Subpoenas in Vito Lopez probe answered

ALBANY -- Staffers from state offices began submitting documents Friday to respond to subpoenas in the scandal involving sexual harassment allegations against Assemb. Vito Lopez (D-Brooklyn).

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics is investigating not only the allegations against Lopez but also a $135,000 settlement approved by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan). Silver since has said he mishandled the matter by approving the settlement and not sending the case to the Assembly Ethics Committee.

The ethics commission sent out subpoenas earlier this week to the employees of the Assembly, state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli's office and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office; officials had previously said the subpoenas were "answerable" Friday. DiNapoli's office began submitting documents to the ethics panel Friday, a spokeswoman confirmed.

The attorney general's office, a Silver spokesman and a commission spokesman declined to comment.

Attorneys in the comptroller's and attorney general's offices consulted with the Assembly to draft portions of the settlement dealing with financial and legal issues, though they said they were not part of the negotiations. DiNapoli and Schneiderman have said the matter was handled by lower-level staff and that they weren't aware of the settlement, which included $103,000 in public funds, until it became public.

The ethics commission itself is in the spotlight, too. Several members complained publicly this week about what they called inaccurate press leaks about their votes behind closed doors. Releasing such confidential information constitutes a misdemeanor under the law that created the commission.

The statute says that "any breach of confidentiality shall be investigated by the inspector general."

One commissioner resigned in the wake of the leaks, questioning the panel's independence.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislators created the commission in 2011. Under the law, Cuomo appoints six board members, Republican legislators four and Democrats four. The agency staff is dominated by former Cuomo aides.