The star witness in the government’s case against Sheldon Silver said Wednesday the assemblyman asked him to keep their arrangement under wraps.
Columbia University oncologist Dr. Robert Taub said he was introduced to the former Assembly Speaker in the 1980s through a mutual friend, Daniel Chill.
In 2003 Taub, upon the suggestion of Chill, began directing patients suffering from mesothelioma to Silver, who then referred them to the powerhouse law firm in Weitz & Luxenberg.
“I hoped to develop a relationship with him that would help fund mesothelioma research and help my patients,” Taub, 79, said, sporting a colorful bowtie and testifying under a non-prosecution agreement with the feds.
“I think that he conveyed he was pleased with the referrals he was getting.”
But under cross-examination Taub — a premier doctor in his field seeking to “incentivize” Silver into funding research — said he thought the arrangement was in his patients’ best interests.
“You did not engage in a bribery scheme to exchange patients for grants, did you?” Silver attorney Steven Molo asked.
“I did not,” Taub replied.
In 2004 Chill — an attorney with ties to the State Assembly — asked his name not be included in a letter from Taub to Silver requesting state money for research, which Taub ultimately received.
In 2005, around the time of Silver’s inauguration, the pol told Taub to keep Chill in the dark about the deal, Taub said.
“(Silver) said I should not tell Mr. Chill about any further referrals,” Taub said. “I didn’t know how to take it,” he said, adding that he complied with the request.
Taub received two grants for $500,000 total from the state Department of Health in 2005 and 2006 — without having to answer any questions about his work, he said.
“There was a shocking lack of oversight of the grant money they gave (Taub),” Judge Valerie Caproni said during a debate over testimony when the jury left the courtroom.
In Oct. 2007 Silver came to Taub’s office and said he had to pull the plug on the state cash. That year the pool of taxpayer money Silver used for the grants was eliminated, according to papers.
“I can’t do this anymore,” Taub recalled Silver saying.
“I was disappointed,” said Taub, who nevertheless continued sending patients to Silver.
But around 2011, Taub began to send patients to the St. Louis-based Simmons Hanly Conroy law firm, which donated $3.1 million to his research. That prompted Silver, 71, to swing by Taub’s office, he testified.
“He said he’s not getting as many referrals as before,” Taub recalled.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Goldstein highlighted Silver’s efforts to keep Taub happy despite his inability to provide state funding for mesothelioma research.
Silver helped Taub’s daughter score an unpaid internship with a state judge and also helped Taub’s son get a job at a non-profit, he testified. Silver also attended mesothelioma events Taub helped coordinate and made an Assembly resolution in recognition of Taub’s work.
Emails introduced as evidence showed Taub thought of Silver as a savvy negotiator “good at getting people to owe him” — but also as a friend.
Their secret arrangement earned Silver $3 million in referral fees over the course of 10 years through at least two dozen patients, prosecutors say.
The alleged quid pro quo with Taub is one of two secret corruption schemes federal prosecutors say Silver, a Lower East Side Democrat, orchestrated.
