Under intense pressure to do so, a state ethics panel is looking into Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s decision to make payments with taxpayer money to two women who had accused powerful Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Vito Lopez of sexual harassment. Mr. Silver has said he regrets making the payments secretly and has noted that he consulted with other state officials before proceeding. Critics say that making clandestine payments to victims of a politically powerful, alleged sexual predator is not the sort of exemplary behavior expected of the Assembly’s leader, especially as it tries to clean up its own act.
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