Peter Cipriano Responds To Reader Comments

Bensonhurst Bean has just received an e-mail from Peter Cipriano. In it, Cipriano responds to what was said about him yesterday in our comments section, the purpose of the e-mail, Cipriano says, is to “address (Bensonhurst Bean readers) concerns and thoughts.”

We’re publishing his response unedited and in its entirety.

Bensonhurst Bean welcomes, without fear or favor- to quote a noted newspaperman, both sides of Brooklyn’s currently divided GOP to respond.

We invite Mr. Eaton to submit an official response to Mr. Cipriano, which, if received in a timely manner, we will likewise publish in its entirety and without editing.

Dear Joe,

Thank you for posting my press release.  Nothing I laid out about the sequence of events regarding Chairman Eaton and his interactions with me is baseless or untrue.

I think it’s notable for your wider audience to consider that, in response to my charges against Craig Eaton, his supporters – anonymous and otherwise – have not said a word actually defending or explaining the actions of the Chairman in this whole situation.  Instead there has been a whole lot of attacking me with things like my age in an effort to delegitimize me and therefore my claims.   And sinking to a new low, they now also criticize people like you instead of addressing the substance of what is being said.

There is a difference between me and Craig Eaton, when Craig Eaton doesn’t get his way he threatens, he leverages his power to show people who is boss, and he acts through intimidation to prevent people from doing anything about it.  And notably for anyone who opposes him, there is a dispatch of anonymous character assassins that deploys and does their dirty work on the Internet – which is not to build up Craig Eaton, but to tear down his detractors.  I don’t believe in that.  I have run for office before facing two different opponents.    And in both cases they were tough competitors who opposed me.  But those contests were fairly fought within the confines of the law.   I lost to Peter Abbate, and I did not take him to court, but that is because we had a fair contest and he did nothing illegal in achieving his win.

I have no problem with Craig Eaton running a candidate against me.  I do have a problem when he does so illegally.  And so my response is clear.  It is not being done anonymously.  It is being waged legitimately and in the open – in a court of law.  I believe shining light into the shadows is the best way to respond to those who act illegally and believe they will get away with it.  And I will continue to update all press outlets of the events that transpire in the days going forward.

In fact, I can update you now that I did retain a lawyer for the appearance yesterday late Sunday night.  Until that point, I personally prepared all of my legal documents including the actual petition to invalidate (which includes charges about Craig Eaton’s wrong doing), the order to show cause, the specification of objections, and the bill of particulars filed with the court and defendants yesterday.  Notably, especially to your readers, doing this work did save me to thousands in legal fees.  And I’ll also add, believe it or not, lawyers ARE people too, and my lawyer understands the David versus Goliath nature of my situation and has willing to negotiate pay on a per appearance basis, also saving money.

Yesterday the judge did not throw out my petition as the defendants thought he would, which was reported today in the Brooklyn Eagle.  There has been a question raised by the defendant about whether service of the legal documents was done properly on my part.  The court ordered personal service, but Matt Graves, who I am running against, avoided service, and so we will be back in court today to discuss