Janet Difiore.

The Advocate
Richard Blassberg

DA DiFiore: Can We Trust Her?

Last week’s headline story in The Westchester Guardian, “Westchester Divorce Courts Under Federal Scrutiny,” brought out an avalanche of phone calls and e-mails from Westchester residents, mostly women, the
majority of whom claimed they were victims of forgery and fraud. Each was the non-monied spouse in divorce litigation who had been stripped of any share of marital assets through the connivance of the attorneys and the judges involved in their case. Additionally, most had gone to the Westchester District Attorney’s Office, with documents and significant evidence of forgery and fraud, most often related to their homes and bank accounts,
but also involving partnerships, and corporate interests as well. Some had complained to Pirro, but, as many within this year, had brought their complaints to Janet DiFiore, always with the same result.

When asked how DiFiore’s Office handled them, the response, invariably was, that at first they were greeted with interest, but as soon as they revealed that the judge and the attorneys were involved in the irregularities, including forgery, disappearance of files, perjury, etc., the DA’s Office appeared to lose all interest in their case, telling them there was nothing they could do, particularly when Judge Nicolai’s name was mentioned. This same experience was also related by men who contacted the Guardian as well.

It is difficult to understand why the chief law enforcement officer of a county, the DA, would not be concerned about forgery, in most instances involving several hundred thousand dollars, as well as possible official misconduct. Then again, DA DiFiore was very tight with Judge Nicolai, in fact, appointed by him to be Administrative Judge of the Criminal Part.

Many of those who were refused help have turned to the F.B.I. because of their belief that the Westchester Supreme Court, Matrimonial Part is corrupt, and tightly connected to certain law firms that the DA would rather
protect than expose and prosecute. One very knowledgeable caller indicated that she was aware that the corruption extended into the Appellate Division with the appointment of Judge Robert Spolzino, former counsel
to Nick Spano. Of course, Janet DiFiore’s ties to Nick Spano became very evident last year, both during the election for District Attorney, and after, as well as this year, in the race for State Senate.

Last year, when DiFiore ran for DA, several individuals connected to Nick, particularly in Yonkers, were deeply involved in her effort, on Election Day, and immediately thereafter. Election Fraud, having been historically
acknowledged in many Westchester elections, and particularly in Yonkers, at this point it is sufficient to state that Janet’s declaration of victory, following the second canvass was curious, but revealing, to say the least. Her
declaration, “We did it,” followed by a long “thank you” specifically to “the Spano Family” seemed no coincidence given the unusual voting patterns turned up on the second canvass in Yonkers, the fact that Frank Nicolai granted DiFiore an impoundment of the voting machines, three days before the election, and the rumors that have been circulating regarding the machines with increasing frequency.

Sticking with that election, many have not forgotten that DA Janet DiFiore’s husband, Dennis Glazer, a powerful New York attorney, had been accused by the Right To Life Party candidate for DA, Anthony DiCintio, of attempting to bribe him off the ticket. That story appeared locally and in The New York Times.

When that attempt failed, GOP operatives connected to Nick Spano attempted, unsuccessfully, to knock the entire Right To Life slate of candidates for County Office off the ballot. Updating to this year and Nick’s unsuccessful bid for an eleventh term, DA DiFiore, apparently felt an obligation to return the favors.

About ten days prior to the election, she allowed Nick and his colleague Vinnie Leibell to make a campaign TV appearance from inside the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, boasting about past legislation that they had been involved with related to law enforcement. That was definitely a no-no, and calls to her office were not responded to.

Now that many of the criminally prosecuted, and convicted, cases of her predecessor, Jeanine Pirro, are beginning to collapse, on appeal, it is instructive to realize that Janet DiFiore was an Assistant DA under Pirro
for several years, and that when asked to rate Pirro by The Journal News, in 2005, she gave her an “A+.” Given the fact that she has been the DA for nearly a year now, if she were really that different from Pirro, one might expect that she would have, in the interest of Justice and Fairness, come forward, before she was compelled to in the DiSimone case, and actively sought to bring relief to other victims such as Richard DiGuglielmo, Jing Kelly, Steven Nowicki, and many more, she must surely be aware of.

Can we trust DA Janet DiFiore? The answer to that question would seem obvious given the choices she has made thus far when confronted by the interests of injured citizens versus those of her political associates.