Prosecutor visits NY city he called ‘cauldron of corruption’
A federal prosecutor behind the convictions of some of the state’s most powerful lawmakers on Monday took his anti-corruption fight to the heart of a state government he again criticized for a “rancid culture” of cronyism, venality and insider politics.
Speaking in Albany, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said corruption has degraded the state’s democracy. Bharara, who rocked Albany last year with successful prosecutions of Democratic former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Republican ex-Senate Leader Dean Skelos, laid some blame at the feet of otherwise innocent lawmakers who allowed that culture to fester.
“You think no one knew Sheldon Silver was corrupt before he was put in handcuffs? Not a chance,” he told an audience at an event sponsored by a local public radio station. “Good people knew, and yet they didn’t do anything.”