Ethics Panel Eyes Investigations
The sexual harassment scandal surrounding Assemblyman Vito Lopez continues to mushroom, as a special prosecutor and the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) have launched inquiries into the accusations against the Brooklyn lawmaker and the involvement of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver regarding a financial settlement of one of the claims.
Days after The New York Times reported that the JCOPE would investigate the accusations made by two female former staffers of Lopez but not the $103,000 settlement as authorized by the speaker, the JCOPE declared on Monday, Sept. 10 that it would launch its own investigation into the matter. However, the panel- described as “an independent commission” tasked with investigating corruption within the state legislature and executive offices-declined to provide specifics about the inquiry.
The New York Daily News cited “sources” in a report on Tuesday, Sept. 11 stating that the JCOPE would “conduct a ‘sweeping investigation that will go where it leads.'”
The initial New York Times report last Friday, Sept. 8, about JCOPE’s investigation sparked reaction from the governor’s office. Josh Vlasto, a spokesperson for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, stated that the governor would “appoint a Moreland Act Commission to conduct an investigation” of both Silver and Lopez if JCOPE decided on only a partial inquiry of the entire matter.
“Either way, the public will know the facts and answers to the questions that have been raised,” Vlasto added last Friday. Cuomo confirmed in a radio interview on Monday that he would launch his own probe if necessary.
Meanwhile, Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan-who was appointed by the state courts last week to serve as special prosecutor to investigate potential criminality in the Lopez scandal-has reportedly been ordered to expand his investigation to include the settlement approved by Silver.
Donovan was tapped as the special prosecutor in the case after Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes recused himself from the matter since he was previously supported in his re-election to the office by the Kings County Democratic Party, of which Lopez serves as chairperson.
Lopez, who announced that he would not seek re-election as chairperson of Brooklyn’s Democratic Party, has rebuffed calls from other elected officials statewide to step down from his Assembly seat, which covers areas of Bushwick, East Williamsburg and Williamsburg. He is running for his 15th term in the office in the November general election.
Silver reportedly contacted Lopez by phone earlier this month and urged him to step down, but the Brooklyn lawmaker refused. In an interview with the New York Daily News published on Monday, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman suggested that the Assembly had the legal authority to expel Lopez from his seat by a vote of its membership.
Schneiderman, as a state senator, was part of a committee which investigated and then recommended in February 2010 the expulsion of State Sen. Hiram Monserrate from office following his conviction on a misdemeanor assault charge. State law mandates that any legislator found guilty of a felony be removed from office immediately upon conviction.
Lopez was censured by Silver and stripped of his seniority and his chairmanship of the Assembly House Committee on Aug. 24 after the Assembly Committee on Ethics and Guidance found in an investigation that the 71-year-old lawmaker allegedly made “repeated comments” to two former female staff members “about their physical appearance, their bodies, their attire and their private relationships” between June and mid July of this year.
The report also claimed that Lopez made unwanted physical advances at one of the female aides, who claimed that the lawmaker put his hand on her leg and, after she removed it, placed his hand between her upper thighs “as far up between her legs as [he] could go.”
Lopez also reportedly required one of the female aides to take a trip with him to Atlantic City in July. While in Atlantic City, he reportedly “attempted to kiss” the woman, who struggled to avoid his advances. It is further alleged that he “again put [his] hands between her legs” on the way back to New York.
Both women were also allegedly required by the lawmaker to “write to [him] about how much they loved their jobs and cared” for him, and were admonished by Lopez when he felt the notes were “insufficiently effusive,” the allegations also noted.
In addition to losing his rank and status in the Assembly, Lopez was barred from serving as chairman of any other Assembly committee. His staff was also pared down to the level of a first-term Assembly member, with excessed aides reassigned to other Assembly offices. Lopez was also prohibited from employing any intern or worker under 21 years of age.
In multiple statements since the charges were first made public, Lopez denied the allegations, calling them “unfounded” and the punitive actions against him politically motivated.
The questions surrounding the JCOPE investigation have sparked new legislation by State Sen. Tony Avella to transform the body, which was formed last year by Governor Cuomo as part of a reform agenda. The 14-member commission is currently comprised of appointees of the governor and legislative leaders.
Avella, in his bill, wants the JCOPE panel reduced to just five members, with each appointed by the governor and confirmed by the legislature “without regard to political affiliation.” The state’s Legislative Ethics Commission would also be dissolved, and its powers to investigate wrongdoing, hold hearings and issue penalties would be transferred to the modified JCOPE.
“The culture of corruption in Albany will not and cannot change without a truly independent investigative ethics commission,” Avella stated. “While JCOPE was a good start, it is clear from recent events that it has neither the authority nor the backbone to go after the very people they are charged with investigating. That is simply unacceptable and the reason why my legislation is necessary.”
