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Retired from his position last October, former chief compliance counsel John Oleske broke his silence on Monday, insisting that his firing was retaliation by the office.
Oleske’s claims allege a cover-up, one carried out by James’ colleagues to conceal José Maldonado’s alleged involvement in multiple questionable ventures.
Appointed as one of Letitia James’ first acts as attorney general in 2018, Maldonado is the most senior member of James’ staff following the resignation of chief of staff Ibrahim Khan on Friday.
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A top official in the New York Attorney General’s Office said he was fired for trying to unmask misconduct by a chief prosecutor.
Former Chief Compliance Counsel John Oleske broke his silence Monday after being removed from his position in October, insisting that the move was simply retaliation for two years of concerns about Deputy Attorney General Jose Maldonado.
Appointed as one of Letitia James’ first acts as AG, Maldonado is the most senior member of James’ staff, particularly after the sudden resignation of Chief of Staff Ibrahim Khan on Friday.
Khan’s expulsion came after an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct, after which a former aide filed a lawsuit against James alleging his office was covering up for Khan.
Oleske’s claims, transmitted to The daily beastThey allege a similar cover-up, one carried out by James AG colleagues to conceal Maldonado’s alleged involvement in multiple questionable ventures, as well as an ongoing, previously unreported lawsuit filed by the city’s Black Firefighters Association.
John Oleske, a former top aide in Letitia James’ office, was fired in October and now insists the move was simply retaliation for two years of concerns about one of his superiors.
The allegations are particularly sensitive for James, following the sudden resignation of his chief of staff last Friday over allegations that he engaged in sexual conduct. A former assistant later filed a lawsuit alleging that James helped cover up the behavior.
Filed in 2020, the lawsuit accuses Maldonado, who has risen through the ranks of New York’s legal sphere over the past three decades, of racism.
Seen by the Beast, the filing claims that he repeatedly took actions that “blocked the advancement of African Americans” during his time as associate commissioner of compliance at the FDNY, a position he held from 2012 to 2014.
At the time, the fraternal organization was led by then-president John Coombs, the person who made the claim in the previously unreported court document.
When Beast reached out to the still-active lawsuit, James’ office dismissed the allegation, telling the publication that it was unverified and was filed in an attempt to support the certification of a class-action lawsuit that a judge ultimately refused to hand out.
But that’s not the full extent of Oleske’s claims, which further allege that Maldonado worked tirelessly to conceal his past involvement with a prominent nonprofit golf organization whose board of directors included one of the country’s most notorious slumlords. Brooklyn.
The owner, Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corp. (NEBHDCo), filed for bankruptcy in 2019, according to court documents, which also showed it had accumulated more than 4,000 violations and $4,222,504.20 in arrears.
Additionally, tenants of its 1,000 apartments scattered across Bedford-Stuyvesant claimed their rentals were unclean and infested with rats, broken locks and more.
The head of that since-dissolved LLC was Jeffrey Dunston, one of the board members of the Brooklyn Golf Alliance.
Oleske’s claims allege a similar cover-up: one carried out by James’ colleagues to conceal Deputy Chief José Maldonado’s (pictured) alleged involvement with multiple questionable companies, as well as an ongoing lawsuit filed by the Firefighters Association Black people from the city who accuse him of racism
Speaking with The Beast, Oleske revealed how he felt the deal could become an issue if Maldonado ever had to investigate Dunston’s company, something that finally happened in 2018 when then-public attorney James last cited Dunston as the ” second worst” private owner. throughout the city.