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Dan Halloran staffers resign following councilmember’s arrest

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Embattled Councilmember Dan Halloran’s two top aides have jumped ship.

Chrissy Voskerichian, the legislator’s chief of staff, announced her immediate resignation on April 8. John Mulvey, Halloran’s legislative director, also announced he is quitting as of April 12.

“In leaving, I remain hopeful that the community will remember all of the hard work that went into preserving our neighborhoods and serving northeast Queens,” Voskerichian said in a letter.

Their boss was one of six officials arrested by the FBI last week for conspiring to rig the mayoral election, authorities said.

Halloran played a key part, officials said, in a bribery scheme to get Democratic State Senator Malcolm Smith on the Republican ticket for mayor.

According to the U.S. Attorney, he set up meetings between Smith and GOP county leaders while negotiating payouts. Halloran pocketed nearly $21,000 in cash in exchange for his help, officials said.

Voskerichian, 51, had worked for Halloran for close to four years. She spent the last two years as his chief of staff.

“I am incredibly proud of the work that the office has done,” Voskerichian said. “We resolved thousands of constituent cases, allocated millions of dollars in funding to local groups and worked hard to make the 19th Council District a better place to live.”

The former staffer makes no reference to Halloran’s scandal, which also involved the arrest of Smith, Queens County GOP vice chair Vincent Tabone, Bronx County GOP chair Joseph Savino and two upstate leaders.

Halloran’s official City Council website no longer lists the names of his staff members.

According to Kevin Ryan, Halloran’s spokesperson, the councilmember does not plan on resigning and looks forward to clearing his name.

“The councilmember greatly appreciates the hard work in service to the district that his entire staff has put forward, especially his chief of staff,” Ryan said. “Times like these can cause some staff members to reevaluate their career paths. He is sincerely grateful for every staff member’s service.”

 

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