Federal Probe Into Senator Joseph L. Bruno's Business Dealings Broadens

What do federal investigators hope to find concerning Senator Joseph L. Bruno's business dealings with this company? This investigation has been going on for some time leaving some to speculate that the senator's business dealings are somewhat shady:

For more than a decade, Mr. Bruno earned a salary from Wright Investors' Service, based in Milford, Conn., in addition to his legislative pay of $121,000. His affiliation with the company began shortly before he became majority leader in 1995. Neither the amount of his salary nor the specifics of his job have been disclosed, and such disclosure is not required under state ethics laws.

A number of the pension funds’ trustees also have longstanding political ties to Mr. Bruno, who has been a close ally of labor unions in the Legislature. Some of the trustees even personally lobbied Mr. Bruno about legislative issues, state records and interviews with the officials revealed. Records also show that prominent locals in New York City invested at various times with Wright, including the New York City District Council of Carpenters and Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International union.

Whatever happened to transparency in government? If the feds do not find anything criminally wrong, it sure smells like there could be some type of ethics violation in the mix.