NY State Senator, NYC Councilman Arrested for Bribery in City Mayoral Election

HT: CBS 6 Albany

New York State Senator Malcolm Smith, along with a New York City Councilman and two Borough level Republican officials, were all arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation this morning and charged with bribery for attempting to steal votes in the City's upcoming Mayoral election.

State Senator Malcolm Smith

The scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, essentially went down like this: Senator Smith, an Independent Democrat, wanted to gain the Republican Party's nomination in November's Mayoral election, so with help from NYC Councilman Dan Halloran, Smith sought out and bribed Republican officials to gain ballot access.

Apparently the State Senator was unable to gain access to the Republican Party's through normal political actions (such as seeking a wilson pakula, or switching his political allegiance), and decided his only option was to go through different channels.

Bribes ranged from $20,000 to $40,000, with both the Bronx County Republican Chairman and the Queen's  County Republican Vice-Chairman implicated in the plot.

I must say, very disappointing behavior from all sides involved. Senator Smith, obviously wanting to seek the Mayor's office, started off his campaign the worst possible way by reducing himself to fraud and bribery, and even worse, was successful in finding two high-ranking members of the Republican Party to accept his illegal and politically unholy offering.

And the likely result of all this? Smith is almost guaranteed to lose his position in the State Senate, all political hopes and dreams he ever had of seeking the Mayoralty and quite possibly, maybe even his freedom for a short period of time.

Got to love New York politics... What say you?