NY Post Report: Tenney Warns Staffers of Brindisi Family’s ‘Violence, intimidation and thuggish behavior’

A memo from Representative Claudia Tenney's campaign warns her staffers not to go out alone at night and to be aware of being followed by unknown vehicles, saying Anthony Brindisi's family has a history of 'political connections' and 'thuggish behavior', according to the New York Post.

The Post report says it obtained a copy of the memo, and spoke to the Republican incumbent Congresswoman, who quote:

...said she has a “good relationship” with her opponent and doesn’t blame him or his family — before trashing the family.

The Post further reported on the memo's contents:

“Brindisi’s family has used their political connections to get away with violence, intimidation and thuggish behavior for years. As the Brindisi family watches Anthony’s political career end, they may return to what they know—violence and intimidation,”

In speaking to the Post, Tenney points to a guilty plea by her challenger Brindisi's father, Louis, in connection with a charge of cocaine possession in the early 1990s, his history of representing organized crime officials in criminal cases, and an incident involving Andrew Brindisi - Anthony's brother - who was alleged to have intentionally tried to run a man over in 2014. 

Andrew Brindisi - who was then employed by and continues to work for the city of Utica - was ultimately charged with leaving the scene of an accident and given a year probation for the incident.

A campaign staffer for the Brindisi for Congress campaign issued this statement to the Post:

“These kinds of blatant and false attacks on Italians are nothing new for Claudia Tenney. In fact, this toxic rhetoric is a main reason nothing gets done in Washington, and shows exactly why she needs to be replaced. It’s clear that she’s pushing stereotypes and fear to distract from her record of giving billions in tax breaks to her special interest donors and voting to cut Medicare while blowing a hole in our national debt. That’s the real threat upstate New Yorkers are facing.''

Anthony Brindisi, a current New York assemblyman, is challenging Tenney this November for New York's 22nd congressional district seat.

Raychel Renna, Tenney's re-election campaign manager issued this statement on Wednesday:

"Anthony Brindisi wants to talk about every donor of Claudia Tenney’s, but now that the tables have turned, he doesn’t want to talk about his father—a man who has given him $5,400, a man who Brindisi is business partners with, and a man who Brindisi has called his 'mentor'.  Brindisi’s father’s behavior is a matter of public record. As an Italian American, I find Brindisi’s attempts to drag the Italian community into this to distract from his family's well documented criminal past shameful. Given the family history, the corruption we’ve seen in New York, and Brindisi’s close ties to Silver and Cuomo, voters deserve answers from Anthony Brindisi.”