Sheldon Silver a ‘grubber’ who played games with his money

The New York Post reports:

There’s a little known anecdote about Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver that reveals a lot about why the state’s second-most powerful Democrat is facing five federal corruption charges that could put him in prison for the rest of his life.

For the better part of a decade during the 2000s, Silver told an associate, he would routinely send a $100 check each year to the campaign committee of former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.

“I knew he didn’t need the money,’’ Silver told the associate with a nervous laugh.

“But I wanted to see if he would cash my check. If he did, then I knew I wasn’t in any trouble because if he was investigating me, he wouldn’t have taken the money.’’

Unfortunately for the 70-year-old Silver, Southern District US Attorney Preet Bharara, unlike Morgenthau, doesn’t have a campaign committee that can accept — or reject — a politician’s cash.

Politics attracts the worst element in society: no matter what mainstream political scientists tell you.