BY SCOTT LEFFLER
scott.leffler@allwnynews.com


To hear Niagara County’s Democratic Party chairman tell it, today’s announcement that two high-profile members of the county’s Republican hierarchy were indicted and a third pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge was inevitable.

Nick Forster

“I think that for a lot of years, there’s been suspicion of illegal activity — especially on the republican side,” Nick Forster said tonight by phone. “The chatter has been very loud lately about (state) Sen. (George) Maziarz and (state) Sen. Rob Ortt.”

Add in the immunity given to former Niagara County GOP Chairman — and current Assemblyman — Mike Norris and it just made sense something big was in the pike, Forster explained. “He was given full immunity … I’m surmising the fact that the AG needed someone that was going to be fully cooperative.”

A sealed indictment was handed down today that reportedly charges Ortt with three felony counts of offering a false statement for filing and charged Maziarz with … something — also reportedly a felony — although it’s still unclear of what that is.

The indictments follow an investigation by the New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman into Ortt, Maziarz, and former Niagara County Republican Chairman Henry Wojtaszek. Wojtaszek pleaded guilty today to a misdemeanor election law violation relating to campaign filings that were made in 2012-13.

A handful of individuals tied to Maziarz had reportedly been subpoenaed to testify before the Grand Jury, including Wojtaszek, Norris, Ortt’s wife, Meghan; Former Niagara County Legislator Glenn Aronow; Timothy P. Synor; and Jack Cookfair.

Maziarz has so far been silent on the issue, but Ortt released a statement declaring his innocence and decrying Schneiderman for engaging in a political witch hunt. A call to Ortt’s office for comment has not yet been returned. 
Back to Forster, who says that today’s indictments — coupled with Wojtaszek’s guilty plea and Norris’ immunity on the issue “is a nuclear strike on the Republican leadership.” He says the GOP — who in 2012 had nearly $300,000 in their coffers compared to the Democrats’ $6,000 — won’t be able to raise money in the way they had, which will allow Democrats a more level playing field. “They’re going to have grave difficulties crawling out from this crater.”
Additionally, he surmised the GOP will have trust issues with local voters and their highest profile politician not dealing with charges — Norris — “is on an island. … (Maziarz, Norris and Wojtaszek) supported his candidacy and got him where he is today.” 
Forster said the local Democratic Party was already on an uptick thanks to Washington politics. “Our ability to increase candidates really increased right after Jan. 20. There’s a lot of folks who have been really upset with the national election.” 
But today’s legal announcements can only help matters for the Dems. “I think this just adds to the current atmosphere of current politics. … “This bombshell has a lot of people’s ears perked up and ready to take on a roll as a candidate.” 
And Forster is hopeful they’ll need one soon. While Ortt said he’s not stepping down, Forster suggests he do just that. “It’s in the best interest of his constituents that he resigns.” 


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