‘Bizarre’: Prosecution and Defense Deliver Closing Statements in Sheldon Silver Case

reprints


A bribe or a favor? Quid pro quo or goodwill?

A federal prosecutor and an attorney for former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver tangled over these questions and more today during closing arguments in a corruption case that has rocked Albany.

SEE ALSO: It’s Not Just AI — Space and Climate Are Driving California’s Office Market

As U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara looked on from the back of the Manhattan courtroom, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Goldstein portrayed Mr. Silver as a craven, cash-hungry pol who repeatedly deceived the public and even his friends. Everything Mr. Silver did in the two corruption schemes he is accused of undertaking was about the “money,” Mr. Goldstein said.

To continue reading this story on the Observer, click here.