Republican Conference Continues to Support Skelos

Despite reports that federal prosecutors have presented evidence to a grand jury considering a corruption case against state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, Senate Republicans are standing behind the embattled official.

On Tuesday—the first day of session after a two-week break— Skelos met with members of the state Senate Republican conference behind closed doors. He managed to bypass the awaiting gaggle of reporters in the hallway, but a few Republican senators were firm about the conference’s continued support.

“There’s still a presumption of innocence,” state Sen. John DeFrancisco told reporters. “It seems to be the thing of the day—to be investigated. Being the thing of the day, what do you say? ‘I’m innocent and I’m going to continue doing my job,’ and that’s the proper response.”

The Times reported last week federal investigators are looking into Skelos and his son, Adam, regarding possible federal corruption statute violations or conflicts of interest related to Adam’s job as a consultant with an Arizona-based company, AbTech, which was awarded a stormwater treatment contract in Skelos’ district.

Both DeFrancisco and state Sen. Ken LaValle said recent reports of a federal investigation into Skelos and his son will not derail the remaining two months of session and the large legislative agenda remaining post-budget.

When asked if he believed Skelos was innocent, LaValle said “absolutely,” but would not say whether he had been subpoenaed by federal investigators, calling the question a “non-issue.”

The events surrounding Skelos seem like déjà vu for Albany observers after U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara arrested former Speaker Sheldon Silver on federal corruption charges in January. Assembly members originally backed Silver as speaker, but as details of the charges began to emerge, Silver was eventually asked to step down and Carl Heastie succeeded him as speaker.

In the words of Bharara, “stay tuned.”