Opinion

Sex, lies and lobbyists

You can’t keep a bad man down. At least not in our state capital.

Not so very long ago, Michael Boxley was chief legal counsel to Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver. That life came to a crashing end after he was indicted for felony rape of a legislative staffer and ended up pleading guilty to a lesser charge of sexual misconduct. As for Silver, after listening to the accusation against his man, he issued a statement saying he was innocent.

That wasn’t the first time around for either Boxley or Silver. The charge Boxley pleaded to came on top of a rape accusation two years earlier by another legislative staffer. In that case, Boxley’s problem went away when Shelly arranged a $507,500 hush-money payment to the accuser.

In most normal cities, Michael Boxley would be reluctant to show his face. But this is Albany. So Boxley moved off the list of registered sex offenders and onto the list of registered state lobbyists.

That’s right. Boxley now has a new gig with Brown & Weinraub, the seventh-largest lobbying firm in the state. In defending the hire, a partner for the firm told The Post’s Carl Campanile, “I like to look at people’s totality of experience.” No doubt the firm is counting on that experience to help Boxley make his case as he lobbies his contacts in New York’s Assembly, Senate and governor’s office.

Whatever else this hire signifies, it sure points to some amazing timing. For Boxley’s star is rising at the same moment that Albany’s top ethics officials appear to be fleeing town.

Ellen Biben, executive director of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, announced earlier this month she’s resigning after barely a year atop the fledgling agency. Biben’s resignation came just a week after the commission’s chairwoman, Janet DiFiore, announced that she too was quitting.

The most important investigation these two women have been pursuing has to do with another sexual-abuse allegation covered up by Shelly Silver. This is the one against Assemblyman Vito Lopez, whom Shelly also protected secretly with $103,000 in hush money.

That tells you all you need to know about Albany. Two people who have been leading the investigation into sexual assault in the Capitol are out. While one of the most notorious offenders is back in.