Pols Charged With Plotting to Fix NYC Mayor Race

State senate leader, city councilman arrested
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 2, 2013 7:56 AM CDT
Pols Charged With Plotting to Fix NYC Mayor Race
City Councilman Daniel Halloran III.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

The president of New York's state senate and a New York City councilman, along with a handful of others, have been arrested amid reports of a plot to fix the city's mayoral race. Malcolm Smith, a Democrat who is the first black state senate president, was reportedly mulling a run for mayor as a Republican; he paid councilman Dan Halloran to get him face time with GOP leaders to help him get on the ballot, an insider tells the New York Times.

Federal prosecutors filed the criminal complaint, which is set to be unsealed at a hearing today; a press conference is also scheduled. Smith's lawyer says he "steadfastly denies these charges." As he was arrested this morning by the FBI, Halloran told the New York Post he had "no idea" what it was about. Also arrested were Bronx Republican Chairman Joseph Savino and top Queens Republican Vincent Tabone, who reportedly accepted bribes in the case, as well as the mayor and deputy mayor of Spring Valley village in Rockland County. (More New York state stories.)

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