Josefa Velasquez is reporting at Politico New York in the lead up to trial, motions to dismiss or block charges filed in federal court against former Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver and former majority leader Dean Skelos were denied Tue., Oct. 20. U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni denied Silver’s attempt to block prosecutors from using campaign contributions from real estate developer Glenwood Management as evidence in his trial. The case against Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, is set to begin Nov. 2. In a separate order, U.S. District Court Judge Kimba Wood denied four pretrial motions filed by Skelos and his son, Adam. Skelos, a Nassau County Republican, and his son filed a motion to dismiss two counts of the superseding indictment unveiled in June that dealt with extortion and solicitation and acceptance of bribes and gratuities. The court also denied their motion to “suppress evidence” that came from wiretaps of cell phones. The case against Dean and Adam Skelos is scheduled to begin Nov. 16. Read the full story at Politico New York.