Federal authorities are expected to arrest Sheldon Silver, the powerful speaker of the New York State Assembly, on corruption charges on Thursday, people with knowledge of the matter said. The case is likely to throw Albany into disarray at the beginning of a new session.The investigation that led to the expected charges against Mr. Silver, a Democrat from the Lower East Side of Manhattan who has served as speaker for more than two decades, began after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in March abruptly shut down an anticorruption commission he had created in 2013.Details of the specific charges to be brought against Mr. Silver were unclear on Wednesday night, but one of the people with knowledge of the matter said they stemmed from payments that Mr. Silver received from a small law firm that specializes in seeking reductions of New York City real estate taxes. The total amount of the payments was unclear, but another person has said they were substantial and were made over several years.Mr. Silver failed to list the payments from the firm, Goldberg & Iryami, on his annual financial disclosure filings with the state, as required.
There is some thought going around that it's not a mistake Silver is being arrested now, at the beginning of the session, when he was going to be a block against some of Cuomo's agenda.
Remember, Cuomo had access to and knowledge of the Moreland files that the US attorney was using to investigate Silver and other legislators.
At any rate, the game over, folks.
What Cuomo proposed yesterday for public schools and teachers?
That's now a done deal.
Yes, a done deal, aided by a complicit UFT misleadership.
ReplyDeleteOnly saving grace may be that Silver tells tales on Skelos and Cuomo to save himself. That's going to come too late to save public education and teachers, but at least might see one or both of them taken down too.
DeleteThat's assuming Bharara has any real intention of going after Cuomo. Thus far, his investigations seem to be about publicity-seeking and distracting, sideshows.
DeleteGiven the fact that the US Attorney's office under Bharara has distracted the public with high profile, but systemically meaningless, indictments of inside traders, rather than going after structural fraud at the big banks.
Until shown otherwise, I'm assuming Bharara is there to protect the Big Boys, Cuomo's real patrons, while entertaining the public with some empty legal spectacles.
The cynicism and corruption are so deeply entrenched that it's hard to see a way of fighting out of it. Still, unless we try, they'll pick us all off, via retirement (for the lucky ones), intimidation, discontinuances, denial of tenure (or what's left of it) and pseudo-scientific evaluations.
Hope or pray that parents and students wake up, since UFT/NYSUT is just hoping to keep the dues machine in place as long as possible.
I agree, Michael. I'm not optimstic that anything will happen to Cuomo. In fact, the timing of this helps Cuomo greatly. Assembly Dems in disarray just as he's pushing an aggressive agenda.
DeleteMatt Taibbi suggested exactly what you're saying about Bharara in "Why Isn't Wall Street In Jail" - he's there to protect the "big boys" (i.e., the banksters.)
Seriously, does he really have to resign? Can he just refuse to resign, legally?
ReplyDeleteI think Shelly knows where ALL the skeletons r buried.
ReplyDelete