New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is already in hot water for allegedly mishandling sexual harassment allegations against former Assemblyman Vito Lopez, who resigned last month, and now there’s a report that his office behavior was questionable as well. The Daily News has obtained an e-mail to Assembly lawyers from an attorney representing two Lopez staffers that suggests Silver had an inappropriate relationship with an aide. The e-mail, which was omitted from the state ethics committee’s final report for some reason, says Lopez “repeatedly” told one of the women “that he wanted their relationship to be the same as Mr. Silver’s to his Chief of Staff and was explicit in what that meant.” The e-mail doesn’t get more specific, and there’s good reason to take that with a grain of salt. As the Daily News notes, the claim was made by Lopez, “who was using it in an effort to seduce a staffer.”
