Shelly Silver accuses the governor’s Moreland Commission of engaging in a “fishing expedition to intimidate legislators.” The Assembly speaker is probably right about that. Then again, even an angling novice wouldn’t have a hard time landing some big ones in the well-stocked corruption pond that is Albany.
Silver’s complaint follows the disclosure that he’s spending even more taxpayer dollars to hire well-connected law firms to fight the anti-corruption commission’s latest subpoenas. One such contract was quietly hiked from $55,000 to $355,000.
Meanwhile, other law firms are separately representing legislative Republicans and the Senate’s Independent Democratic Conference. Ironically, even as he writes out the checks — including to the firm that employs him — Silver complains about “the great deal of money” that’s being spent.
Silver’s initial pushback came last fall, when the Moreland people demanded that attorney-legislators such as him disclose a list of their clients to determine if any are doing business with the state (something this page called for three years ago). Until he was forced to do so by an ethics law passed in 2011, Silver wouldn’t even disclose how much he was being paid by his firm, the tort-law powerhouse Weitz & Luxenberg.
Now the commission reportedly has subpoenaed various lawmakers, their campaign committees and vendors who were paid by their campaign accounts.
Our position is simple: Common sense, not to mention the Legislature’s sorry record of indictments and convictions, cries out for complete transparency about the incomes of our pols. New York’s taxpayers have a right to know who’s really been paying our elected representatives by enhancing their salaries.
Speaker Silver maintains “the Assembly will do what is appropriate to root out corruption.” Nonsense: The corrupt Assembly he presides over is largely a creature of his making, his power —and his preference for covering up rather than coming clean.
The answer is more sunlight and full transparency. Something Shelly could easily deliver without a Moreland Commission. If he wanted to.