One day after an explosive New York Daily News special investigative report charged Queens Congressmember Gary Ackerman with potentially breaking House ethics laws, the veteran Queens lawmaker fired back and denied any wrongdoing.
“The New York Daily News has written a story that attempts to create false impressions about my personal finances and my public activities as a member of Congress,” Ackerman said in a statement released on Tuesday, January 12. “In point of fact, this story deals with matters that I have repeatedly, personally disclosed in House financial disclosure filings.”
The Daily News report, which appeared in the Monday editions of the paper, said that Ackerman received private stock in the company Xenonics Inc., which he relied on a $14,000 loan from the top shareholder at the company who was also a longtime friend. The report said that the loan required no collateral and had no written payback date, which it said could be a violation of House ethics rules. Ackerman sold the stock for $100,000 years later, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the report also said that Ackerman also arranged a meeting with the founder of Xenonics, Alan Magerman, and two Israeli officials as he was pushing them to buy some of their equipment used by the U.S. military. Ackerman acknowledged that he arranged the meeting, but he said it was because he thought the equipment could be used to save lives.
“I did no more than arrange an introduction so the parties could decide on the merits whether the product fit their needs and sale capabilities,” Ackerman said in his statement. “I understand that no business was ever done between the Israel [officials] and Xenonics as result of that meeting or at any other time. I did nothing else in this matter – not another meeting, not another conversation, not seeking an earmark, not helping with any grant. Ever.”
