SEAN COFFEY FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL: “A LONG RECORD OF PUBLIC SERVICE BUT NOT A POLITICIAN…IT’S NOT ABOUT ME. IT’S ABOUT SERVING OUR NATION”
Son of Irish immigrants. Annapolis graduate. Navy Captain. Military Aide to a US Vice-President. Tracker of Soviet submarines. Wall Street prosecutor. Sucessful private attorney.
If you were looking for the ideal resume for the next Attorney General of the State of New York and found that of current AG candidate Sean Coffey, you’d probably assume your quest was over. As one of seven children of a native son of the Emerald Isle who worked in construction, Coffey learned the value of hard work and the vital necessity of strong family ties at a very young age. As a graduate of the US Naval Academy, he learned the importance of putting dedication to country above all else.
“If the people of WNY are looking for someone who has a long record of public service but who is not a politician as their next Attorney General, then I feel that I am their candidate,” Coffey told NewWNYPolitics, NiagaraFallsPolitics, and RochesterPolitics on Monday in an exclusive interview. “As a student at Annapolis, you learn the value of self sacrifice for the good of others above all else. You learn that it’s not about me, it’s about serving our nation. I believe that’s the kind of Attorney General New Yorkers want and need.”
Coffey’s priorities should he be elected AG next November, include chasing down corruption wherever he finds it and doing what he can to pave the way for job creation and economic development in the Empire State.
“In speaking with WNYers, and I’ve made three trips to the area so far, they tell me that taxes are too high and there is too much political corruption,” he notes. “They are concerned about corruption in Albany. I will use my powers as Attorney General to go after corruption in the political world and also on Wall Street. As a private attorney, I recovered billions of dollars for victims of corporate fraud. That’s why I was called ‘Wall Street’s New Nemesis’ by Bloomberg Markets Magazine.”
Raised mostly in the Bronx, Coffey went to kindergarten in Niagara Falls while his dad worked on the Niagara Power Project. Back home in the Big Apple, he watched as his parents stretched their nickles and dimes so they could send seven children to college. In Sean’s case, this immigrant pair couldn’t have been prouder when he graduated “with merit” from the Academy and then became an honors graduate from Flight School.”
Appointed an Asst. US Attorney in 1991, he prosecuted many a miscreant before eventually joining the litigation law firm of Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman where he helped recover some $6 billion for the NYS Common Retirement Fund.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is that during my legal career, I continued to serve as a Navy reservist for 18 years, including periods on active duty during which I led armed flights in support of the embargo of the former Yugoslavia and later worked directly for the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon,” he adds. “I retired from the Navy as a Captain after 30 years of service as a winner of the Joint Service Commendation Medal, among other honors.”
Having jumped into the race only a few months ago, he has already shown himself to be a highly competitive fundraiser while attracting the services of the highly prized “A Political” consulting firm, even before he raised a nickel.
“I am looking at the race for Attorney General as my next mission,” this 53 year old Naval veteran declares. “I’m running because I believe that New Yorkers deserve something better than what they are getting from Albany today and I want to play my part in giving them the kind of reform I know they need and want.”