In the past year alone, Weinmann donated more than $14,000 — nearly a third of which went to the governor who appointed him a court judge and a senator who voted to confirm him, records show.

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

Weinmann, 62, the Buffalo-born son of parents and grandparents who fled 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 when Hochul refused to renominate the court’s Judge Mark Grisanti, as the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct censored after a viral video from 2020 showed a shirtless Grisanti shoving a Buffalo police officer during an angry confrontation with neighbors and police.

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

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

“Obviously, the way to become a court 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 judge, you have to put money in the hands of the politicians. That’s not how government and public service should work .”

“There are a lot of well-qualified lawyers who will never be considered because they haven’t paid the right people. It’s not just disgusting, it’s corrupt,” he said.

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

He said the judges and the judicial branch, as well as members of the executive and legislative branches of government, are all public servants in a natural political system. He said there are laws and ethics rules for judges and litigants to remove potential conflicts.

“There are only two ways to elect judges: Either appoint judges or elect judges. And both have positive qualities and both have disadvantages,” Weinmann said. “There is no perfect system for electing a judge.”

A Hochul spokesman 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 Justice of the Court of Appeals, the first Native American to serve on the Appellate Division, the first Muslim judge to serve on the Court of Claims, and the first US trans male judge ever,” said Matthew Janiszewski, the spokesman. “There are many checks and balances to ensure that excellent candidates are appointed to the bench, and every single one of Governor Hochul’s judicial appointments has been deemed ‘highly qualified’ by a judicial review committee.”

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

Weinmann received enthusiastic applause from state Sen. Sean Ryan, D-Buffalo, before the committee.

“I thank Governor Hochul for nominating you to this position,” Ryan told the nominee. “I’ve known you throughout my legal career and I know you as someone who is a very good lawyer who is integrity first, but also active through so many different 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 Chairwoman April Baskin, a Democrat.

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

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

Earlier this year, Weinmann told The Buffalo News that two years ago he applied to the Hochul administration for a judicial appointment after Erie County political leaders 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 a lawyer. Asked about the $3,000 contribution to Ryan less than a month before his confirmation, Weinmann said Ryan, one of two western New York state senators on the Judiciary Committee, knew him and his accomplishments over his 37-year legal career and community. work.

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

“In my former life as a lawyer, I got to know Peter very well,” Ryan said in a statement. “I have always appreciated his dedication 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 Governor Hochul to serve as a circuit judge, and I was honored to support his nomination .”

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

“I think I speak for all my colleagues that we wish we had these nominations sooner so that we could perform, undertake, complete the necessary due diligence to vet these candidates,” he said.

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

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

Like Weinmann, there was an increase 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 amid 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, spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration.

In a statement, Zellner said: “The current system of judicial appointments does not prevent or in any way limit potential candidates from exercising their right to participate in the election process, nor do I believe they should be prevented from doing so. Assumptions and innuendo that this process is inherently corrupt is unwarranted and has the potential to undermine our justice system.”

Two other Buffalo-area circuit court judges, Betty Calvo-Torres and Stephanie Saunders, who were nominated at the same time as Siragusa, have spent significantly less money on political donations. Calvo-Torres, the first Hispanic female judge in Buffalo history, has spent a total of $12,261 on the grants since August 2002, none more recent than April 2018. Her contributions included $2,570 to the 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 tort judge, Debra Givens, who 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.