Vito Lopez and his Hour-of-Power

Albany Times Union
Assembly speaker discusses $103,000 private settlement in Lopez sex misconduct case
by James M. Odato
Tuesday, August 28, 2012

ALBANY -- After several days of steadily increasing criticism, state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver admitted Tuesday that his decision to agree to a $103,000 confidential settlement with at least one woman who had brought allegations of sexual misconduct against Assemblyman Vito Lopez was a bad idea "from the perspective of transparency."

In a statement, Silver said that in future the Assembly should not agree to confidential settlements; should insist that the "basic factual allegations" of any complaint be referred to the Legislative Ethics Committee for investigation; and should "publicly announce the existence of any settlement, while protecting the identity of the victims."

Since the secret settlement was brought to light over the weekend, the allegations of misconduct against Lopez added to a record of similar cases Silver has handled privately during the past decade.

The Politicker
by Colin Campbell
August 28, 2012

Rumors are abuzz in Brooklyn Democratic circles about whether and when Assemblyman Vito Lopez will leave his chairmanship of the Kings County Democratic Party in light of Friday’s sexual harassment scandal.

And, Frank Seddio, a district leader, attorney and former assemblyman from southeastern Brooklyn, has been making calls seeking to shore up support in the likely event that Mr. Lopez steps down in the next day or so, according to sources familiar with the situation. Mr. Seddio, the head of the influential Thomas Jefferson Club, is one of the leading contenders to replace Mr. Lopez.

If true, this would confirm what other reporters have been hearing as well.

New York Daily News
by Celeste Katz
August 28, 2012

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics is about to get drawn into the controversy surrounding Assemblyman’s Vito Lopez’s alleged sexual harassment.

Our Glenn Blain reports:

Dick Dadey, executive director of the good government group, Citizens Union, told the Daily News this morning he is drafting a formal letter to JCOPE asking for a thorough investigation of the matter, especially revelations that the Assembly paid $103,080 to settle a complaint against the Brooklyn Democratic boss.

“It is a definite possibility this was hush money to have the matter go away,” Dadey said. “There needs to be a detailed investigation and a full accounting of what was spent and why.”

Receipt of a formal, sworn complaint from Citizens Union would force JCOPE take at least preliminary steps toward an investigation, including the sending of a letter to the Assembly notifying them of the complaint and asking for a response.

New York Times
by Michael M. Grynbaum
August 28, 2012

ALBANY -- Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez, one of the last political bosses in New York City, said on Tuesday that he would give up his powerful chairmanship of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, but the announcement did little to quell the controversy stemming from multiple sexual harassment claims that have been brought against him.

Mr. Lopez, 71, said he planned to keep his seat in the State Assembly, despite calls from many city and state officials for his resignation. And new questions have been raised about how the State Assembly handled the sexual harassment claims, including a secret payment of more than $100,000 to settle one case involving Mr. Lopez.

On Tuesday, Gloria Allred, the prominent Los Angeles lawyer, who represented at least one woman in a claim against Mr. Lopez this year, said her office would never have discouraged a formal investigation by the State Legislature. Her comment rebutted claims by the Assembly that it keeps such cases secret only if employees insist on preserving their privacy.

Crains Insider
August 28, 2012

"All bets are off." So said one Brooklyn Democrat of the vote next month to re-elect Assemblyman Vito Lopez as chairman of the Kings County Democratic Party in the wake of sexual harassment allegations against him.

Lopez has rebuffed calls to step down. Only the borough's 41 other Democratic district leaders and the two living former chairmen (Howard Golden and Clarence Norman) are eligible to replace Lopez as head of the Brooklyn party. The executive committee will vote soon after the Sept. 13 primary election, though party insiders expect to meet before the primary, too.

"This is a very narrow group of voters here," said one insider. "If a candidate has a core five or six people from different parts of the party, you send them all out to feel out other people in their faction: southern Brooklyn white guys, the brownstone folks, blacks, Latinos. If you got one person from each group, you're way ahead of the game."

A hushed up settlement with tax dollars is not in the public interest
New York Daily News
August 28, 2012

The Assembly, led by Speaker Sheldon Silver, is trying to slam shut the books on the sensational sexual harassment finding lodged against Assemblyman and Brooklyn Democratic boss Vito Lopez.

Not so fast.

