In the last year alone, Weinmann donated more than $14,000 – nearly one-third of which went to the governor who appointed him as a Court of Claims judge and a senator who voted to confirm him, records show.

Weinmann had given Gov. Kathy Hochul made a political contribution only once before, and that was in 2010 when she was Erie County clerk.

Weinmann, 62, the Buffalo-born son of parents and grandparents who escaped Nazi Germany, is a former Erie County narcotics prosecutor and longtime Buffalo tax attorney who has represented corporate, industrial and high-end residential taxpayers challenging their tax assessments since 2000.

His ascension to the Court of Claims came as Hochul declined to renominate Court of Claims Judge Mark Grisanti, whom the state Commission on Judicial Conduct censored after a viral video from 2020 showed a shirtless Grisanti shove a Buffalo police officer during an angry confrontation with neighbors and police.

In an effort to prevent conflicts, since 2011 the state court system has prohibited judges from hearing cases from attorneys or their firms if they have donated $2,500 to the judge’s campaigns over a “window period” that starts nine months before a primary or judicial nominating convention and ends six months after the election.

But nothing under the judicial rules or state law prevents attorneys from accepting judgeships from a governor to whom they donated money or from being confirmed by senators who they gave money. It raises an awkward dilemma for judges, who are asked to be above board, avoid partisan political activity and avoid even the appearance of a conflict.

“It is clear that the path to becoming a Court of Claims judge is to donate thousands of dollars to the right politicians,” said Paul Wolf, an Amherst attorney and open government advocate who often calls for government reform. “What we have is a pay-to-play system in Albany. If you want something, whether it’s legislation or a judgeship, you need to put money in the hands of politicians. This is not how government and public service should work.”

“There are many fine qualified attorneys who will never be considered because they have not paid off the right people. It is not only disgusting, it is corrupt,” he said.

In a phone interview Thursday, Weinmann said he rejected Wolf’s assessment. He said if any of the people whose campaigns he donated to were to appear before him, it could be a possible conflict. But Weinmann said he was “not at all” concerned about his political contributions giving the possible appearance of a conflict.

He said the judges and the judicial branch, like members of the executive and legislative branches of government, are all public officials in an inherently political system. He said there are laws and ethical rules in place for judges and litigants to remove any potential conflict.

“There’s only two ways to pick judges: Either appoint judges or elect judges. And both have positives and both have drawbacks,” Weinmann said. “There is no perfect system for picking a judge.”

A spokesman for Hochul defended Weinmann’s appointment.

“Gov. Hochul has elevated more than 70 highly qualified individuals to serve as members of the judiciary, including the first African American chief judge of the Court of Appeals, the first Native American to serve in the Appellate Division, the first Muslim judge to serve on the Court of Claims and America’s first-ever trans male judge,” said Matthew Janiszewski, the spokesman. “There are numerous checks and balances to ensure excellent candidates are appointed to the bench, and every single one of Gov. Hochul’s judicial appointments have been rated ‘highly qualified’ by a Judicial Screening Committee.”

On June 5, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Weinmann’s nomination during a hearing attended by Weinmann’s mother and sister.

Weinmann received an enthusiastic endorsement from State Sen. Sean Ryan, D-Buffalo, before the committee.

“I thank Gov. Hochul for nominating you to this position,” Ryan told the nominee. “I’ve known you throughout my legal career and I know you as somebody who is a very good lawyer who is integrity first, but also active through just so many various parts of the community.”

The full Senate confirmed Weinmann.

Less than a month before the nomination, Weinmann donated $3,000 to Ryan’s re-election campaign. Weinmann had never given Ryan a campaign donation before.

Weinmann also donated $500 to the Senate candidacy of Erie County Legislative Chair April Baskin, a Democrat.

Campaign filings show that dating to September 1999, Weinmann had regularly donated to political campaigns, making donations totaling $33,986. But since March 2021, the amount of money in his contributions has significantly increased.

