Justin Brannan just proved he can't be trusted to serve as city comptroller

It really tells you all you need to know about City Councilman and comptroller-candidate Justin Brannan that a dozen or so clergy just called him out for falsely claiming their endorsements.
'I felt violated,' Bishop E.M. Davis told The Post.
'Let me make my own decision,' fumed Pastor Louis Bligen.
After multiple faith leaders stood up to complain, some saying they'd never even heard of him, Brannan's campaign deleted the social-media post.
It blamed an external vendor for the screwup — though getting bishops, pastors and so on to endorse you seems a truly bizarre thing to outsource.
That is: Even Brannan's excuse has to make you ask why he should be given huge power over city pension funds, among the other responsibilities of the comptroller's office.
As the chosen candidate of the far-left Working Families Party, Brannan can at least console himself with the backing of a slew of pro-Hamas Israel-haters, such as anti-cop Councilwoman Tiffany Caban (D-Queens) and the infamous Linda Sarsour.
Of course, Brannan has earned Caban's love on many fronts: He endorsed the council Progressive Caucus' 2020 plan to defund the NYPD by $5 billion over 10 years and was one of 11 members who pledged to vote no on a city budget that 'does not significantly #DefundNYPD.'
And when the City Council nonetheless passed a budget that didn't cut the NYPD deeply, he vowed that 'the work doesn't stop tonight.'
Not that he didn't try going after Mark Levine, his opponent in the primary, as a cop-defunder, until the debate moderator called out Brannan for throwing stones in a glass house: As the clergy fiasco shows, Justin isn't one to let facts get in his way.
The good news is, if Brannan can't con the voters into making him comptroller, term limits will soon force him off the council — and perhaps out of city politics entirely.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Boston Globe

25 minutes ago

• Boston Globe

Under attack from Israel, Iran's supreme leader faces a stark choice

In a video address Wednesday he sounded defiant, vowing 'the Iranian nation is not one to surrender' and warning that if the US steps in, it will bring 'irreparable damage to them.' Here's what to know about Khamenei: Advertisement He transformed the Islamic Republic When he rose to power in 1989, Khamenei had to overcome deep doubts about his authority as he succeeded the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. A low-level cleric at the time, Khamenei didn't have his predecessor's religious credentials. With his thick glasses and plodding style, he didn't have his fiery charisma either. But Khamenei has ruled three times longer than the late Khomeini and has shaped Iran's Islamic Republic perhaps even more dramatically. He entrenched the system of rule by the 'mullahs,' or Shiite Muslim clerics. That secured his place in the eyes of hard-liners as the unquestionable authority — below only that of God. At the same time, Khamenei built the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard into the dominant force in Iran's military and internal politics. Advertisement The Guard boasts Iran's most elite military and oversees its ballistic missile program. Its international arm, the Quds Force, pieced together the 'Axis of Resistance,' the collection of pro-Iranian proxies stretching from Yemen to Lebanon that for years gave Iran considerable power across the region. Khamenei also gave the Guard a free hand to build a network of businesses allowing it to dominate Iran's economy. In return, the Guard became his loyal shock force. He fended off domestic challenges The first major threat to Khamenei's grip was the reform movement that swept into a parliament majority and the presidency soon after he became supreme leader. The movement advocated for giving greater power to elected officials – something Khamenei's hard-line supporters feared would lead to dismantling the Islamic Republic system. Khamenei stymied the reformists by rallying the clerical establishment. Unelected bodies run by the mullahs succeeded in shutting down major reforms and barring reform candidates from running in elections. The Revolutionary Guard and Iran's other security agencies crushed waves of protests that followed the failure of the reform movement. Huge nationwide protests erupted in 2009 over allegations of vote-rigging. Under the weight of sanctions, economic protests broke out in 2017 and 2019. More nationwide protests broke out in 2022 over the death of Mahsa Amini after police detained her for not wearing her mandatory headscarf properly. Hundreds were killed in crackdowns on the protests, and hundreds more arrested amid reports of detainees tortured to death or raped in prison. Still, the successive protests showed the strains in Iran's theocratic system and lay bare widespread resentment of clerical rule, corruption and economic troubles. Trying to defuse anger, authorities often eased enforcement of some of the Islamic Republic's social restrictions. Advertisement He built Iran into a regional power When Khamenei took power, Iran was just emerging from its long war with Iraq that left the country battered and isolated. Over the next three decades, Khamenei turned Iran around into as assertive power wielding influence across the Middle East. One major boost was the U.S.'s 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein, which eventually brought Iranian-allied Shiite politicians and militias to power in Iraq. Iraq provided a linchpin in Iran's Axis of Resistance, grouping Bashar Assad's Syria, Lebanon's Hezbollah, the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. By 2015, the alliance was at its height, putting Iran on Israel's doorstep. The past two years brought a dramatic reversal Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel brought massive Israeli retaliation on the Gaza Strip. It also brought a turnaround in Israeli policy. After years of trying to fend off and tamp down Iran's allies, Israel made crushing them its goal. Hamas has been crippled, though not eliminated, even at the cost of the decimation of Gaza. Israel has similarly sidelined Hezbollah — at least for the moment — with weeks of bombardment in Lebanon last year, along with a dramatic attack with booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies that stunned the group. An even heavier blow to Hezbollah was the fall in December of Assad when Sunni rebels marched on the capital and removed him from power. Now, a government hostile to Iran and Hezbollah rules from Damascus. Iran's Axis of Resistance is at its lowest ebb ever.

