Here’s another reason for Bill de Blasio to be embarrassed.
The mayor’s former big-bucks campaign donor and self-described ”friend” Jona Rechnitz once dressed up in blackface, evidence of which could soon be presented at the bribery trial of former union head Norman Seabrook, sources tell The Post.
Seabrook’s lawyer, Paul Shechtman asked to introduce the picture to the Manhattan federal jury behind closed doors on Tuesday. Shechtman told the judge that the photo depicts the same crooked real-estate investor who donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to de Blasio’s interests in exchange for favors — and who is the key witness in Seabrook’s bribery trial.
The cringe-worthy photo, a copy of which was obtained by The Post, shows someone who looks like Rechnitz with black coloring all his face and neck, donning large golden sunglasses, a zebra-stripped hat and a purple jackets with zebra-striped trim.
The man in the picture is also wearing a large gold chain and what appear to be fake gold teeth.
It’s unclear when the picture was taken but sources said it was during a Purim holiday celebration Rechnitz attended with his brother.
Shechtman also wants to introduce evidence that Rechnitz once called President Barack Obama “schvartze,” which he described as the Yiddish version of the “N word,” according to a transcript of the closed-door discussion.
“My purpose in doing it is because I think this witness is biased against and holds African-Americans in low regard,” Shechtman told the judge.
The government objected, calling the picture and wiretaps of Rechnitz saying “schvartze” “prejudicial.”
The judge is expected to rule on the issue Wednesday.
Rechnitz’s lawyer Alan Levine, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Seabrook is on trial for allegedly accepting $60,000 in bribes from Rechnitz on behalf of hedge fund pal Murray Huberfeld. In exchange, Seabrook, as the head of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, directed $20 million in union money to Huberfeld’s troubled hedge fund, prosecutors charge.
Rechnitz has testified that he introduced Seabrook and Huberfeld, negotiated the bribe and then handed Seabrook the cash in a black Ferragamo bag.
Rechnitz, who is still on the witness stand, has also pled guilty to bribing NYPD and City Hall officials through donations Ross Offinger, a de Blasio campaign fundraiser — resulting in testimony that has sometimes overshadowed the allegations against Seabrook.
Since taking the stand Thursday, Rechnitz has revealed numerous favors he claims he received from the Mayor’s Office in exchange for his donations. He also testified to speaking with the mayor as often as once a week and being able to call on his to help his friends, including investor Andrew Penson.
He claimed he and the mayor were “friends” and that he was able to get himself and others nominated to various committees as a result of his donations.
Mayoral spokesman Eric Phillips has denied Rechnitz’s stunning accusations, calling him “a liar.” “If he says he had unfettered access, he is a liar, Phillips said last week. “The only thing Jona Rechnitz can say honestly is that he is a failed fixer of grand delusion just trying to save his own skin.”
On Sunday, de Blasio himself blew off the allegations, saying New Yorkers don’t care whether City Hall is corrupt.
“There are much more important issues than what these guys [reporters] are raising,” the mayor claimed.
But on the stand Tuesday, Rechnitz suggested he has more to say when it comes to the favors he received from City Hall. He made the statement after Huberfeld’s lawyer Henry Mazurek belittled some of the favors he received as nothing more than “any normal citizen would be able to accomplish.”
“I wouldn’t agree with that,” Rechnitz snipped. “There were many instances I wasn’t asked about.
“I had access. I had expedited access,” he said at another point.
Rechnitz proved to be a generous donor to de Blasio, shelling out $50,000 for the mayor’s now-shuttered non-profit Campaign for One New York, and giving another $9,900 to his 2013 mayoral campaign with his wife.
In 2014, he donated another $102,300 toward a failed effort led by de Blasio to help Democrats wrest control of the state Senate.
Rechnitz also said some of the dough was from straw donors, which would be illegal.