Ethics panel: Lawmaker asked staffer for nude photos

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A New York state lawmaker has been sanctioned by a legislative ethics committee that concluded he asked a female legislative staffer for nude photos and leaked her name when she filed a harassment complaint.

The committee also determined that Republican Assemblyman Steven McLaughlin, of Rensselaer (rehn-suh-LEER’), lied to an investigator when he said he had no knowledge about the allegations, which were first reported last year.

Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie made the committee’s findings public and formally sanctioned McLaughlin on Wednesday.

McLaughlin denied the allegations and called the findings and resulting sanctions “a pathetic political hit job.” He said he has asked the local prosecutor to review the case to see if his rights were violated.

He was elected county executive earlier this month in Rensselaer County, across the Hudson River from Albany.