Key Witness Against Seabrook Loses Credibility Under Cross-Examination

The Federal Government’s witness who said he had personally delivered a $60,000 bribe to former Correction Officers Benevolent Association President Norman Sea­brook had his credibility severely damaged during cross-examination last week, as defense lawyers got him to elaborate on several scams in which he’d been involved in which he lied to both his father-in-law and a man he led to believe was his closest friend.

Jona Rechnitz, a major fundraiser for Mayor de Blasio who also had close ties to several ranking NYPD officials—a couple of whom have been indicted—played a key role in convincing Mr. Sea­brook to invest $20 million of his union’s money in a hedge fund operated by the other defendant in the case, Murray Huberfeld. The fund’s other principals were indicted last December for allegedly operating it like a Ponzi scheme in recent years by the same U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District that brought the case against the ex-union leader.