First it was Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s visit to Athens. Now The New York Times reports that the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is reviewing whether Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton improperly pressed New York’s Olympic bid to Anita DeFrantz, a representative of the Olympic selection committee. Senator Clinton invited DeFrantz to the special meeting Congress held in New York City on Sept. 6 and discussed New York’s 2012 Olympic bid.
According to USOC guidelines, “verbal promotion” or “communication” with members of the United States Olympic Committee’s board are prohibited and bid cities are banned from “any international promotional activities”.
Mike Moran, a USOC spokesman said that both Senator Clinton’s conversation with Ms. DeFrantz and Mayor Bloomberg’s comments in Athens were under review by the committee. He said that if they were found to be in violation of the rules, the city would be alerted before choosing a city.
Karen Dunn, a spokesperson for Senator Clinton, said the Senator had been unaware of any rules prohibiting contact with members of the Olympic committee. She said the Senator had invited DeFrantz at the request of Daniel L. Doctoroff, Mayor Bloomberg’s deputy mayor for economic development and founder of the city’s Olympic bid organization NYC 2012. Doctoroff is a driving force behind New York’s 2012 bid.
Dunn said, “we have not been apprised of any constraints on senators when it comes to promoting their states. We know of nothing to prevent us from agreeing to the city’s request”.
Meanwhile Moran said that DeFrantz had also spoken with Senator Dianne Feinstein of California about San Francisco’s bid.
As for Mayor Bloomberg, he said yesterday that he had done “nothing inappropriate” during his trip to Athens.
“I did not take any New York paraphernalia to distribute, I did not go and try to promote the U.S effort or New York City’s effort. No. 1, it’s probably against the rules, and No. 2, the people that you’d want to do that to weren’t there”.
He added that he had simply been doing his duty selling the city he represents.
“I’m paid to be the mayor of New York City, and to explain to the world why New York City is the greatest city in the world, with eight million people that really care and we will do everything we can to make this a better city”, he said.
