Post by Logan on May 7, 2016 8:05:35 GMT -6
A special grand jury will convene in Buffalo next week to weigh evidence gathered in an 18-month probe of political operative G. Steven Pigeon that now also involves a State Supreme Court justice.
A source close to the investigation said state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman will empanel a rare grand jury sought by his office. The source corroborates information from several others close to the situation indicating the special panel could begin its work as early as Monday.
Schneiderman's office, as it has throughout the investigation, declined comment on Friday.
The move sets the stage for the possible indictment of Pigeon, the former Erie County Democratic chairman whose campaign fundraising activities have spawned controversy for more than a decade. But now the scope of Schneiderman's investigation appears to have catapulted beyond election law violations to implicate Pigeon in possible bribery-related charges stemming from emails gleaned from computers seized during a raid at his waterfront home last year.
The probe now also may have ensnared State Supreme Court Justice John A. Michalek, a veteran jurist who was questioned last week by Schneiderman's investigators, the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the FBI over a case before him involving a Pigeon associate. The emails taken from Pigeon's confiscated computer, other sources close to the probe say, serve as the basis for quizzing Michalek.
Read more: www.buffalonews.com/city-region/police-courts/grand-jury-to-hear-evidence-in-pigeon-michalek-probe-20160507
A source close to the investigation said state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman will empanel a rare grand jury sought by his office. The source corroborates information from several others close to the situation indicating the special panel could begin its work as early as Monday.
Schneiderman's office, as it has throughout the investigation, declined comment on Friday.
The move sets the stage for the possible indictment of Pigeon, the former Erie County Democratic chairman whose campaign fundraising activities have spawned controversy for more than a decade. But now the scope of Schneiderman's investigation appears to have catapulted beyond election law violations to implicate Pigeon in possible bribery-related charges stemming from emails gleaned from computers seized during a raid at his waterfront home last year.
The probe now also may have ensnared State Supreme Court Justice John A. Michalek, a veteran jurist who was questioned last week by Schneiderman's investigators, the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the FBI over a case before him involving a Pigeon associate. The emails taken from Pigeon's confiscated computer, other sources close to the probe say, serve as the basis for quizzing Michalek.
Read more: www.buffalonews.com/city-region/police-courts/grand-jury-to-hear-evidence-in-pigeon-michalek-probe-20160507