New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, one of the three most powerful men in state government, was taken into custody today on federal corruption charges, the New York Daily News reports. The New York Times reported the case is linked to payments the powerful Manhattan Democrat received from New York City law firm Goldberg & Iryami that he did not disclose publicly, as required by law.
Silver, 70, has repeatedly refused to discuss the probe. The arrest of Silver, who next year would become the longest-serving speaker in Assembly history, comes as U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has taken up the unfinished investigations of a state anti-corruption commission, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo created in 2013 but abruptly ended last year when the legislature agreed to ethics reforms. Silver, along with Cuomo and Senate Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos, are known as the “three men in the room” because they negotiate most everything that gets done in Albany.