By: Stanley Krauss
The New York Post is reporting that longtime Bronx-Westchester Democrat Congressman Eliot Engel has yet to pay off a mortgage loan in the amount of $125,000 that he got more than 10 years ago from Harry Bajraktari, a noted real estate developer and campaign donor.
Bajraktari is reportedly a personal friend of Engel, and a major financial supporter. The loan in question was reportedly made in 2011 and was termed a “mortgage loan” for Engel’s house in the Bronx, according to a personal financial disclosure statement cited by the Post. “But Engel’s Bronx home was paid in full at the time, according to the New York City deed, and as of last year, the money still hadn’t been paid back, records show.”
The story in the Post noted that neither Bajraktari nor Engel’s office responded to requests for an interview or whether the loan had been repaid. “Engel’s office said it was approved by the House Ethics Committee. The committee declined to comment.”
A representative for Bajraktari said during an interview with the New York Daily News back in 2012 that the $125,000 was a “personal loan” to help Engel buy a co-op in the Bronx.
Engel inadvertently put his foot in his mouth earlier today when he was captured on a hot mic insisting that he “wouldn’t care” about not being allowed to speak at a news conference about the unrest in his Bronx district following the death of George Floyd – if he wasn’t in a competitive Democratic primary, Fox News reported. “If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care,” Engel can be heard telling Bronx President Ruben Diaz twice.
The 16-term congressman is facing off against Jamaal Bowman in a hotly contested primary. Bowman is reportedly supported by Justice Democrats, an organization that assisted Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her victory of Joe Crowley two years ago.
Engel recently blasted President Trump over his response to the pandemic. A Member of the House Pro Choice Caucus with a 100% pro-choice voting record, Engel and his colleagues sent on a letter to the Trump Administration demanding that they stop their efforts to strip federal relief dollars from Planned Parenthood clinics.
“Once again, the Trump Administration is using a veil to launch a political attack on Planned Parenthood and undermine access to reproductive health care,” said Engel. “This latest bit has nothing to do with Planned Parenthood’s eligibility for federal dollars, but is yet another tactic to deflect from the Administration’s failure to curb the pandemic, which has claimed far too many New Yorkers.”