Weinmann donated $12,000 to the Erie County Democratic Committee and its chair; $3,750 to Hochul; and $3,000 each to State Sen. Tim Kennedy, who is now in Congress, and Ryan.

Earlier this year, Weinmann told The Buffalo News that he applied two years ago to the Hochul administration for appointment as a judge after political leaders in Erie County encouraged him to do so. He said he was interviewed at the time by a screening committee representing Hochul.

Weinmann defended the increase in contributions since early 2021. He said he has had more success in his private practice in recent years than in his earlier days as an attorney. Asked about the $3,000 contribution to Ryan less than a month before the confirmation, Weinmann said that Ryan, one of two Western New York state senators on the judiciary committee, knew him and his accomplishments during his 37-year-old legal career and community work.

A spokesperson for Ryan said Weinmann gave Ryan the $3,000 donation at the senator’s annual spring fundraiser.

“In my previous life as an attorney, I got to know Peter very well,” Ryan said in a statement. “I have always appreciated his commitment to the legal community and volunteer efforts with the Buffalo Jewish Federation and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. His accomplished career made him well-qualified to be nominated by Gov. Hochul to serve as a Court of Claims judge, and I was honored to support his nomination.”

At the outset of the June 5 session, when the panel considered the appointment of 25 judicial nominations, including Weinmann, Sen. Brad Hoylman, D-Manhattan, who chairs the committee, questioned why the gubernatorial appointments to the bench could not be sent to the committee sooner.

“I think I speak on behalf of all of my colleagues that we wish we had these nominations sooner so that we could perform, undertake, pursue the necessary due diligence to review these candidates,” he said.

The Buffalo News examined other recent appointments to the Court of Claims, and found that while Weinmann was more generous, others also made campaign contributions.

For instance, in June 2023 Hochul appointed then-Erie County Attorney Michael Siragusa to the Court of Claims. Campaign filings show that since February 2006, Siragusa has donated $57,737 to political causes, the vast majority of which ($27,814) went to the Erie County Democratic Committee or its chairman, Jeremy Zellner, and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz ($23,805).

Like Weinmann, there was a surge in Siragusa’s contributions: between February 2021 and April 2022, when his last contribution took place, Siragusa donated $13,373 to various political causes. They included $500 to Hochul in August 2021, six days before Hochul was sworn in to replace former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in a sexual harassment scandal. Siragusa donated another $1,000 to Hochul that December.

Siragusa declined to comment.

“Judge Siragusa has made it clear that he was not on the bench when these donations were made. In all it does, the Court upholds the highest standards of integrity in assigning cases and recusals, where appropriate, to avoid inherent conflicts and the appearance of impropriety,” said Al Baker, a spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration.

In a statement, Zellner said: “The current system relating to judicial appointments does not bar or in any way limit potential candidates from exercising their right to participate in the electoral process, nor do I believe that they should be barred from doing so. Assumptions and insinuations that this process is inherently corrupt are unwarranted and have the potential of undermining our judicial system.”

Two other Buffalo-area Court of Claims judges, Betty Calvo-Torres and Stephanie Saunders, who were nominated at the same time as Siragusa, have spent considerably less money on political donations. Calvo-Torres, the first Hispanic female judge in Buffalo’s history, has spent a total of $12,261 on the contributions since August 2002, none more recent than April 2018. Her contributions included $2,570 to Unity Coalition, $1,682 to the Erie County Democratic Committee, $1,200 to Mayor Byron Brown, $1,050 to the Buffalo Republican Committee, $539 to the Erie County Republican Committee, $99 to the Republican Lawyers Club and $295 to Real Conservatives.

Saunders has spent $1,059 since August 2016. Her highest donations were $250 contributions to Attorney General Letitia James and Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes in 2021. She donated $220 to the Erie County Republican Committee

Saunders and another Buffalo-based Court of Claims justice, Debra Givens, whom former Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed to the court in May 2021, appeared before the judiciary committee on the same day as Weinmann. Givens has donated $72,446 to political causes since July 2001, none more recently than February 2019.