Ethics panel blasts officials' 'smear' tactics

A day after the Suffolk County Legislature granted subpoena power to a committee investigating the Suffolk Ethics Commission, the commission asserted that it would not turn over confidential information, unless authorized by law, and that its top officials had been "smeared by innuendo."

The commission's news release Wednesday was unusual because commission members have generally declined to comment, citing the confidentiality of their proceedings. The release said the commission felt compelled to speak out now because the integrity of commissioners and its executive director "has been questioned and smeared by innuendo in the name of 'government oversight.' " The release said unnamed elected officials "have used the commission as a political tool."

A call and e-mails to the commission for comment were not returned Wednesday.

Legislative Presiding Officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook), who formed the special investigative committee, said Wednesday, "I haven't accused anybody of anything. I just want to know what they're doing and how they're doing, which is the responsibility of the legislature as the oversight body."

By law, ethics opinions are confidential. Lindsay said the committee offered to accept redacted records, but the commission refused.

In the release, the commission harshly criticized Suffolk Comptroller Joseph Sawicki for questioning the bills of the commission's outside counsel, Steven Leventhal. It said Leventhal had already provided substantial documentation for his bills and that Sawicki was demanding information that was confidential by law.

Last week, Sawicki released an audit of Leventhal's bills, which noted that Leventhal corrected 50 percent of the invoices on one of his contracts after the audit began.

Sawicki and Leventhal could not be reached for comment Wednesday.