UPI

an hour ago

• UPI

Pro-Palestinian group break into Britain's largest air force base

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, pictured outside No.10 Downing Street in London in 2024, called vandalism committed at Britain's RAF Brize Norton air force base "disgraceful." File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo June 20 (UPI) -- A pro-Palestinian group announced early Friday it managed to break into Britain's largest air force base and damage two planes in what it said was a protest against the country's support of Israel. Palestine Action posted video footage to its X account that allegedly shows members of its group, who they refer to as "actionists," on the grounds of RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where they sprayed red paint on two Airbus Voyager air-to-air refueling tankers before successfully making an escape. Additionally, although not shown in the video, the group also damaged the planes with crowbars and left a Palestinian flag behind. In the post, Palestine Action purports that Britain sends planes daily to a base in Cyprus, from where it can "collect intelligence, refuel fighter jets and transport weapons to commit genocide in Gaza." U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated Friday on social media that "The act of vandalism committed at RAF Brize Norton is disgraceful." "Our Armed Forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day," he continued, "It is our responsibility to support those who defend us." The act of vandalism committed at RAF Brize Norton is disgraceful. Our Armed Forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day. It is our responsibility to support those who defend us.— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) June 20, 2025 Palestine Action posted a photo later Friday morning of what it alleges to be an office that is used by the Allianz Group financial services providers company, located in the British city of Chelmsford. The image ostensibly shows a doorway and stairs spray painted red, with what appears to be a door or window broken and covered with a board. "By providing insurance to Elbit Systems, Allianz enables the production of Israeli weaponry on British soil," the group alleged, before threatening to continue with attacks "until Allianz ends all ties to Israel's biggest arms producer." Elbit Systems is an Israel-based military technology company and defense contractor.

2 hours ago

Pro-Palestinian activists say they damaged planes on a UK air force base

LONDON -- British police are searching for suspects after pro-Palestinian activists claimed to have broken into a Royal Air Force Base and damaged two planes with red paint, officials said Friday. The group Palestine Action said two members entered RAF Brize Norton on Wednesday and used electric scooters to approach the Voyager jets, which are used for air-to-air refueling. The duo sprayed red paint into the planes' turbine engines with repurposed fire extinguishers and caused further damage with crowbars, according to the group, which released video footage appearing to show an individual approach a jet and spray paint into the engine. The activists left the base without being detained, Palestine Action said. The group said in a statement that 'despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US/Israeli fighter jets.' It called the U.K. 'an active participant in the Gaza genocide and war crimes across the Middle East.' Britain's Ministry of Defense confirmed the incident, saying: 'We strongly condemn this vandalism of Royal Air Force assets.' Planes from Brize Norton, 70 miles (112 kilometers) northwest of London, regularly fly to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, Britain's main air base for operations in the Middle East. The U.K. has sent more Typhoon fighter jets and Voyager tankers to Cyprus since the Israel-Iran war started a week ago for what Prime Minister Keir Starmer called 'contingency support.' Iran has threatened to attack U.S., French and British bases in the region if those countries help Israel fend off Iranian strikes. Thames Valley Police said in a statement that it had 'received a report of people gaining access to RAF Brize Norton and causing criminal damage.' Officers were working with staff at the base and the Ministry of Defense Police to arrest the perpetrators, the department said.