Powerful New York GOP senator charged with lying to FBI about getting his son a lucrative job

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/01/powerful-new-york-gop-senator-charged-with-lying-to-fbi-about-getting-his-son-a-lucrative-job/



Powerful New York GOP senator charged with lying to FBI about getting his son a lucrative job
By Reuters
Tuesday, July 1, 2014 14:49 EDT
By Curtis Skinner

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A powerful Republican New York state senator has been indicted on a charge of lying to the FBI during an investigation into a business deal involving his son, according to court documents unsealed on Tuesday.

Thomas Libous, the deputy majority leader in the New York Senate, was under investigation for allegedly telling an unnamed law firm that it would have to “build a new wing” to handle all the extra business he would bring the firm in exchange for hiring his son Matthew Libous, said the indictment secured by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

Libous was indicted on a charge of giving a false statement to the FBI and his arraignment was set for later on Tuesday.

A separate indictment was unsealed for Matthew Libous, claiming he failed to report some $280,000 worth of income on his taxes between 2007 and 2011. He was arraigned Tuesday on a single count of obstructing the Internal Revenue Service and five counts of filing false tax returns, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

[Scuba]

1. 1 down, 50 million to go.

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. Best Bud of NY Depublican Gov. Andy Cuomo, too.

>>>The indictment of Senator Libous effectively could deprive the governor of his most powerful and sympathetic ally within the Senate Republican majority. But it comes just weeks after Mr. Cuomo made a break of his own, agreeing for the first time to help Democrats in an aggressive effort to capture control of the chamber.
...

The senator is one of Mr. Cuomo’s closest allies in the Legislature. The two men are so fond of each other that Mr. Cuomo attended Matthew Libous’s wedding reception last year.
In an appearance at Binghamton University last week, Mr. Cuomo praised Mr. Libous at length, complimenting “his leadership and his character.” The governor praised their ability to work together to produce results, even though they are from different political parties, as an example of “the difference between the old Albany and the new Albany.”
“He is one of the really special human beings in the New York State Legislature,” >>>



http://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/2014/07/why-did-ny-times-edit-andrew-cuomo.html


One-Party state here. ( The "MONEY Party", to borrow a Gore Vidal-ism.) Two right wings.

[unhappycamper]

3. 'Depublican'

Thanks for the term.

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. "Really special human beings" like this deserve their own category. n/t

[hrmjustin]

5. Bruno on Libous: ‘A lie is in the ears of the beholder’

Jimmy Vielkind

ALBANY—Joe Bruno, the former Republican majority leader of the State Senate, defended his former colleague Tom Libous as “honorable” and a “straightforward guy” whose indictment yesterday for lying to a federal agent is the product of politically motivated persecution.

“A lie is in the ears of the beholder,” Bruno, who was found not guilty of corruption charges in May, told New York Post columnist Fred Dicker during a radio interview. “Why didn't they charge him two years ago, or three years ago? … Why now in the middle of the political season?”

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/07/8548329/bruno-libous-lie-ears-beholder?top-featured-2