NEW YORK: Dem Assembly Speaker To Be Arrested On Corruption Charges

Federal authorities are expected to arrest Democratic New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today on charges of corruption.Via the New York Times:

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.

Several New York outlets have observed that the billionaire condo owners in One57, one of Manhattan's latest supertalls, will likely reap a large property tax break due to Silver's intervention. Last week the 90th floor penthouse of One57 sold for a record-setting $100M.

RELATED:  Multiple Democratic members of the New York legislature have been arrested and convicted on various charges in recent years. In 2013 former Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith was arrested by the FBI on charges that he tried to buy his way onto the New York City mayoral ballot. Also that year Sen. Pedro Espada was arrested on corruption charges that he blamed on having been molested by a man when he was a child. One month later Sen. John Sampson surrendered to the FBI on embezzlement charges. In 2012 Sen. Hiram Monserrate was convicted on campaign finance charges. Also that year Sen. Shirley Huntley was charged with funneling public money into a charity she operated. And in the case most-closely followed here on JMG, in 2011 closeted Sen. Carl Kruger pleaded guilty to charges that he and his gynecologist boyfriend had taken over $1M in bribes to fund fund an extravagant lifestyle which included a garish waterfront mansion, a luxury yacht, and a Bentley.