Assemblyman Vito Lopez to resign, may be expelled from legislature

Assemblyman Vito Lopez, speaking on a bill on the floor of the Assembly. Photo: New York Assembly

Big political news coming down the pike at the moment, as disgraced Assemblyman Vito Lopez is resigning (soon) and may well be expelled from the legislature. YNN’s Capital Tonight blog reports Lopez says he’ll resign in a month’s time, but Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says (as do several others) that that’s not enough, and that a resolution to expel him will move forward. Lopez is accused of sexually harassing four legislative aides — the details were made public earlier this week in a report from the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics.

Political cartoonist Marquil’s comment on the Lopez scandal. More of Marquil’s work

However, just FYI, Lopez hasn’t said he’s resigning because of the icky allegations against him, which have been called “alarming” but seemingly don’t rise to the level of criminal. Rather, it’s because, as he’s already said, he’s running for New York’s City Council, which requires him to resign from the state Assembly. This from the Albany Times-Union, quoting a statement Lopez released just before noon today:

Because the citizens of my district voted me back into office last November by an overwhelming majority, I feel obligated to serve out this session of the Assembly. I therefore announce that as of June 20, 2013, the last day of the session, I resign my position…I expect to run a vigorous campaign on the issues facing the citizens of my community and hope to continue to serve them as a member of the City Council. I believe that the voters of the community should decide who should represent them.

Gov. Cuomo said earlier this week that Lopez should either quit or be expelled, and said that the Assembly’s handling of the situation has been “poor…and terribl[e]” (Silver’s office struck a confidential settlement with two other alleged Lopez staffers for more than $100,000 in taxpayer funds, a deal that some say allowed Lopez to continue his abuse of others.)