Vito Lopez and his Hour-of-Power

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.

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."

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."

New York Daily News
by Ken Lovett
August 27, 2012

For years, Assemblyman Vito Lopez was bulletproof despite a black cloud of corruption that hovered over him.

But in the end, the powerful Brooklyn Democrat wasn’t caught with his hands in the cookie jar ­ but on the thighs of his young staffers.

It’s somewhat ironic that Lopez, who is facing a cascade of calls to resign as both a legislator and Brooklyn Democratic Party boss, was possibly brought down not by law enforcement that has been investigating him but by a panel of his peers who for years catered to him ­ or cowered from him.

With all the sexual shenanigans he has seen from his colleagues since he took office in 1985, how could Lopez possibly have thought it was right to run his hands up his workers’ legs or try to kiss them or bring them to Atlantic City, as he is alleged to have done?

“People find sexual harassment of young staffers more offensive than not necessarily proved corruption,” said veteran Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf.

New York Times
by Danny Hakim
August 27, 2012

ALBANY -- Sheldon Silver, the New York State Assembly speaker, authorized a secret payment of $103,080 to settle sexual harassment claims against Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez this year, according to records released by the Assembly on Monday night.

Mr. Lopez, 71, was censured by the Assembly on Friday after an internal investigation substantiated sexual harassment allegations brought by two female employees in his office. But The New York Times reported over the weekend that a previous sexual harassment claim was quietly settled by the Assembly earlier this year, in an arrangement that included public money, a confidentiality agreement and mandatory attendance by Mr. Lopez at a sexual harassment workshop.

The revelation about the amount that the Assembly paid to quietly settle a harassment case is sure to further stoke debate about the handling of harassment cases by Mr. Silver, the Legislature’s most powerful Democrat for 15 years. Officials familiar with the Assembly said they knew of no precedent for such a secret payment, and government watchdog groups called for an investigation.

Capital New York
by Azi Paybarah
August 27, 2012

A former supporter of Assemblyman Vito Lopez said the embattled Brooklyn boss has no shot at keeping his chairmanship of the Brooklyn Democratic organization in a party election next month.

Democratic district leader Betty-Ann Canizio, who said she considered Lopez a friend and good leader, said today, "If he does not step down, and goes to the meeting, he won't get one vote." Also: "I can't condone a predator. As much as I like him, I can't."

Canizio, who works for a member of the Assembly, said other Lopez loyalists are abandoning him, and at least one rival will seek to replace him at the party's next meeting. Canizio declined to say who it was.

Two names floated by City and State were Assemblywoman Annette Robinson and district leader Jo Anne Simon.

The Politicker
by Colin Campbell
August 27, 2012

Last Friday, the New York State Assembly dropped a bombshell on the Brooklyn political world by announcing the conclusion of an investigation into Assemblyman Vito Lopez, who doubles as the chair of the Kings County Democratic Party.

By a unanimous vote, the investigation found Mr. Lopez had sexually harassed and groped at least two of his female staffers. While Mr. Lopez has vowed to remain in control, most Brooklyn politicos have at least privately scoffed at the idea. Regardless of Mr. Lopez’s situation, his brand is certainly damaged as the September 13th primary Election Day quickly approaches. And since there are a couple races that might be affected by that more than others, here’s a brief look at whose fortunes might be at stake:

District Leader Lincoln Restler‘s high-profile reelection campaign stands out as one of those with the most to gain. Mr. Restler’s political brand is very much tied with being a chief antagonist of Mr. Lopez, and his arguments about the problems within the county organization are sure to ring louder after Friday’s developments.

New York Daily News
by Celeste Katz
August 27, 2012

Grabby Assemblyman Vito Lopez’s alleged sexual harassment habit appears to have cost taxpayers at least $103,080.

Our Blain, Durkin and I report:

That was the amount paid by the Assembly for a legal settlement on June 11, according to a payment voucher released Tuesday (which appears below) by the Assembly that had the name of the recipient redacted.

Assembly spokesman Michael Whyland refused to comment on whether the payment was related to sexual harassment charges against Lopez but noted that the voucher was released in response to reporters’ inquiries about the Brooklyn assemblyman.

“The Assembly searched its records and this is the only document that refers to a payment of a settlement agreement,” Whyland said.

Release of the voucher came as critics slammed Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver over news that he used taxpayer dollars to quietly settle a sexual harassment claim against Lopez this year ­ even before the bombshell harassment allegations that prompted Silver to strip Lopez of his seniority and leadership posts last week.