Albany, NY – Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is holding onto to his Assembly seat, despite the fact that he has no power, according to sources.
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The New York Post (http://bit.ly/16m0FDF) reports the Silver believes staying in the Assembly seat position will help him during his trial on corruption charges. A senior Assembly staff member said resigning from his position would imply wrongdoing on Sheldon’s part, a somewhat admission of guilt.
Other sources speculate that if he were not facing a trial, he would have left already. Silver says he wants to hold tight to his seat to continue to serve Lower East Side residents, but some say that “cover” is only to justify hanging onto state benefits before he goes to trial.
Silver is expected to be replaced as speaker on Tuesday by Bronx Assemblyman Carl Heastie.
Silver announced on Friday that he is leaving the speaker position Monday night. Many in the Assembly believed Silver would either resign after being acquitted at trial or be removed from the Assembly if convicted on any of his felony charges.
Information taken from The New York Post
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