Vito Lopez and his Hour-of-Power

Crains New York
by Chris Bragg
January 25, 2013

Assemblyman Vito Lopez's interest in running for the New York City Council appears to be renewed. On Friday afternoon, Mr. Lopez told The Insider that he would make a decision about a run in "two or three weeks." And after several weeks of trudging to Albany, Mr. Lopez, who said he skipped this week's legislative session to keep a series of doctors appointments in New York City, is strongly looking at a position closer to home.

"I will be evaluating whether I want to retire or whether I want to continue in politics and run for the City Council," Mr. Lopez said, adding that he did not enjoy the cold weather in Albany. Previously, Mr. Lopez has cited poor health as a reason he may not run for the council.

If he does run, Mr. Lopez said, he would have support, noting that "600" people showed up at his Christmas party this year. Mr. Lopez said a run would be for the seat currently held by Councilwoman Diana Reyna, which would require that he move into the district if he won.

New York Daily News
Lopez remains because the state Legislature is an immense incumbent-protection racket
October 29, 2012

As surely as the sun rises in the east, Vito Lopez has been boasting that he will cruise to a landslide reelection in November ­ despite being revealed as a serial perpetrator of sexual harassment.

And just as surely as the sun sets in the west, Lopez will be proven right as the residents of his Brooklyn state Assembly district cast ballots for him, as they have for decades.

Lopez is impervious to scandal, just the way former state Sen. Pedro Espada managed to keep his political career alive despite a litany of ethical breaches. Espada’s game ended when he was convicted of federal criminal charges. Nothing of that order has hit Lopez. In his case, the problem is not what is illegal but rather what is legal.

Like Espada, Lopez is a master at drawing on taxpayer money to bolster his political career, including being Democratic boss of Brooklyn before he quit last month. He remains the power behind the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, a social services colossus that provides publicly-funded assistance in many forms to Lopez’s constituents, elderly and otherwise.

Newsday
August 30, 2012
by the Associated Press

Albany -- Women staffers who accused New York Assemblyman Vito Lopez of sexual harassment had originally sought $1.2 million in damages from public money before Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver negotiated a $103,000 settlement, according to emails obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

The records also show that Silver, accused by some of a cover-up to protect Lopez, had extensive help from outside the chamber in crafting the legal settlement that had been cloaked in a confidentiality agreement until Thursday. The records show Silver's counsel worked through three drafts of the settlement with staff from the Attorney General's Office and state Comptroller's Office.

The documents appear to show a larger role in the Assembly sex harassment settlement by the Attorney General's and Comptroller's offices than those offices previously stated. Spokesmen for Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli have said lower-level workers had little say in the settlement and no power to question or stop it.

New York Post
by Sally Goldenberg, Rich Calder and Dan Mangan
August 31, 2012

Vito Lopez’s victims initially demanded $1.2 million from the Assembly to buy their silence ­ even though one of the two women was never groped or harassed by him, sources and documents say.

[Right] ACCUSER: Rita Pasarell, here at her home yesterday, appeared in a flier for a Vito Lopez foe after accepting payment from Lopez and the Assembly.

His ex-deputy chief-of-staff Rita Pasarell claimed only that she was working in a hostile environment, while co-plaintiff Leah Hebert said that, at most, he made inappropriate comments to her, a source said.

“Nothing was ever done to [Rita], nor did she ever claim that anything was ever done to her,” the source said.

But the Assembly got worried when celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred threatened to air all of Lopez’s dirty laundry to the media, the source said.

New York Times
by Danny Hakim
August 31, 2012

Albany -- The Staten Island district attorney, Daniel M. Donovan Jr., was named on Friday as a special prosecutor to investigate Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez of Brooklyn in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal.

The move came after the Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, requested a special prosecutor to investigate Mr. Lopez, the Brooklyn Democratic Party leader. Mr. Hynes recused himself after citing his own political ties to Mr. Lopez, who has supported his re-election campaigns.

The development deepened the legal troubles of Mr. Lopez and the State Assembly. The state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics has already begun its own preliminary review of the Assembly’s handling of sexual harassment claims made against Mr. Lopez and has scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday.

The investigation, Mr. Hynes said, was precipitated by the Assembly’s censure of Mr. Lopez, 71, on Aug. 24, after a bipartisan ethics committee found credible evidence that Mr. Lopez had groped, kissed and verbally harassed two female employees. It did not appear to be related to an earlier secret settlement of claims brought by two other women who had worked for Mr. Lopez.

Wall Street Journal
by Jacob Gershman and Andrew Strickler
August 30, 2012

Attorneys representing two women in a sexual-harassment dispute against Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez had initially demanded a settlement payment of $1.2 million before agreeing to a fraction of that amount, according to internal email correspondence made public Thursday by the state attorney general's office.

The emails also show that top legal advisers to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli had been briefed on the major terms of the final prelitigation settlement and didn't raise objections to the ultimate payment of more than $100,000 from state coffers.

In an email dated May 29, days before the agreement was inked, the Assembly majority counsel William Collins wrote to counsels for the attorney general and state comptroller offices to brief them on the talks and share with them a draft copy of the terms. "Note the complainants initially sought $1.2 million and reduced their settlement number only once (to $600,000) before we drew a hard-and-fast line," he said in the email.

The Politicker
by Colin Campbell
August 30, 2012

Kings County District Attorney Joe Hynes is increasing the pressure on Assemblyman Vito Lopez, the once-powerful outgoing chair of the borough’s Democratic Party, by applying for a special prosecutor to investigate sexual harassment reports against Mr. Lopez. Mr. Hynes said past support from the local Democratic organization “had the potential to create an appearance of impropriety,” and an independent district attorney could better carry out the investigation.

Mr. Hynes, once a close political ally of Mr. Lopez’s, released the following statement to explain the move:

(after the jump)

Albany Times Union
by James M. Odato
August 30, 2012

If Gloria Allred is going to get the last word on the deal that was struck among Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Assemblyman Vito Lopez and some women who claim Lopez sexually harassed them, then Silver is in trouble.

Her latest comments again refute the speaker’s point of view that he did not advance claims of harassment to an in-house ethics panel as part of the confidential settlement.

Here is the California lawyer’s statement: (after the jump)

Village Voice
by James King
August 30, 2012

Former female staffers of shamed Assemblyman Vito Lopez are coming out of the woodwork to give accounts of what it's like working for the now former chairman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party.

Here's the gist of their accounts: Lopez likes short skirts, "well endowed" women, and -- apparently channeling his inner-Ron Burgundy -- would prefer you not wear a bra when you come to work.

New York Daily News
Frank Seddio appears to have locked up votes for big Bklyn job
by Reuven Blau
August 30, 2012

The leading candidate to take over Vito Lopez's Brooklyn Democratic Party spot joined the growing refrain calling for the lawmaker to resign from his Assembly seat.

"The accusations by former staffers of Assemblyman Lopez in today's papers are appalling. If true, Vito has to resign from the Assembly,” said district leader Frank Seddio, referring to charges Lopez’ sexually harassed multiple female staffers.

“This is unspeakable, atrocious behavior,” said district leader Frank Seddio, referring to charges Lopez’ sexually harassed multiple female staffers. “It's a terrible and atrocious situation. A workplace is supposed to be a place of safety. It's sacrosanct,” the former judge added.

Seddio's condemnation comes as the longtime political operative looks to shed his reputation as a lackey of Lopez’ and disgraced state Sen. Carl Kruger, who pleaded guilty to bribery charges last year.