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In the Web of a sex scandal
Assemblyman learns politics even messier when practiced online

By IRENE JAY LIU, Capitol bureau
First published: Friday, August 22, 2008

ALBANY -- The latest sex scandal to rock the Capitol has the usual elements -- salacious e-mails and marital infidelity -- but it is also a cautionary tale of take-no-prisoners political warfare, fought in the messy, even lawless, world of the blogosphere.
It began with a few e-mails posted on a western New York Web site, http://www.politicsny.net, that allegedly documented affairs between Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, and women who were described as Capitol interns. The initial blog post came with a threat -- "Everyday we will publish another e-mail if Hoyt has not resigned the race."

     
Hoyt admitted Tuesday to "breaking my marriage vows," according to The Buffalo News. But he insists that he has broken no laws or the Assembly's rules banning fraternization between lawmakers and interns. The revelation brought quick action from the Assembly Ethics Committee, which launched an investigation less than 24 hours after the story broke.

State records show that the women believed to have been involved were not interns during the alleged romances, according to the News.

At the center of this story is Joseph Illuzzi, the man who posted the e-mails that started the storm.

By his own estimate, Illuzzi has made over $800,000 since he started selling online advertisements and providing "political consulting services" to politicians. Only around $200,000 can be accounted for since 1999 through campaign finance records.

According to Illuzzi, his Buffalo-based operation is a news-gathering site that "breaks 99 percent of the breaking news in western New York."

To others, the site is a "pay to play" venture that makes money by mounting political attacks, or by holding off on them.

Glenn Gramigna, who worked with Illuzzi for over six years, said he "never heard any explicit use of extortion," but that the pay-to-play concept was "sometimes taken as an unspoken agreement, though it is not one that was always kept."

Hoyt paid Illuzzi $7,450 for online ads between 2002 and 2006, according to campaign finance records. But that came to an abrupt end in August 2007, when Hoyt canceled his ads on the site.

In a public letter to Illuzzi, Hoyt wrote that he "was deeply disturbed to read your recent spiteful and hate filled anti-gay views on your website. ... I will not tacitly support it by continuing my presence on your site."

The letter prompted an angry e-mail from Illuzzi, who said that Hoyt never officially canceled his advertisements (Hoyt paid in full through 200. But that's when the trouble started for the assemblyman.

Illuzzi claims he has known of Hoyt's affairs since 2004, but decided to release them now because of ideological differences.

"I'm opposed to gay marriage and abortion, and Sam is a proponent of gay marriage and abortion," Illuzzi said. "And he starting attacking me personally on these issues. So I used what I knew about the affairs against him."

Earlier this year, Illuzzi's site alleged that Hoyt had impregnated an intern and paid for her abortion, a charge Hoyt denied and which was never substantiated.

Illuzzi adamantly denies allegations that his business is pay-to-play, or that he can be bought to initiate smear campaigns.

"Absolutely, unequivocally not true. I've never taken a dime to attack anyone," he said.

But Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark is currently investigating allegations that Illuzzi took $12,000 to initiate a smear campaign against James Keane, who was running for Erie County executive. Illuzzi was accused by Michael Mullins, who was a volunteer for rival Paul Clark's campaign, which allegedly paid the money to Illuzzi.
Illuzzi said he received $20,000 for his services, but says his campaign against Keane has been going on since the late 1970s. Only $5,500 can be accounted for through campaign finance records.

Gramigna left www.politics ny.net in October 2007, partially because of "the type of things that are going on now." He now runs a site based on a similar business model, www.newwny politics.com.

Gramigna said that at the time, there wasn't any structure to the fees for the ads. "It was based on a lot of ad hoc deals," he said.

"For example, it was based on how much he thinks somebody had, and also whether there were special services involved -- the Paul Clark thing, for example."

The Hoyt affair comes at a particularly sensitive time for both Hoyt and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Both face primaries this September, and the scandal will play heavily in both races. Silver is facing a three-way primary against an opponent who made a point of bringing up the Assembly's lack of action in the face of sex scandals involving members or senior staff and young interns.

Irene Jay Liu can be reached at 454-5081 or by e-mail at iliu@timesunion.com.