Several newsrooms on Tuesday forgot to note that former New York assemblyman Sheldon Silver, 72, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison on corruption charges, is a Democrat.
Silver, who has long been regarded as one of the most powerful and consequential politicians in the Empire State, was convicted on Nov. 30 of charges that included “honest services fraud, money laundering and extortion.”
He gave up his spot on the assembly as soon as he was convicted, ending his more than three decades of work in the government.
However, in reporting the story of Silver’s unprecedented downfall, several newsrooms decided it wasn’t worth mentioning that he is a member of the Democratic Party.
Politico omitted this detail in a report titled, “After saying he’s ‘truly sorry,’ Silver gets 12 year prison sentence.”
The New York Daily News meanwhile published a report, titled “Sheldon Silver sentenced to 12 years for corruption schemes that netted him $4 million,” that also excluded any mention of Silver’s party affiliation.
In a report titled “Sheldon Silver gets 12 years in prison for corruption,” the New York Post also excluded all mentions of the Democratic Party.
Even a few of the smaller blogs, including Gawker, left out mentions of the party that Silver has served for the past 40 years.
The New York Times, which reported on Silver’s political affiliations, noted Silver’s party as it described just how historical Tuesday’s ruling is for the people of New York.
“To date, however, Mr. Silver’s precipitous fall has no recent rival in the world of New York politics,” the Times reported. “Mr. Silver had served for more than two decades as the Assembly speaker, imposing his will on matters large and small; he had a reputation as a staunch defender of New York City, a shrewd negotiator at budget talks and, at times, a recalcitrant opponent of anything he disliked.”
“But at a five-week trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan last fall, a different side of Mr. Silver emerged,” they added.
Rather than being a man of the people, however, investigators found Silver enjoyed, “rampant kickbacks, bribes and influence-peddling.”
“The conviction of Mr. Silver, 72, served as a capstone to a campaign against public corruption by Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, which has led to more than a dozen state lawmakers’ being convicted or pleading guilty,” the Times reported.
“But none had the power, cachet or longevity that Mr. Silver, a Democrat, had enjoyed, and prosecutors sought to make an example of him,” they added.
