Mike Cole - Censure

Censure

In 2007, Cole was formally censured by New York State Assembly. He admitted to drinking excessively with a student intern and then spending the night in her apartment with her. These actions were direct violations of the Assembly policy against fraternization with student interns. The intern additionally lost her position. Additionally, Cole was removed as the ranking Republican on the Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Committee, was barred from the Assembly Intern Program and lost the rights and privileges otherwise due to him per his seniority.

This has been criticized by news sources, such as the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper New York Post, as a partisan move by Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver because Democratic Legislature members, such as Diane Gordon (who is under indictment for soliciting a $500,000 bribe), Brian McLaughlin (who is under indictment for racketeering, embezzlement and fraud), Clarence Norman Jr. (who was convicted in three separate trials on felony larceny and corruption charges; sentenced to two to six years in prison, pending an appeal), and Gloria Davis, (who pleaded guilty in 2003 to bribery and served two months on Rikers Island) are under investigation for (with the exception of Davis) felony criminal offenses, yet Speaker Silver chose to censure Cole, for an incident in which he broke no law.