GOP Accused of Taking Kickbacks as Senate Majority

The new State Senate's new Democratic majority is preparing to accuse their Republican predecessors of renting out almost $8 million in unneeded state office space from a major campaign contributor. Republicans expanded a space supposedly needed Senate's "research" staff, which has been linked to the GOP's political operations through a real estate company which had donated almost $250,000 to Republicans in the Senate over the last ten years. The accusations come from a memo by an aide to new Majority Leader Malcolm Smith which says, "(This leasing) appears to raise serious legal and ethical questions as to whether campaign contributions were explicitly made or solicited in exchange for the unnecessary expansion of lease space housing Senate employees." But a former GOP Senate secretary and close friend of Joe Bruno says, "(Expansion came when) we closed two other locations that we had...We consolidated those spaces over a period of five years, and saved the state money." But what about the Brunomobile?