New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's bid to play host to the Democratic National Committee's 2016 convention was derailed by corruption scandals surrounding Democrats such as former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the New York Post reports.
Democrats announced on Thursday that they would be holding the convention in Philadelphia despite de Blasio's full-scale campaign to bring the convention to Brooklyn's Barclays Center.
The Post reports that a major reason Democrats passed on New York City was a fear that more federal corruption charges could be on the way.
One national Democratic Party source said the mayor’s efforts were overshadowed by US Attorney Preet Bharara’s intensive crackdown on corrupt elected officials, including Democrats such as former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
"You have all these corruption cases," said the source. "Do we want trials breaking next year during the convention? How many more political indictments are going to be coming up in New York?
"Do we want Shelly Silver’s trial coming up around the time of the convention? Corruption was a real issue. God knows who will get indicted next."
When he announced Silver’s arrest last month, Bharara warned "Stay tuned" because more cases were in the federal pipeline.