{"id":120775,"date":"2026-02-22T21:31:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T21:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/120775\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T21:31:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T21:31:45","slug":"jailed-whistleblowers-federal-filing-alleges-hochul-affair-erie-county-retaliation-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/120775\/","title":{"rendered":"Jailed Whistleblower’s Federal Filing Alleges Hochul Affair, Erie County Retaliation"},"content":{"rendered":"

ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. \u2014 A jailed Erie County man has filed papers in federal court alleging that Gov. Kathy Hochul had a sexual relationship with Tonawanda Democratic Chairman John Crangle when both worked in the Erie County Clerk\u2019s Office, and that local political figures later retaliated against him after he accused them of corruption.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Hochuls<\/p>\n

Hochul is married to former US Attorney for the Western District of NY, William Hochul.<\/p>\n

An extramarital affair is not a crime. But the allegation, if substantiated, would place Hochul\u2019s early political career inside the same Tonawanda patronage network that Flynn alleges has protected insiders and punished critics for years.<\/p>\n

\"\"John Crangle<\/p>\n

Flynn made these allegations in court pleadings that no judge has yet tested.<\/p>\n

Ryan Flynn, who is a cousin of former Erie County District Attorney John Flynn, filed the allegations in U.S. District Court. He has been held without bail for more than four months on charges that he violated an order of protection by posting what prosecutors describe as a threatening message on social media directed at the former district attorney\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n

According to court filings, the evidence supporting the charge consists of a screenshot of an anonymous social media post from an account not registered to Flynn. Prosecutors have not publicly presented IP address data, device records, or metadata linking the account to him.<\/p>\n

The case rests, for now, on a screenshot.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ryan Flynn
\n\"\"The alleged social media post. No evidence has been presented that shows this was posted by Ryan Flynn, yet it was enough to warrant his arrest and remand in custody.
\nThe Hochul Allegation<\/p>\n

Flynn\u2019s filing cites a recorded conversation with Dennis Crangle, brother of John Crangle, in which Dennis states that his brother and Hochul were intimate while both worked in the Erie County Clerk\u2019s Office. Hochul served as Erie County Clerk in the late 2000s. John Crangle was her deputy.<\/p>\n

The allegation now sits in a federal docket.<\/p>\n

The Governor\u2019s office did not respond to requests for comment before publication.<\/p>\n

The allegation, if true, would connect Hochul\u2019s political rise to the same Tonawanda Democratic network that Flynn alleges has been trading favors, controlling prosecutorial decisions, and retaliating against whistleblowers for years.<\/p>\n

Those claims have not been independently verified.<\/p>\n

How Flynn Ended Up in Jail<\/p>\n

In April 2025, Ryan Flynn filed a police report accusing his cousin, former DA John Flynn, of sexually molesting him when Ryan was ten years old and John Flynn was in his late twenties.<\/p>\n

Months later, Ryan Flynn was arrested and held without bail.<\/p>\n

He was charged with violating an order of protection through the anonymous social media post.<\/p>\n

Four court-appointed attorneys have cycled through his case. He remains untried.<\/p>\n

The DA\u2019s Record
\n\"\"John Flynn<\/p>\n

The filing also raises questions about what it characterizes as selective prosecution during former District Attorney John Flynn\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n

Flynn built his public profile on victim advocacy, declaring \u201cI stand with the child\u201d in a press conference charging political rival Steve Pigeon with sexual assault of a teenager and seeking life imprisonment. After this publication reported evidence that the accuser\u2019s account contained significant falsehoods, Flynn offered Pigeon a misdemeanor plea of eight months. Pigeon accepted.<\/p>\n

When more than 900 clergy abuse victims came forward in the Buffalo diocese scandal, Flynn did not prosecute a single priest.<\/p>\n

His uncle Ed Cosgrove was the attorney for the Diocese.<\/p>\n

When his own cousin accused him of childhood sexual abuse, the accuser was jailed on unrelated charges.<\/p>\n

Evidence Tampering Claims<\/p>\n

In court filings, Ryan Flynn alleges that police altered text messages submitted as evidence, adding language to make them appear more threatening.<\/p>\n

He further claims that a motion he filed challenging the evidence was destroyed by the court. Those allegations have not been independently verified.<\/p>\n

The Crangle Network<\/p>\n

Dennis Crangle\u2019s recorded statements describe his brother John as a kingmaker in Erie County Democratic politics. He says John Crangle was instrumental in securing the DA endorsement for John Flynn, and that the two \u201cexchanged political favors\u201d for years.<\/p>\n

Such claims remain allegations.<\/p>\n

Dennis Crangle described his brother and the former DA as so powerful that locals \u201cused to call them the Kennedys of Tonawanda.\u201d<\/p>\n

A local dynasty, at least in reputation.<\/p>\n

What Remains Unverified<\/p>\n

People who know Dennis Crangle have listened to the recording and state unequivocally that it is his voice. No forensic authentication has been conducted.<\/p>\n

The sexual abuse allegation against former DA John Flynn has not been investigated or adjudicated.<\/p>\n

No outside investigation \u2014 federal, state, or judicial \u2014 has been initiated.<\/p>\n

Ryan Flynn remains in jail.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. \u2014 A jailed Erie County man has filed papers in federal court alleging that Gov.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":{"0":"post-120775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-erie","8":"tag-erie","9":"tag-erie-headlines","10":"tag-erie-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}