend he couldn't deliver. And maybe all those museums that slapped Steinhart's name on galleries because of his "generosity" need to take it down. At least his ego will pay a price.
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Bob Gaydos is writer-in-residence at zestoforange.com.
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