NY assembly speaker arrested for corruption

Authorities arrested New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on federal corruption charges Thursday, the New York Times reported.

Silver, an Orthodox Jew, was arrested for not disclosing payments he received from a New York City law firm. The firm, Goldberg & Iryami, deals in real estate tax law, but it is unclear what Silver does exactly for them as he is not an expert in that field. When questioned last month by investigators on the subject, Silver declined to comment.

The office of the US attorney for the Southern District of New York also requested additional information on another salary Silver drew from a personal injury law firm, according to a source close to the investigation who could not be named as the charges have yet to be officially filed.

The arrest will dramatically affect the current legislative session, which only began last week.

Silver, 70, grew up in the Lower East Side of New York and earned his undergraduate degree from Yeshiva University. Silver has maintained a close relationship with Israel throughout his nearly forty years in office, including working on legislation that would prohibit academic institutions from funding organizations that seek to boycott the Jewish State.

Silver most recently visited Israel last month with fellow New York State Assembly Democrats and also joined Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other state politicians this summer in a trip to show solidarity with Israel during the operation in Gaza.

Silver has long been considered one of the most influential politicians in New York but has drawn extensive criticism throughout the years for his legal work outside of politics, which affords him an additional salary more than five times what he earns as speaker.

This criticism came to a head in 2013 when Silver was accused of having a conflict of interest in changing New York’s tort laws as he also works as a trial lawyer.

In addition to speculations on Silver’s impartiality on tort reform, critics have also accused Silver throughout the years of being indifferent towards addressing allegations of sexual harassment in the state legislature.

One of Silver’s top aides was accused of raping two women between 2001 and 2003, but when accusations came to light, Silver allegedly failed to thoroughly investigate the charge.

Despite these criticisms and news of the current investigation coming to light in December, Silver was again voted speaker of the state assembly earlier this month.

His lawyer, Joel Cohen, declined to comment.