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Convicted NY Lawmakers Tapped Campaign Funds for Lawyer Fees
Source: Associated Press
Convicted NY Lawmakers Tapped Campaign Funds for Lawyer Fees
By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALBANY, N.Y. — Jan 23, 2016, 3:57 PM ET
The two ex-leaders of New York's Legislature tapped their campaign funds for a combined $3.6 million last year in an unsuccessful attempt to beat federal corruption charges, a practice that some lawmakers are trying to ban.
"When you get campaign dollars, people expect you to use them in campaigns," said Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Westchester Democrat. "It's not expected to be used as get-out-of-jail-free funds."
That's not how it worked out for former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. Both were convicted in separate federal corruption trials despite Silver spending $2.9 million and Skelos spending $760,000 on defense attorneys last year, according to campaign finance reports.
Manhattan Democratic Sen. Brad Hoylman has introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of campaign funds to pay attorney's fees for defending against any civil or criminal lawsuit or federal or state criminal investigations. The sole exception would be for civil Election Law cases.
Hoylman's bill, introduced a year ago, has seven co-sponsors and support of most members of the minority Senate Democratic Caucus. Citizens Union, Common Cause New York and the New York Public Interest Research Group all say it's one of the reforms Albany needs.
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By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALBANY, N.Y. — Jan 23, 2016, 3:57 PM ET
The two ex-leaders of New York's Legislature tapped their campaign funds for a combined $3.6 million last year in an unsuccessful attempt to beat federal corruption charges, a practice that some lawmakers are trying to ban.
"When you get campaign dollars, people expect you to use them in campaigns," said Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Westchester Democrat. "It's not expected to be used as get-out-of-jail-free funds."
That's not how it worked out for former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. Both were convicted in separate federal corruption trials despite Silver spending $2.9 million and Skelos spending $760,000 on defense attorneys last year, according to campaign finance reports.
Manhattan Democratic Sen. Brad Hoylman has introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of campaign funds to pay attorney's fees for defending against any civil or criminal lawsuit or federal or state criminal investigations. The sole exception would be for civil Election Law cases.
Hoylman's bill, introduced a year ago, has seven co-sponsors and support of most members of the minority Senate Democratic Caucus. Citizens Union, Common Cause New York and the New York Public Interest Research Group all say it's one of the reforms Albany needs.
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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/convicted-ny-lawmakers-tapped-campaign-funds-lawyer-fees-36471327