Soon after Silver censured Lopez as a groper, word leaked that the Democratic-controlled Assembly had secretly settled with a woman whose high-profile lawyer, Gloria Allred, had previously reported inappropriate conduct by Lopez.

As far as the facts can be discerned, the deal hushed up a claim made against Lopez, a ranking Silver ally, with $103,080 in taxpayer funds. The paperwork, obtained by the Daily News under a Freedom of Information request, seems designed to obscure the nature of the transaction.

New York Post
by Erik Kriss
August 28, 2012

ALBANY -- Taxpayers forked over more than $100,000 for an apparent settlement of sexual-harassment charges against embattled Brooklyn Democratic leader and Assemblyman Vito Lopez.

Assembly officials yesterday released a copy of a pay voucher for $103,080 for a “legal services ­ settlement” issued on June 6 with the names of the payee covered over.

Michael Whyland, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), said he couldn’t confirm the payment was connected to allegations against Lopez, but it was the only such payment this year.

Silver last week stripped Lopez of most of his power following a finding in a separate case by the Assembly Ethics Committee that Lopez had groped and harassed other young female staffers.

New York Times
by Danny Hakim, Michael M. Grynbaum and William K. Rashbaum
August 28, 2012

ALBANY -- The latest scandal to hit the State Assembly has engulfed Speaker Sheldon Silver, the Legislature’s most powerful Democrat, as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and other elected officials on Tuesday called for an investigation into the Assembly’s handling of sexual harassment claims against a prominent assemblyman, including a secret settlement payment of more than $100,000.

Even as Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez, the man at the center of the scandal, agreed to give up his power base as chairman of the Democratic Party in Brooklyn, it was Mr. Silver’s decision to make the payment and keep the allegations against Mr. Lopez secret that drew the most outrage. Public advocacy and women’s groups, and even some Democratic lawmakers, expressed shock that the state would pay so much without public disclosure. Governor Cuomo ­ who had previously called for Mr. Lopez’s resignation over a separate set of allegations ­ became the most prominent voice calling for an ethics investigation as well.

The growing scandal led Mr. Silver to say that he had been wrong to approve the settlement. He said that he had previously endorsed the view of his counsel’s office that if an employee bringing a harassment claim requested confidential mediation, then the Assembly would accede to that request and not refer the claim to the Assembly’s bipartisan ethics committee.

Huffington Post
by Michele Somerville
August 28, 2012

I wasn't surprised to read this morning that the conduct of Democratic power broker Assemblyman Vito Lopez has finally landed him in hot water. I have been paying careful attention to Lopez, mostly in the context of his alliance with the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens. (I write opinion pieces about the Church and I worship in DiMarzio's diocese. See "Bishop DiMarzio May Not Want Your Lunch Money..." on Huffington Post. ) Nicholas DiMarzio and Vito Lopez have long been (to put it aptly) "thick as thieves." So tight are Lopez and DiMarzio that in 2009, the latter was willing to play fast and loose with the tax law that prohibits tax-exempt churches from electioneering. DiMarzio recorded endorsements of Lopez and these were transmitted throughout Lopez's election district as "robocalls" just before Election Day in November of 2009. (See "Heaven-Sent Robocalls..." in the November, 2009 NY Post.)

Vito Lopez has lobbied at DiMarzio's behest, to block the passing of A5488, Assemblywoman Marge Markey's Child Victims Act, which DiMarzio opposes on the grounds that it would bankrupt Roman Catholic dioceses. (The Child Victims Act will expand, slightly, the statute of limitations for reporting incidents of sexual assault perpetuated by adults against children.) Lopez et al have been successful in preventing the passage of A5488, and Bishop DiMarzio has expressed his appreciation by campaigning for Lopez's political protégés within his diocese.

The letter that led to Vito Lopez's (partial) resignation
Capital New York
by Azi Paybarah
August 28, 2012

Here's a copy of the August 24 letter sent to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver from the the Assembly's Committee on Ethics and Guidance describing their investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Assemblyman Vito Lopez, who has just announced that he's giving up his chairmanship of the Brooklyn Democratic organization.

The letter, signed by all eight committee members, says Lopez declined to testify under oath before the committee or provide a sworn statement. (His lawyer sent a letter denying the charges.)

The letter also says "The Complainants are young women in their twenties employed in the district office of Assemblymember Lopez. Both cooperated fully with the Committee's investigation."