The ongoing saga of Brooklyn Democratic Party powerbroker Frank Seddio and a lawsuit over $2 million missing dollars took a dramatic turn Tuesday, when a state supreme court judge, Francois Rivera—the fifth judge to sit on the case so far—issued an arrest warrant for the Brooklyn escrow lawyer who has for months steadfastly defied court orders directing him to prove that the missing money is still in the bank account where it is supposed to be, and disclosed that Seddio called the judge's private number shortly after the case was assigned to him last month.
In Tuesday's hearing, Judge Rivera was clearly aware of—and seemingly eager to distance himself from—the appearance of political influence created by the involvement of Seddio in the case, and indeed, Seddio's remarks to a New York Post reporter last month that he considers Rivera "one of the best judges on the bench."
"The first thing you need to know is this—I know Frank Seddio for a lot of reasons," Rivera told the courtroom Tuesday, ticking through them: Seddio is a former surrogate's court judge; he's the former head of the Brooklyn Democratic Party and is active in selecting judicial nominees; he's part of the Brooklyn Bar Association. Indeed, over the summer, Rivera said, he sat next to Seddio and his wife at a Brooklyn Bar Association dinner. At that dinner, Rivera said, Seddio mentioned that he was pleased with Judge Rivera's court attorney, and was thinking of taking steps to help elevate her to a higher position.