Not so fast, Shelly!
City Republican leaders are demanding that the feds investigate Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s handling of sexual-harassment allegations against fellow Assembly Democrat Vito Lopez.
“There are laws that must have been violated,” said Manhattan GOP head Daniel Isaacs. “No one can deny the need to take a hard look at Shelly Silver and his actions. He needs to be held accountable for what he’s done.”
Wave Chan, who’s running against Silver for his Lower East Side Assembly seat, plans to hand-deliver a formal request for a probe to the Southern District US Attorney’s Office tomorrow.
In a draft of his letter obtained by The Post, Chan points to Silver’s approval of a secret $103,080 settlement in June to two Lopez staffers who alleged they were sexually harassed.
The payments were revealed two weeks ago, days after two other women’s complaints of unwanted groping became public in a letter from Silver to Lopez. The speaker later said he was wrong for approving the settlement.
“I join my fellow citizens’ concern that Speaker Silver broke the law in covering up a criminal act by attempting to protect a member of the Assembly,” Chan wrote. “The alleged contract entered into between the state Assembly and the victims of sexual harassment merit your investigation for criminal acts and I ask that you do so as soon as possible.”
The state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics declined to launch an investigation into Silver last week. Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan, a Republican assigned to the case as special prosecutor, will look into both Lopez and Silver.
Craig Eaton, the leader of the Brooklyn GOP, also called for a probe into Silver.
“An investigation needs to be made into the actions of Shelly Silver in connection to the payment of two alleged victims in order to silence them,” Eaton said.
Isaacs said an inquiry could eventually extend to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli — both Democrats — who reviewed the taxpayer-funded settlement approved by Silver and kept it under wraps.
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