A New York City councilman has been stripped of his power to direct money for his district and a state senator has been removed from his leadership role after their arrests in a federal corruption case.
City Councilman Dan Halloran was stripped of his committee assignments and money-allocating authority Tuesday evening.
Earlier Tuesday, state Sen. Malcolm Smith was removed from his committee assignments and leadership post in the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference. It forms a majority coalition with Senate Republicans.
Smith is accused of trying to bribe city Republican leaders to let him run for the party's mayoral nomination. Halloran is accused of lining up GOP chairmen to get the payoffs.
The politicians deny the charges.
Prosecutors say Halloran also took bribes to steer City Council money to a company.