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Outspoken NY ethics board member quits

Story Created: Sep 7, 2012 at 9:55 PM EDT

Story Updated: Sep 7, 2012 at 9:55 PM EDT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The most independent member of New York's ethics board has quit after he called for a federal probe into what he calls corruption on the board.

Ravi Batra (RAH'-vee BAH'-truh) resigned Friday. He has been a critic of the secrecy and control of the potentially powerful Joint Commission on Public Ethics, which was created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

After Batra called for a federal probe of JCOPE, Cuomo criticized Batra and the lawmaker who appointed him, Senate Democratic leader John Sampson. Cuomo spoke in a radio interview.

Batra had said the secrecy the panel requires of commissioners may have become a cover for unspecified illegality. In a letter to reporters Friday, he criticized the commission for press leaks and said it's driven by politics.

The commission had no immediate comment

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