In the wake of the recent federal corruption indictments of state Sens. John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) and Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) and Bronx Assemblyman Eric Stevenson, and the revelation that former state Assemblyman Nelson Castro (D-Bronx) and convicted former Sen. Shirley Huntley (D-Queens) secretly recorded conversations with several other legislators, some are raising questions about the race and ethnicity of those being investigated.
Most only whisper their questions, but Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. (D-Bronx) published his. In a recent newsletter, he complained that only black and Hispanic officials are being “wired and sent to root out corruption among Black and Hispanic officials.”
He added that he’d “hate to think that . . . Black and Hispanic leaders who are elected to represent our communities . . . would be targeted to weed out corruption only in our back yards, and that we would be held to a higher standard than non-Black and Hispanic leaders.”
Diaz finished with trite “concern” about whether an effort is under way to “disenfranchise New York’s Black and Hispanic voter.”
This complaint isn’t just poisonous, it’s utterly removed from reality.
For starters, here’s some white officials convicted in recent years on federal corruption charges: Former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi, former Assemblymen Brian McLaughlin (D- Queens) and Anthony Seminario (D-Queens), and former state Sens. Guy Velella (R-Bronx), Nicholas Spano (R-Westchester) and Vincent Liebell (R-Putnam).
Then there’s the three other politicians indicted in the Malcolm Smith scandal: City Councilman Dan Halloran and GOP leaders Joseph “Jay” Savino (Bronx) and Vincent Tabone (Queens). They’re all white, and all were recorded on wires.
Clearly, corruption is one area of New York government where diversity is alive and well.
Perhaps Diaz is upset by the fate of three former close associates: Sens. Pedro Espada, Jr. (D-Bronx), Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens) and Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn). Known as the “four amigos,” the quartet provided the balance of power in the state Senate from 2009-2010, alternately pledging their fidelity to both the Democratic and Republican caucuses. Eventually, the “amigos” sold out to the highest bidder, the Democrats, with Espada becoming senate majority leader.
Espada, Monserrate and Kruger all lost their seats amid various scandals, leaving Diaz as the sole “amigo” still in the Senate.
Oh, and all were subsequently indicted on federal corruption charges. And, in case it escaped Diaz’s attention, Kruger is white.
Now look at who’s behind the federal investigations: our two local US attorneys, Manhattan’s Preet Bharara and Brooklyn’s Loretta Lynch. Neither is white. Both work under the auspices of US Attorney General Eric Holder, who is . . . black. And Holder works for our first African-American president, Barack Obama.
The claim that Obama’s Justice Department may be out to disenfranchise New York’s black and Hispanic voters is laughable.
Bharara and Lynch are doing their jobs — perhaps too well for Diaz’s liking. Using clandestine recordings to collect evidence against corrupt officials is often necessary, and the FBI’s efforts should not be undermined by false and baseless allegations of racial bias.
Of course, the entire purpose of frivolous allegations of racism is to intimidate — here, presumably, to deter prosecutors from doing their job and ferreting out corruption, when our Legislature has proved yet again that it deserves its reputation as being perhaps the most corrupt in the country.
Given Diaz’s comments and the failure of the legislative leadership to take meaningful steps to combat and deter corruption, it is obvious that further federal efforts to clean up Albany are indispensable.
Of course ultimately the fault for New York’s pervasive corruption lies with a public that not only elects, and often re-elects, character-flawed politicians into office. In a representative democracy you get what you vote for; in New York’s case, we’re getting a nest of thieves and their enablers.
The public needs to wholeheartedly support Bharara’s and Lynch’s efforts to fumigate theLegislature. As for Diaz, if he’s feeling lonely he can always visit his former colleagues in federal prison.
Oh, by the way: How does Diaz know that white politicians aren’t wearing wires?
Michael E. Bongiorno was Rockland County DA from 1995 to 2007.