The “rotten apples” may not fall far from the tree after all.
Longtime New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, hit with several federal corruption charges Thursday morning, has a well-documented history of coming down hard on many of his colleagues who have been ousted from their offices on similarly unsavory charges.
Silver, who in a five-count criminal complaint is accused of accepting more than $4 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for his political influence, is facing growing calls to resign from members of both political parties.
But Silver, who has said he is “confident” that he’ll be “vindicated of these charges,” has, in the past, criticized – often harshly – his fellow lawmakers for their own purported wrongdoings.
Here are four of the more sensational recent examples of such pols behaving badly and Silver’s subsequent condemnations.
WHAT HAPPENED:
Former Democratic Bronx assemblyman Eric Stevenson was charged with bribery, fraud and extortion for taking $22,000 in bribes in exchange for helping four adult day-care center developers with their businesses. He vacated his Assembly seat in January 2014 after he was convicted on multiple counts of bribery and extortion and sentenced to three years in prison.
WHAT SILVER SAID:
“In any group, there are rotten apples,” Silver was quoted as saying in April 2013, after charges against Stevenson were first announced.
Silver also said that “anybody who uses their position in order to benefit themselves exclusively,” such as Stevenson, “should be punished to the fullest extent of the law and that’s what’s going to happen here.”
WHAT HAPPENED:
Former Democratic Brooklyn Assemblyman Clarence Norman was convicted on four felony charges after he accepted multiple illegal campaign contributions during his 2000 and 2002 re-election bids. He was sentenced to three to nine years in prison.
WHAT SILVER SAID:
“Wrongdoing or impropriety by any public official is deeply disturbing,” Silver said in September 2005 after Norman’s guilty verdict was handed down. “My thoughts and prayers are with Clarence Norman and his family at this very difficult time.”
WHAT HAPPENED:
William Rapfogel, the former head of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty and a longtime pal of Silver, was sentenced to 10 years in prison last year after pleaded guilty to ripping of his charity for $9 million. Rapfogel’s wife Judy was Silver’s chief of staff for 20 years.
WHAT SILVER SAID:
“I am deeply saddened by this entire episode,” Silver said in August 2013.
WHAT HAPPENED:
Former Democratic Bronx Assemblywoman Gloria Davis resigned from the chamber in 2003 after she was convicted of bribery. Davis, who pocketed thousands of dollars in bribes from a contractor to push a deal to renovate a rehab facility, was sentenced to 60 days behind bars.
WHAT SILVER SAID:
Silver, at the time the charges against Davis were announced, said: “If there is a matter to be resolved in the courts, that is something that shall be resolved in the courts.”
