Attorney General Indicts State Senator, Former State Senator for Election Law Violations

Earlier today, State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the indictment of State Senator Robert Ortt (R-Niagara County) and his predecessor, former State Senator George Maziarz (R-Niagara County), on charges of filing false campaign finance disclosure reports.

Ortt pleaded not guilty to charges that of using a no-show job to funnel money to his wife while he served as mayor of North Tonawanda.  Maziarz pleaded not guilty to charges that he used campaign money to secretly pay an ex-staffer accused of sexual harassment.

The indictments describe the use of “pass-through entities” to hide the payments.

Senator Ortt said that he plans to fight the charges, and does not plan to resign his seat:

“One thing is clear: the only reason I am included in this is to make their case politically appealing. As multiple news organizations have documented, Eric Schneiderman has been obsessed with using his political office to persecute his political enemies and protect his political allies. We look forward to telling voters the truth about Eric Schneiderman and exposing him for the power hungry, political opportunist he is and I will fight this ridiculous charge.”

Read more on this story at the Capitol Confidential blog; the State of Politics blog, the Buffalo News, the New York Times, and Politico NY.