A premier public relations firm with strong union connections was denounced Friday by a conservative research group over the company’s connection to a New York City fundraising scandal.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is at the center of an investigation involving questionable fundraising activities. The premier public relations firm BerlinRosen was among the connected companies subpoenaed in the case, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has paid untold millions to the firm to help promote their advocacy work.
“It’s alarming that Berlin Rosen, which was paid some $4 million by SEIU to run its ‘Fight for 15’ campaign, has now been subpoenaed in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s growing fundraising scandal,” America Rising Squared Communications Director Jeremy Adler told The Daily Caller News Foundation. America Rising is a nonprofit research group that promotes conservative policies.
The New York State Board of Elections accused the mayor in a January report of violating campaign finance laws. The report found the mayor allegedly evaded contribution limits by trying to disguise the true names of contributors. De Blasio at the time was trying to help Democrats win a majority in the state Senate. No one yet has been charged with any wrongdoing.
BerlinRosen has been the go-to public relations firm for many top labor unions. It also played a critical role in the union-backed Fight for $15 movement. De Blasio has been an adamant supporter of the movement and even advocated for the $15 minimum wage in his own city before lawmakers eventually passed it statewide.
The Fight for $15 has seen several successes mostly on the local level from across the country. The SEIU contributed $1,710,493 to BerlinRosen to help promote the movement, according to a federal expenditure report. Similar expenditures have been found in previous years, even though advocates maintain it is a grassroots movement of low-wage workers.
BerlinRosen and the mayor did not respond to requests for comment by TheDCNF.
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