Speaker Silver Starting to Feel The Heat
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver must be feeling the heat. According to the New York Sun, one of his political opponents is using rape charges against his former top aide against him in his primary campaign for the Democratic nomination for his Assembly seat.
The mailer was sent out yesterday to more than 35,000 residents in the Lower Manhattan district where Mr. Silver is facing a primary challenge from two political opponents. It includes a letter from Elizabeth Crothers, a former legislative aide who accused the speaker’s former chief counsel of raping her in 2001.
Ms. Crothers is supporting one of Mr. Silver’s opponents in the race, Paul Newell, and has taken an active role in the campaign by publicly criticizing Mr. Silver for his handling of the rape allegation — and accusing him of attempting to cover it up.
She writes in the mailer that when she went to the speaker for help after she was allegedly raped, he defended his former aide, Michael Boxley. Two years later, Mr. Boxley was indicted on charges that he raped a different legislative staffer, and he pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct.
“When I was powerless and alone, Sheldon Silver sat silent. His decision to protect a close political advisor had devastating consequences on more than one life. Like many politicians today who believe they are above the law, Sheldon Silver put his own political ambitions above justice. New York deserves better,” she wrote.
(snip)
Mr. Perrin said he has no ties to Mr. Silver or the candidates seeking to unseat him. He said he read about Ms. Crothers in the newspaper and decided to help her tell her story.
“I know it’s incredulous that people actually do something about something they read that bothers them, but we are those people,” he said. He said he wanted every elected official in New York to learn a lesson from Ms. Crothers.
“If a young woman on your staff says another staff member raped her, you don’t just hold a press conference and say, ‘I have complete faith in my staffer.’ That’s not what you do,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Silver, Sisa Moyo, has said that the speaker has acknowledged that he was wrong about Mr. Boxley and has felt anguish over what Ms. Crothers went through.
It will be interesting to see how this turns out.
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Sooooo… Democrat Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver supports rapists and will hire one to serve on his own staff?
Go Democrats!!!