Even as former State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver tries to avoid prison time, he has been playing a role behind the scenes in trying to choose his successor in Albany. State House Reporter Zack Fink has the story.
If anyone thought Sheldon Silver would quietly go away after being convicted of corruption last year, clearly they were wrong.
Thursday, Silver's attorneys argued to keep a court motion sealed because the evidence is potentially embarrassing to Silver.
While the details of that motion are not yet known, the judge plans to make most of it public in two weeks.
Meanwhile, Silver's inner circle is still very involved in local politics. This past Sunday, Silver's former Chief of Staff Judy Rapfogel helped pick the Democratic candidate to run for Silver's old Assembly seat in a special election.
The committee members, including Rapfogel, picked Alice Cancel, a Lower East Side district leader with ties to Silver.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie declined to criticize the choice.
"As a former County Chair, I recognize the process of the County Committee filling the vacancies," Heastie said. "I've really had no opinion of it, no involvement."
But critics say Silver and his allies should not be choosing who replaces him in the Assembly, especially given the fact that he is now facing prison time for abusing that same public office.
"I think the average person would say, 'Well, how is it that someone who has been convicted in a court of law be able, through surrogates, to have an influence who the candidate will be to replace them in Albany?'" State Assembly member Brian Kolb said. "Only in Albany do you hear that stuff."
Monday, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who successfully prosecuted Silver, visited Albany, but some lawmakers failed to recognize the symbolism.
The Assembly left the capitol Tuesday afternoon without passing any ethics reforms that polls show are overwhelmingly supported by the public.
Cancel, meantime, says she is independent of Silver.
"I am my own person and I have proven that in the district in the things that I have done," Cancel said.
Cancel will face a Republican opponent and a candidate from the Working Families Party in the April 19 special election.
There will also be a September primary, so she will not automatically get the seat if selected by the committee.
But insiders believe Silver will continue to advocate for Cancel in an outsized role as the process goes forward.