From the Village Voice:Much to the dismay of the National Organization of Women, women's rights attorney Gloria Allred, Assembly candidate Frank Commisso Jr., and thousands of New Yorkers, we're sure, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is off the hook for his tax-payer funded coverup of allegations of sexual misconduct by his old pal/current disgraced Assemblyman Vito Lopez.
The Joint Commission on Public Ethics has decided to not investigate Silver's role in sweeping sexual harassment allegations made against Lopez under the rug by paying two of his accusers more than $103,000 in taxpayer money to essentially keep their mouths shut about Lopez.
From the Daily News:
Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan is doing what state ethics investigators won’t – investigate Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
Donovan was granted permission by a state judge Friday to “investigate allegations that funds, both public and private” were used by the Assembly leadership to settle two sexual harassment complaints against Lopez earlier this year.
Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Fern A. Fisher, in issuing the order, said the disbursement of funds represented possible violations of, among other things, the state penal law and public officers law.
Fisher’s order comes after it was reported that the Joint Commission on Public Ethics had decided to limit its probe on the matter to Lopez’s actions and not Silver’s decision to settle the earlier case before it was sent to an Assembly ethics committee.
Court spokesman David Bookstaver, a court spokesman, said Fisher issued the new order in order to give “more specificity” to the scope of Donovan’s investigations.
Donovan was named by Fisher to head up the Lopez investigation last week after Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes - citing his longstanding political ties to Lopez – asked that a special prosecutor be named for the case.
From the NY Post:
It sounds delusional, but besieged Assemblyman Vito Lopez has told some people he might run for the City Council next year.
“He was saying this right after he was charged with sex harassment,” said one stunned source.
Whether Lopez means it or not is impossible to tell.
Assuming he isn’t slapped with criminal charges — and that remains far from certain — there’s nothing that would stop him from becoming a council candidate in 2013.
Lopez has been obsessed for years with grabbing the Bushwick seat now held by Diana Reyna, a former aide he’s never forgiven for breaking with him, acting independently and refusing to toe his dictatorial line.
It's not just a "Bushwick seat." Part of Ridgewood is gerrymandered into council district 34.
4 comments:
the insane inmates are running the asylum....we want our TAX $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ RETURNED IMMEDIATELY.
Cha! Cha! Cha!
Or is it chocha...cha, cha, cha?
We need to bring back public executions.
Hang a few of these pols in the village square
and sell popcorn and beer at the events.
Raise some revenue for the good of the town!
Send him on his way.
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