Hey John, it's Brad.
Today, I want to share a story with you about one of the strangest moments of my career: a time someone tried to bribe me.
No, this story isn't about Eric Adams, and no, there weren't any wads of cash in bags of chips or anything like that. In fact, we have to go all the way back to the 90s for this one.
At the time, I was Executive Director of the Fifth Avenue Committee. We had applied to the City to take over 5 abandoned buildings and renovate them. The local City Councilmember Angel Rodriguez had a contractor come into my office and say that if I promised him the construction work, Angel would make sure that we got the buildings.
Naturally, I threw him out of my office. And I was not surprised when Councilmember Rodriguez was arrested and sent to prison for his bribery attempts in the following years.
Let's be clear, John, this is a story of me doing the bare minimum. I immediately rejected corruption, as all public leaders should.
But the reason I bring this up at all is this: these days, people have grown to expect something far different. Thanks to figures like Donald Trump and Eric Adams, corruption has almost become the norm in our politics.
And that's not even mentioning the countless members of Congress who put the needs and wants of their Big Donors over the best interests of their district.
John, when I become your next Congressman, I promise that the only thing I'll be doing in Washington is serving our district — not the bidding of corrupt contractors – or of lobbyists or special interests, either. That’s why I’m the only candidate in this race who DOES NOT ACCEPT contributions from lobbyists & PACs. But that really means I need support from people who hate corruption. If that’s you, can you chip in any amount today?
