GOP claims NY Senate records doctored after coup

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Sen. Daniel Squadron, D-Manhattan, left, talks with Sen. Carl Kruger, D-Brooklyn, who is seated in the majority leader's chair in the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y., Wednesday, July 1, 2009. New York Senate Democrats are filling the leadership chairs on the Senate floor in shifts, in an attempt to preserve control of the much-disputed chamber. Mike Groll

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July 2, 2009

By MICHAEL VIRTANEN The Press Republican Thu Jul 02, 2009, 07:46 AM EDT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The Republican-dominated faction claiming control of the New York Senate says a Democrat-appointed legislative staffer doctored the original, official minutes of the session three weeks ago to delete the GOP-staged coup to seize the majority.

In court papers, the faction claims the change was criminal, making it appropriate for a judge to intervene in the three-week-old power struggle and order the record corrected. That would officially show dissident Democrat Pedro Espada of the Bronx as Senate president, put in charge by his Republican allies.

"There was a vote. The majority voted to elect Espada," said John Ciampoli, his lawyer. "There's an official record, and one of the issues really is if the record was illegally altered."

The Republicans accused Senate Secretary Angelo Aponte of having the final record changed, as well as shutting off lights and microphones, locking chamber doors and taking other steps to keep the mainly Republican group from taking over. Saying Aponte works for the Democrats, they asked the judge to make him stop obstructing them.

Democrats countered that the official journal is correct, that the vote for a new Senate president happened after the Senate adjourned June 8, and journal corrections are routine, in this case done without influence from Aponte, who was appointed by the Democrats in January.

Katherine Grainger, a lawyer for the Democrats, said they don't dispute that the stenographer's minutes showed the vote happened amid confusion and commotion on the Senate floor. The journal clerk, a 10-year-employee, reviewed those minutes, as well as a transcript from the video camera and other notes, and made corrections through several drafts, she said.

"The Senate journal — and they (Republicans) know this, they were in the majority for 40 years — is a living, breathing document that changes through the course of the week," Grainger said. "The resolution was passed once adjournment occurred. This is what was cleaned up in the final journal."

State Supreme Court Justice Thomas McNamara was reviewing the claims after additional briefs were filed Wednesday. He has previously declined to rule on whether the contested leadership vote was legal, saying the court shouldn't intrude on the Senate's inner workings, while urging senators to settle the dispute.

The factions, now divided 31-31, repeated Wednesday that their attempts to hammer out a power-sharing agreement aren't going anywhere. The coalition claimed 32 members for the vote three weeks ago, but dissident Democratic Sen. Hiram Monserrate of Queens later rejoined the Democratic faction.

The Democrats had a 32-30 majority most of this year and still control the chamber's operations. Their chosen secretary, Aponte, remains in office. They have proposed short-term power sharing to pass necessary financial bills. In a sudden move Tuesday, they claimed that Republican Sen. Frank Padavan walking through the chamber established a necessary quorum of 32, enabling them to pass dozens of bills.

The Republicans claim that session was illegal. Padavan, a Queens Republican who said he was only walking to the lounge for a beverage, called it "fraud."

Gov. David Paterson again called for a power-sharing agreement and said he'll keep senators in daily sessions through the July Fourth weekend, a rare working holiday for lawmakers who treasure their summer vacations and holidays.

He also said he won't sign the bills they passed, such as extending low-cost electricity to employers who create jobs, because they could be legally flawed. At an afternoon press conference, he said he would allow the bills to become law if the Republicans dropped any legal objections.

Senate Democratic counsel Shelley Mayer said neither the governor nor the Assembly has the right to determine what constitutes a Senate quorum, and they were in talks with Assembly counsel to get the bills accepted.

Espada said Wednesday that the safest route to resolve the gridlock is binding arbitration. He and the Republicans want power sharing until the next election 18 months from now. "These are uncharted waters and without good faith negotiations it can only get worse," he said.

On Wednesday afternoon, both factions went into a joint session called by Paterson and quickly adjourned.

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Associated Press writers Michael Gormley and Valerie Bauman contributed to this report.