A reader emails in what appears to be some damning circumstantial connections between Tom Golisano, Steve Pigeon, Pedro Espada, Hiram Monserrate and his lawyer.  Its central feature is so absurdly obvious that I'm embarrassed I overlooked it for this long.

It all began in May- At the beginning of May, a small Queens neighborhood paper reported that Hiram Montserrate had just traded up on defense attorneys, going from a local storefront lawyer to a guy that represented Michael Jackson. His name is Joseph Tacopina, and he gets $750 per hour. We know that because it was printed in an Esquire Magazine piece on Tacopina. That's quite a lift on a state senator's salary. Tacopina spends a day in court, and it costs Hiram $6K. Moreover, the New York Times says: "Mr. Tacopina is to the defense bar what Donald Trump is to real estate."  We know that because Tacopina's web site brags about it.  That Tacopina is in fact representing Monserrate is re-verified by this Daily News piece. Keep in mind that Hiram was indicted about six weeks before this--and that on June 26th Hiram's got another court date. (I don't know if this is a trial date.) Also keep in mind that Malcolm Smith was heavily criticized when he sent his Senate counsel over to simply observe Monserrate's arrest and arrangement. Malcolm eventually pulls the lawyer out of the situation and leaves Monserrate to pay for his own counsel.

It all began in May (Pt. II)-  We know that also at the beginning of May, Tom Golisano, Steve Pigeon, Dean Skelos, Pedro Espada and Hiram Monserrate began discussions on how to overthrow Malcolm Smith's majority. We know this because that's what these individuals have voluntarily shot their mouths off about. Except for Monserrate.

This is what Golisano and Pigeon do-  The orchestrator of the coup and main man of Tom Golisano, Steve Pigeon, has spent a career doing nasty political things to people, cooking up dumbass schemes, losing elections--but most importantly, flouting campaign finance law on the behalf of rich patrons. For the past several years he's been throwing Golisano money around as to acquire power for he and Golisano. Pigeon did this because this is what he does. This is/was best encapsulated in last year's Buffalo-area races: Golisano and Pigeon, through Responsible New York, probably could not have violated more campaign finance law if they tried. And lost most of the races they got involved with. But it surprised no one in WNY that Pigeon (and Golisano) was making a play for Senate counsel, because Secretary of the Senate wasn't powerful enough, according to Pigeon.

Hiram Monserrate is a very desperate man-   Again, Hiram's back in court in a couple weeks to face maybe seven years of state time for slashing his girlfriend's face.  He's also an ex-cop. Ex-cops don't do well in 7-year state bids--especially for something like beating women in hallways and then cutting their faces. Hiram knows this, and has just one thing on his mind: How he's going to--very-literally--survive in a place like Elmira or Attica.  Doing anything to avoid or mitigate this cannot but control his entire thinking and decision making processes.

Pedro Espada is a very greedy man- Like Pigeon and Golisano, Espada is a ridiculously reckless and defiant campaign finance offender. This guy just doesn't care. He really believes he won't be caught or held accountable. In fact, he appears to find that prospect funny.  He's also under investigation for funneling state money into his Bronx health care business--when not shaking down Malcolm Smith for even more state money to funnel there. And also like Golisano and Pigeon--he has an apparently insatiable thirst of power and the trappings that accompany it--like living in one of the richest towns in the US on a state senator's salary. 

So the principal questions are these:

-Where's Monserrate getting the money to pay Tacopino $750 per hour, and what's its provenance?

-Was Monserrate promised help with this by Golisano, Pigeon, Espada, Skelos, Libous or any other individual?

-Why did Monserrate change lawyers mid-stream, going to one that charges him maybe seven times what the last one did? In the event that, say, Monserrate has a rich family, used his savings or decided to use campaign funds, why not hire Tacopina straight from the get-go? And if not, how much money did Monserrate come into this spring that would afford him Tacopina's services?  Or is Tacopina working for Monserrate on credit?

-Was any promise made to Tacopina on behalf of Monserrate, by a third-party such as Golisano or Pigeon or any other agent?

-Was Monserrate engaged in a quid-pro-quo relationship of any sort with Golisano, Pigeon, Skelos, Espada and Libous or others?

-Were Monserrate's legal problems raised during the planning or recruiting stages of the coup, and if so, in what context?

-Why was Monserrate, in particular, recruited by Espada for the coup, and no other Democrat?  Why not fellow Gang of Four mastermind Carl Kruger or Ruben Diaz--both of whom were entirely unaware of the operation? To leave out Kruger and go exclusively with a guy facing prison and a history of mental illness, just doesn't make sense. 

-Why is Monserrate still holding out in the face of unbearable public and political pressure to rejoin Smith's conference?  The man is clearly in conflict and appears--from what we hear--at the verge of emotional collapse. Who could blame him? That he's holding out and suffering these things for the sake of "reform" or Latinos or some policy principle is laughable. Monserrate is acting and negotiating like a cornered animal rather than some big-time coup player.  And at the end of the day, there is absolutely nothing Espada can ostensibly offer Monserrate for Problem No.1: Staying out of prison. The only thing Espada can really give Monserrate is access to Golisano and Pigeon.

-Is Golisano's and Pigeon's well-documented thirst for power, flagrant disregard for the law, history of political sabotage, penchant for showboating and controlling sense of revenge gotten such that it's become reflex? Given what they've done in western New York, offering legal help to Monserrate may be just business as usual for these guys--with both assuming that the garbage they kite in Buffalo will also fly in New York City?

I'm trying to find a perfectly honest and legitimate excuse/answer/rationale to any of these questions--like maybe Monserrate hit the lottery a few months ago and went out and spent it on a big-time lawyer--but other than something like this, I really can't come up with any.

If anyone can, by all means drop us an email.