In Sunday’s column, I mistakenly attributed to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman comments made by an outside lawyer in the sexual-harassment case rocking Albany. I regret the error.
However, I definitely do not regret suggesting that Schneiderman and other top Democrats conspired to keep secret a payoff to the two women who made the harassment charge against Assemblyman Vito Lopez. In fact, my biggest mistake was in giving the pols any benefit of the doubt.
It is clear now they deserve none. Schneiderman and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli dirtied their hands in helping Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver settle the case outside the formal complaint system. Silver wanted the payment of $103,000 in taxpayer money hidden from voters, and aides to Schneiderman and DiNapoli went along.
An e-mail in late May from Assembly lawyers to deputies of the AG and comptroller described the payoff as a “Confidential Settlement Document” and began with these words: “After several conversations with both of you and extensive mediation/negotiations, we appear to have successfully concluded our negotiations.” It listed the agreed-on payments, which included an additional $32,000 from Lopez.
The draft also included a sweeping paragraph on confidentiality that said neither side, absent a subpoena, could “discuss or make any statement of any sort . . . or any terms of this Agreement with any other person or entity.”
If the women did spill the beans, they would be subject to “damages” of $5,000 for each breach. That effectively turns the payment into hush money. Assembly lawyers flagged this provision for Schneiderman’s and DiNapoli’s aides.A second draft included similar language and sought changes. There is no record that either office objected then or later.
The e-mail and the draft agreement are only part of the evidence investigators will compile, but their clear content damns the defense that the top officials were unwitting or minor accessories to what Silver concedes was a mistaken effort to hide the payment.
The comptroller and AG are independently elected to provide checks and balances on the legislative and executive branches. They did more than fail. As one knowledgeable Albany insider put it, they “just went along” with the unholy deal.
“They were doing a favor for Lopez,” the insider told me. “Remember, both came from the Legislature and they were taking care of their buddy.”
Actually, make that plural — buddies. For in helping to conceal the payment, Schneiderman and DiNapoli were also protecting Silver, a powerful force in Democratic politics.
The speaker has now called on Lopez to resign. His timing is suspect.
The payoff, finalized in June, was the first of two complaints of sexual harassment involving four women who worked for Lopez. Only in August, after the second complaint was investigated, did Silver strip the Brooklyn pol of his committee chairmanship. And only now, when he finds himself in the spotlight, does Silver urge Lopez to resign.
In addition to a special prosecutor, the state ethics panel has taken the case. Both possess subpoena power and if they use it aggressively, we may get the full truth. Putting public officials under oath tends to improve their honesty.
Still, it is disappointing that any testimony would happen in private. The questions and answers should be public so New Yorkers can see an example of the sordid horse-trading and favor-banking that dominates Albany.
Because it involves so many important officials, this case is the perfect one to demonstrate the rot. The roll call of shame isn’t limited to the lawmakers and others, like former Comptroller Alan Hevesi, convicted of outright theft and fraud.
The enduring, systemic corruption is the kind that turns every piece of government business into a grubby transaction where lawmakers and others trade their votes and power. The merits are secondary while personal and political interests rule.
These transactions are the knot that must be severed if New York is ever to have a government that works for its citizens. It is up to Gov. Cuomo to lead the way by showing zero tolerance for anyone who betrays the public trust in this case or any other.
Bam’s capital offense
Eagle eyes in other places noticed the Democratic platform makes major changes in its language on Israel. In 2008, the party position was that “Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel.”
The 2012 version makes no mention of Jerusalem, The Weekly Standard and others report. It’s also worth noting that White House Press Secretary Jay Carney recently refused to identify the capital of Israel. It was a political quiz, and he flunked.
The 2008 Dem platform said the creation of a Palestinian state “should resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees by allowing them to settle there, rather than in Israel.” That language is also missing from the 2012 document.
Platforms are often honored in the breach, but this one fits a troubling pattern. Since he took office, President Obama has pressured Israel to make concessions without also recognizing the Palestinians’ refusal to renounce violence and accept Israel’s right to exist. In effect, he’s demanding that Israel negotiate not just over its borders, but also over its existence.
His failed policies on Iran paint an even darker picture. Obama’s chairman of the joint chiefs, Gen. Martin Dempsey, recently said America would not be “complicit” in any attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. It was a bad choice of words, turning Israel’s right to defend itself into something like a crime.
Worse, Israeli media report that our diplomats told Iran that if Israel attacks, Iran should not target American bases because we disapprove of any Israeli action and have no role.
Yet again, with Obama in the Oval Office, it is dangerous to be an ally of America. And it’s especially dangerous for the Jewish state.
SEAL hunters in-action
The Pentagon says “No Easy Day,” a new book by a former Navy SEAL, contains “sensitive and classified” information about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. That was quick.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has spent weeks looking for but can’t find who in the White House leaked a ton of classified information on several security issues, including the bin Laden raid. It’s not as if Justice doesn’t have any clues. The New York Times and other news organizations admit their sources are on the president’s staff. Surely, the gumshoes will get cracking with the same vigor they’re using to pursue the ex-SEAL, right?
If only.
Poll faulting
A new poll says 40 percent of voters believe Obama deserves a second term. At MSNBC, they believe the other 60 percent are racists.