Antigay NY Dem Cleared in Corruption Probe

A lawyer for New York state senator Carl Kruger, one of eight Democrats who voted against the marriage equality bill last year, says that federal prosecutors have cleared the Brooklyn lawmaker of influence-peddling allegations.

News of the allegations against Kruger surfaced last week with the arrest of Brooklyn attorney and supper club owner Michael Levitis, who was charged with lying to federal agents.

According to the Associated Press, "The complaint against Levitis contained transcripts of recorded conversations in which he told a businessman, secretly working with the FBI, that Kruger would try to help him with an upcoming government inspection of his business, but only if he agreed to hold a fundraiser for his campaign."

The complaint also alleges that Levitis extracted a $3,000 cash payment from the businessman in exchange for the senator's assistance.

But Kruger attorney Benjamin Brafman told the AP that the senator has been cleared of any wrongdoing and is no longer a target of the federal investigation.

"There was never any proof whatsoever that Kruger ever took anything from anybody to do anything," Brafman said, according to the AP. "I've been told by the U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of New York that he is not a target, and I do not expect him to face charges."