Politicians use Paul Manafort indictment to pressure Airbnb

over 6 years in NY Daily

ALBANY — More than two dozen city and state lawmakers are using the recent indictment of President Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort to pressure Airbnb into scrubbing illegal listings from its site.

In a letter to Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, the group, which includes city Controller Scott Stringer, Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan) and state Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan), also called on the home-sharing company to share address data with New York regulators.

“Airbnb must no longer be permitted to shield illegal operators by claiming it is protecting the privacy of hosts when those hosts look like Paul Manafort and his Russian oligarch clients,” the letter says.

“At a time when we are learning that popular new media sites are being used to push agendas dangerous to our democracy, we must ask for more, not less information from technology giants like Airbnb.”

Manafort was charged Oct. 30 by special counsel Robert Mueller in a 12-count federal indictment that said he laundered tens of millions of dollars he made overseas.

Part of the indictment alleges that Manafort funneled $2.85 million from an offshore account in Cyprus through a limited liability company owned by his family to buy a Manhattan apartment that he said would be for personal use, but then rented out on Airbnb from January 2015 through 2016.

Designed to crack down on illegal hotels, current state law bars the rental of New York City apartments for less than 30 days unless the owner is present during that time.

“In light of this revelation, it is imperative that Airbnb stop protecting the identities of commercial operators like Paul Manafort and immediately release to law enforcement and regulators data about its hosts and listings in New York City,” the letter says.

“Airbnb claims that it polices its own website. But this notion stretches credulity given that Manafort’s money-laundering LLC was able to so easily slip through the cracks.”

The company has a responsibility to share with enforcement entities the data to ensure that every listing complies with laws “that protect affordable housing and public safety,” the letter said.

“If a commercial operator as sloppy as Manafort slipped through Airbnb’s so-called sophisticated filters, how many other illegal commercial operators slip through those same cracks every day?”

Airbnb says it has provided information to the public and offered to create special data sets for regulators. It releases monthly info updates in New York and removed more than 4,500 listings since late 2015 that violate a voluntary rule that hosts only have one listing on the site.

“Can you imagine if Airbnb asked legislatures to sign a letter slamming hotels because of one reckless guest? That would be deeply inappropriate, completely misleading, and not at all related to the actual issues at hand,” the company said.

With 27 elected leaders signing the anti-Airbnb letter, the company received support from Tech:NYC, which represents New York City technology companies, and the Rev. Kirsten John Foy, the National Action Network’s Northeast regional director.

Both blamed the hotel industry for drumming up Airbnb opposition.

“Hotel special interests are trying to capitalize on the misdeeds of one person and turn it into the criminalization of tens of thousands of New Yorkers who rely on home sharing to make a little extra money,” Foy said.

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