Assembly Ethics Committee Holds Surprise Meeting

ALBANY, N.Y. — The state Assembly ethics committee is meeting behind closed doors in an unannounced session involving a disciplinary case and members won't say whether it concerns a colleague now facing federal charges or another accused of an extramarital affair with an Assembly employee.

The Committee Chairman, William Magnarelli, says the panel will try to reach a consensus on how to handle the case, which would be forwarded to Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio, a Queens Democrat, was accused by federal authorities yesterday of taking more than $500,000 in illegal payments. In August, the committee was asked to investigate allegations Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, a Buffalo Democrat, exchanged sexually explicit e-mails with a legislative employee during an affair.