Bridgeport ends the “non -conclusive” examination of the election box video

Bridgeport-Die city has discontinued a one-year investigation of almost $ 148,000, which have published urban surveillance camera film materials that are supposed to show Wanda Geter-Pataky, the deputy chairman of the local democratic party and have included several absences in an outdoor collection box.

“In order to avoid that additional tax money provides for an investigation that will probably not draw a final conclusion, we have decided to suspend the investigation,” said Tyisha Toms, the lawyer for the Department of Local Law of Bridgeport, in a statement on Wednesday. “It no longer seems to be on the right track to create a conclusive answer.”

Toms inherited the probe requested by Ganim and chief Roderick Porter when it was discontinued at the beginning of last year. She said that something that was discovered by Kroll, the company based in New York last spring for the investigation, was not published according to the state of the state's freedom of information because there is no end product.

“We have a draft that is both not clear and incomplete,” said Toms. “We will not spend any additional resources to rule it out.”

According to the city, Kroll received $ 147,652.

Russell Blair, Director of Education and Communication for the Information Commission of Connecticut Freedom of Information, confirmed on Thursday that the FOI Act “Do not require public authorities to publish preliminary designs. “

“However,” said Blair.

In separate statements on Thursday, Ganim and his chief administrative officer Thomas Gaudett claimed that the money was not wasted because Kroll stated security gaps that have been set since then.

“I was assured … that my concerns about the security violations that did not allow the unauthorized and illegal access and the distribution of sensitive urban property to be addressed,” said Ganim.

“The city has taken proactive measures based on this investigation to ensure that this does not happen again,” said Gaudett.

Since Geter-Pataky Ganim's re-election supported in 2023, Gomes and his allies tried to use the film material against the incumbent. In the meantime, the mayor had asked whether an urban employee or employee had violated staff regulations and worked with his opponent to make the videos public.

Bridgeport and his democratically dominated politics were attributed to great attention in autumn 2023 after the in question had been leaked and promoted by Gomes in question by Gomes, who had lost a mayor of the mayor to Ganim just a few days earlier on September 12.

With the alleged videos by Geter-Pataky as evidence, Gomes submitted a successful civil lawsuit to lift Ganim's slim victory. In his judgment, the presiding judge cited the film material as proof that a new competition between Gomes and the mayor should be held. This area code took place at the end of January 2024, with a new parliamentary election took place a month later. Despite the success of Gomes in court and the negative public relations work that Ganim's campaign received, the incumbent won the re -election.

But that was not the end of the bridge port of the Bridgeport. The state election officers of the elections cited an investigation of the videos and other alleged irregularities, which then appeared during the fight between Ganim and Gomes and forwarded their results to the office of the state. As a result, Geter-Pataky, the members of the city council of Bridgeort Alfredo Castillo, Jazmarie Melendez and Maria Pereira and Margaret Joyce, were arrested last month. Of the five supported Melendez and Pereira Gomes; The others were for Ganim.

The film material also attracted national and international media reporting, in particular from conservative media such as FOX News and Sinclair Networks and Elon Musk, owner of the social media website X and advisor to President Donald Trump.

Although he had obtained the contents of the leaked clips, Ganim also tried in September 2023 to use her release to attack Gomes's ethics. The mayor said that “someone in the Bridgeport government” seemed to be against the protocol “against the protocol” and then coordinated with the political campaign of his rival.

“Let us assume that there is a terrible inappropriateness of how we (in the videos) have seen,” said Ganim in September 2023.

Porter had sentenced the publication of the safety material in a similar way.

Bill Bloss, Gomes's lawyer during the mayor of 2023, said there should never have been an investigation into how the security clips were leaked.

“The people or people involved have the voters of the city of Bridgeport and discovered evidence for a service,” said Bloss. “In my experience, the police and authorities welcome the public disclosure of evidence of obvious criminal activities.”