Daniel Horwitz, a partner at the boutique law firm Lankler Carragher & Horwitz in Manhattan and one of Bernard Madoff’s defense lawyers, was appointed chairman of the state’s political ethics watchdog on Monday by Governor Andrew Cuomo. Horwitz will take over as chair of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics from Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, who stepped down in order to run for re-election this year. The commission, known as JCOPE, was created in 2011 as part of a sweeping ethics-reform package signed into law by Cuomo. It regulates government ethics and lobbying for state legislators, legislative and executive branch employees, and political candidates, as well as lobbyists and certain party officials. More on Reuters here.
