[ElkGroveDan]

So let me guess, he is a Whig? A Federalist? Golly what party did he represent. Apparently the AP doesn't know

[ErnBatavia]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Silver

[goldstategop]

He’s not a Democrat.

Just a former NY Assembly Speaker.

Thanks AP.

[PapaNew]

Ex-New York assembly speaker Silver Entire $4 trillion federal government indicted on corruption charges

Wow, who would file that incitement? Only a state with guts and glory.

[1Old Pro]

He was the most powerful, most influential DEMOCRAT in all of New York State - for the past 20 years.

[lowbridge]

I always wanted to see him lose an election, kicked out of office by the voters.

But this will do even nicer.

[1Old Pro]

story in local paper here: http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/229380/grand-jury-indicts-sheldon-silver/

[mikrofon]

High Ho’ Silver ... Away!

[Doc91678]

I’m sure that Cuomo has warned Silver to keep his mouth shut. Will Silver bring down Cuomo in the corruption of NY State Democratic Party politics? I surely hope so....

[SharpRightTurn]

O.K., who will Silver take down with him? Cuomo? de Commio? Shillary?

[Gritty]

HEADLINE: Ex-New York assembly speaker Silver (NKPA {No Known Party Affiliation} - NY) indicted on corruption charges

There. I fixed it.

[Gritty]

Silver is a dead man walking...

[Eleutheria5]

The party of Albany. Republicans get to attend meetings, provided they can beat the Dem machine and get elected.

[Revel]

Can anyone still wonder why Cuomo shut down the investigation. There is a lot more corruption to cover up too.

[Liz]

CRAIN'S: Silver arrest lengthens shadow over major nonprofit / By Theresa Agovino and Emily Laermer

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver pictured with former Met Council
CEO William Rapfogel (now jailed). / Photo by: Met Council

The criminal charges engulfing Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver are a blow to a tax-funded organization with which he had deep ties: the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. The Met Council has been struggling since its former CEO, William Rapfogel, was sentenced last year to up to 10 years in prison for embezzling $9 million from the group.

Mr. Silver was longtime friends with Mr. Rapfogel, who was employed there for 20 years---Rapfogel's wife, Judy, is Mr. Silver's chief of staff. Silver was responsible for getting the organization millions of dollars in state funding----Silver was a centerpiece at the Met Council's annual legislative breakfast, a must-attend event for the politically connected---looking for voting blocs.

====================================================

BACKSTORY The Met Board terminated Mr. Rapfogel immediately after his crimes were unveiled.

Rapfogel earned $400,000 in salary and benefits, according to the organization’s tax returns. The Met Council provides a host of services and is subsidized by taxpayers via govt funding.

Silver drove millions in state grants to the agency. Now, arranging govt funding for an agency run by your chief of staff’s husband would strike most people as a blatant conflict of interest. But not in Shelly Silver’s Albany---it’s just business as usual.

Rapfogel allegedly engaged in a money-laundering scam in which Met funds were used to buy insurance policies from Century Coverage insurance company at inflated prices. The allegation is that the excess amounts were either kicked back to Rapfogel or channeled by insurance officials into political contributions.

Thanks to Silver, Rapfogel was able to use his wife's political connections to build Met Council into a social-service empire. The council received $16.5 million in state funds and another $10 million from the NY City Council since 2009.

Mrs Rapfogel has never been charged---even though some say its odd she did not know where all the household money was coming from...including a $100,000 wedding gift to their son.

[Liz]

THE POLITICAL SHYSTERS PROFIT---TAXPAYERS PAY AND PAY---Here's how one aspect of the criminal combine operation.

Sheldon Silver spun the bombings of 9/11---and resultant lawsuits---into gold.

Ground Zero workers are on the hook to pay steep interest on money their lawyers borrowed from a group of investors that include Silver and his law partners, The NY Post reported.

Silver's law partners at the Weitz & Luxenberg law firm are top board members of a business that quietly loaned money at 18 percent a year to the law firm representing some 9,800 Ground Zero workers with toxic-illness suits against the city.

Silver personally invested an undisclosed sum -- said to be at least $50,000 -- in Counsel Financial Services, a Buffalo-based attorney-funding company that gives four-year loans and lines of credit up to $10 million to law firms with cases expected to hit the jackpot. (Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com