Many made the donations due to fear of political reprisals, such as harsh tax audits or difficulties getting regulatory approvals for their businesses, Lee said.
Some of the reaction to the report on brokerage audits was harsh.
Mr. Armitage, who is associate director of the legal disciplinary board in Michigan, said New Jersey's reputation for stringent discipline comes from its random financial audits and harsh penalties.
After all, no audit committee wants to face harsh criticism from regulators if problems in accounting arise.
Mr. Malin's letter did not address the harsh criticism of the development corporation in the audit.
Cynthia Bianco, the interim superintendent, said the audit was helpful but used overly harsh language in presenting its findings.
A Harsh Assessment The city pension funds are periodically audited by the state, and in 2004, under Gov. George E. Pataki, a Republican, examiners from the State Insurance Department undertook routine reviews of the city funds covering 1999 to 2003.
As of late, I have seen several media reports inferring, or simply predicting, that the IRS is likely to do fewer tax return audits going forward, and even that the IRS will be less harsh on future audits as an indirect result of recent IRS controversy and negative publicity.
An audit report by India's comptroller and auditor-general was similarly harsh, finding that decisions were made so late that contracts had to be distributed in opaque ways.
In a speech last Wednesday, Arthur Levitt, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, threw a harsh spotlight on the often close relationships between accounting firms and the companies they audit.
