Tension continues between Spitzer and Bruno Updated: 1/17/2008 By: Web Staff
ALBANY, N.Y. --Is it going to be an early spring or a long winter in Albany? That's what people are asking in the state capital as governor Spitzer and State Senate Majority leader Joe Bruno emerge from a nasty few months to confront a challenging new budget.
"I just want to be nice, “said Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno. He was talking about someone usually bringing out far different emotions in the state's top Republican.
But 2008 is dawning with a hint of détente after the stormiest of sessions.
"Join me in good faith. I will meet you with an open hand, an open door, and an open mind,” said Governor Eliot Spitzer.
Bruno missed the beginning of the legislative session last week. His wife died.
Returning Thursday, the longtime leader says he's still wary of Spitzer reminding reporters of collapsed deals, bad blood, and ongoing investigations into the governor, but also of common interests, like a big deficit and help for upstate.
How would Bruno describe the level of faith in the governor?
"Well, you know it's difficult because talk with people in public office comes rather easily and so far all we've seen is talk, so I want to give the governor the benefit of the doubt,” Bruno said.
Spitzer went to Buffalo this week with proposals even Republicans are cheering as the plan risks receiving resentment in more prosperous downstate.
The governor and Bruno also want to insure more children. Spitzer's budget puts aside money for middle class families to get state health insurance. But no Republican lawmakers were at the announcement.
"We'll get back to you, I'm quite sure based upon conversations over the months past year that there is bipartisan support for this issue,” said Spitzer.
Partisanship is also emerging in the ongoing battle to control Bruno's State Senate. A Republican retired, giving Spitzer another crack at bridging a two-seat gap. Spitzer is keeping a low profile. But a close look shows he's still very much linked to making Democrat Darrel Aubertine the successor.
And while New York City and the Watertown district aren't close most contributions to Aubertine come from Spitzer's hometown, including his own benefactors.
"I think that his active involvement out in that special, that he's just really exacerbating a problem that he created last July. And I'm not sure that that helps him in getting results or in governing,” Bruno said.
Another chance for results, or not, starts Tuesday, when the governor presents his budget.
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Wednesday, January 16, 2008 Darrel awarded an ATTABOY by the Guv In today's State of Upstate Governor Spitzer singled out Darrel Aubertine for some praise. Here is the transcript: Last year—inspired in part by the strong voices for farmers in Albany, including the chairs of the Agriculture Committees, Assemblyman Bill Magee and Senator Catherine Young, as well as other strong advocates for our farmers, such as Senator David Valesky and Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine—we fundamentally changed the way New York approaches agricultural policy.
For years, agriculture was seen as a dying industry. That has changed. Today, agriculture not only matters to us—we are looking to it to become one of the main forces behind Upstate’s economic revitalization.
This year, our budget will infuse new capital into our agricultural sector with a $50 million Upstate Agribusiness Fund. Investments will support access to markets; new and expanded food processing centers; and development of alternative fuels like the innovative efforts at the Fulton ethanol plant.
To implement this new Agribusiness Fund, we will hire New York’s first Director of Agriculture Development. With these efforts, we believe the “Pride of New York” logo can become the most recognized symbol of food quality in the world.
And this is only the beginning.
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
The ‘other shoe’ falls on Spitzer: lying over Troopergate
As upsetting and intolerable as Eliot Spitzer’s patronage of highpriced prostitutes was for most New Yorkers, the notion that he may have lied about his involvement in the “Troopergate” scandal — raised by a New York Times story Monday — should be even more infuriating. And these wouldn’t be little “white” lies concerning minor details of the scandal, in which his aides planted an embarrassing story about Spitzer’s chief political adversary in the Times Union. They would be bald-faced whoppers concerning Spitzer’s fundamental role in the political dirty trick on Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno. When the story broke last July and it became apparent that Spitzer aides had set up a hatchet job on Bruno, Spitzer denied knowing about it or having anything to do with it. He maintained a moral high ground, expressing remorse for his aides’ behavior, suspending one and demoting another. But in recent testimony before Albany County District Attorney David Soares, one of those aides — who was subsequently granted immunity from prosecution and thus has no reason to lie — reportedly said that Spitzer was behind the whole operation; that the thengovernor insisted on leaking the damaging information when the aide expressed concern that doing so might start a political war. It did exactly that, and may have even led to the governor’s downfall: According to a different story in Monday’s Times, Roger Stone, the infamous Republican consultant/dirty trickster, may have been the person who instigated the FBI investigation into Spitzer’s use of high-priced prostitutes. (Stone himself became a casualty of the Spitzer-Bruno war, fired by Bruno last August for allegedly making a threatening phone call to Spitzer’s father.) Stone told the Times that he had his lawyers write the FBI last November, alerting the Bureau to Spitzer’s patronage of prostitutes on trips to Florida. However morally repugnant, hypocritical and illegal it may have been for Spitzer to do so, it was still a mostly personal matter that had nothing to do with his management of the state. Lying to the public about a very public matter — Troopergate, after all, distracted state government for months — is a different story, even if it turns out that none of the lying took place under oath. We’ll presumably find out from Soares when his investigation is complete in the next few days, but if it does turn out that Spitzer did lie under oath — Soares interviewed him about Troopergate at one point — he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, for perjury.
