Sheldon Silver, Speaker of the New York Assembly was arrested yesterday on corruption charges. Silver, whose state salary is $120,000, has earned millions.
“For many years, New Yorkers have asked the question, ‘How could Speaker Silver, one of the most powerful men in New York, earn millions of dollars in outside income without deeply compromising his ability to honestly serve his constituents?’” said US Attorney Bharara. “Today we provide the answer: He didn’t.”
Silver collected more than $3.2 million in referral fees from the law firm after directing more than 100 clients to Weitz & Luxenberg for asbestos litigation, according to the complaint. But not a single one of the firm's clients ever contacted Silver or spoke with the politician about their cases, even as the law firm kept paying the fees. New York Daily News
NY Mayor De Blasio had this to say:
“Although the charges announced today certainly are very serious I want to note that I’ve always known Shelly Silver to be a man of integrity and he certainly has due process rights and I think it’s important that we let the judicial process play out,”
Due process rights he didn't extend to Michael Grimm (R-NY) who he immediately called upon to resign when charged.
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