A government reform group is considering filing a complaint with a New York state ethics panel over a story in the New York Times that saysthe Assembly Speaker is under federal investigation for failing to disclose pay he received from a law firm.
Blair Horner, with the New York Public Interest Research Group, says he’d like to hear from Speaker Sheldon Silver about the details of the Speaker’s alleged payments from a law firm specializing in real estate taxes. According to the newspaper, the payments were not properly disclosed. Horner says if there is not a good explanation, NYPIRG is considering filing a complaint with the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics.
“It raises suspicions as to why you would not disclose that relationship,” Horner said. “It’s incumbent upon the speaker to say the story is wrong or to set the facts straight.”
A spokesman for Silver says the Speaker will not be commenting.