Bid to shut Skel & Shel loopholes
It may take an act of Congress to clean up Albany.
Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-LI) announced he was introducing legislation on Wednesday to close a loophole that allowed several corruption convictions against public officials to be overturned.
A Supreme Court ruling last year narrowed the definition of “official acts,” which limited the ability of prosecutors to convict politicians like former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
“The convictions being overturned is very frustrating to the public, and we don’t want to give elected officials the sense that they can do whatever they want and get away with it,” said Suozzi.
“So, it’s important that we take action.”
The Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that in order for an elected official to be convicted on charges of exchanging favors for official acts, the politician must vote on legislation, award a contract or pressure another party to award a contract.
That ruling allowed former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who was convicted of accepting more than $175,000 in gifts in exchange for promoting a dietary supplement, to walk free.
It also led to Tuesday’s appeals court decision tossing the guilty verdicts against Skelos and son Adam.
A jury in 2015 decided that the state senator pressured companies into paying his son for no-show and low-show jobs. Silver’s conviction for accepting more than $4 million in exchange for favors was overturned on the same grounds.
Good-government advocates have been demanding that the corruption laws be tightened ever since.
“Hard working New Yorkers are getting screwed, paying into a system so corrupt politicians can enjoy six-figure pensions and walk free,” said Brandon Muir, executive director of Reclaim New York, a watchdog group.
Suozzi’s legislation would close the loophole that let the pols skate — at least for now — by expanding the definition of “official act” under federal law.
The new definition includes any decision or action, including approval, disapproval, recommendation, rendering of advice or investigation of any matter that could come before any public official in the course of their job.
Prosecutors plan to retry both Skelos and Silver.