DA seeks to release scandal findings Soares needs Paterson to act to reveal travel data The Associated Press
Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares on Tuesday asked Gov. David Paterson to waive executive privilege for former Gov. Eliot Spitzer so Soares may release publicly all findings, testimony and records related to his probe of a travel scandal. Soares wants to release all material, including e-mails, involving Spitzer during the time two his top aides are accused of compiling records that would embarrass Senate Republican Leader Joseph Bruno. Soares made his request Monday to Paterson, who referred it to the attorney general on Tuesday. Spitzer said he had only cursory knowledge of the plot and blamed the aides. He granted only a limited waiver of privilege to deny Soares’ access to some records. Spitzer resigned March 12 amid a prostitution investigation. “The public has expressed great interest in this matter, and we believe the people of the state of New York and the county of Albany have a right to a full airing of the events surrounding this case,” said Soares, a Democrat. “We believe this is especially so because this matter involves the state’s highest office. “The people have put their trust in your office,” Soares wrote Paterson, “and transparency is the most honorable way of reciprocating that trust.” Paterson’s chief of staff, Charles J. O’Byrne, asked Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for a legal opinion on the request Tuesday. Soares’ letter to Paterson asked for a response by 5 p.m. Tuesday, but officials in the attorney general’s office were still talking with Soares and Paterson’s office after the 5 p.m. deadline. However, a senior member of Cuomo’s staff said because of the information Soares requested, the deadline won’t likely be met. “Given the complexities of the legal issue and the fact that … Soares has been in possession of the documents for months, we don’t understand the 24-hour deadline,” said the senior staffer on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case and interagency discussions. “It’s important that we understand the history of the assertion of these privileges and it’s also important that we understand whether or not the D.A. and the state Public Integrity Commission accepted the privileged assertions,” the senior staffer told The Associated Press. The state Public Integrity Commission that rules on the conduct of executive branch employees continues to investigate the case. Cuomo issued a report in July that found misconduct by the two aides in a plot to smear Bruno for his use of state aircraft on days he attended Republican fundraisers. Cuomo found no crimes were committed, but he didn’t compel testimony and the Spitzer administration wouldn’t allow the top aide in the scandal, communications director Darren Dopp, to testify. Soares’ investigation, released in a report in September, found no evidence of a plot and no misconduct by the aides, who had argued they were following directions, policy and the state Freedom of Information Law by compiling the travel records and providing them to a reporter who sought them. Soares recently returned to the case, however, and further questioned and investigated Dopp’s role. Soares’ final report is due this week. Dopp’s attorney, Michael Koenig of Albany, said Monday that Soares told him Dopp is cleared of any crime in the case. Soares’ spokeswoman wouldn’t comment on the investigation. Soares’ conclusions in the September report were based on the voluntary testimony and surrender of e-mails from Spitzer, Dopp, Secretary to the Governor Richard Baum, Spitzer press secretary Christine Anderson and William Howard, a former top public security aide in the governor’s offi ce. There was no immediate comment from Spitzer’s spokeswoman, Anna Cordasco.
I wonder how many more of our elected officials are involved in illegal activities.
are you serious????? even if it was only 1/4(and I'm being positive here),, we are,,,,,, well, you know.......and we continue to ask the government to 'fix things'.....what are we thinking???
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
From the moment last July when Post State Editor Fredric U. Dicker broke the story that the State Police - at the direction of then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer's office - began detailed surveillance of Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, one question has remained: What did Spitzer know - and when did he know it? The Post refused to accept Spitzer's "totally forthright" insistence that he was unaware of his top aides' actions. Despite Dicker's ongoing revelations, Spitzer denied all - while his political allies and media toadies sought to limit the Dirty Tricks damage. Now, along comes a front-page New York Times report confirming nearly every exclusive broken by The Post's Albany bureau. Quoting from private e-mails and interviews with several top Spitzer aides - particularly former flack Darren Dopp - the story concludes that the ex-governor was "deeply involved," start to finish, in the scandal. Dopp reportedly testified under oath that a "spitting mad" Spitzer pressed him and Chief of Staff Richard Baum to get police records on Bruno released to the press - often calling Dopp at home early in the morning to press the issue. That puts the lie not only to Spitzer's accounts, but also to the whitewash report issued last September by Albany DA David Soares, who has now reopened his probe and given Dopp immunity. The DA's initial report concluded that no criminal behavior or "improper exercise of official function" took place - despite his finding of "factual discrepancies" and "inconsistencies." That's not surprising - given that Soares refused to put any witnesses under oath or to subpoena documents. Now the sordid details are on the front pages of the Times. Obviously, the DA no longer has anything to fear from Eliot "Steamroller" Spitzer. What a profile in courage. Not. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo certainly came close to the real story. His bombshell report just weeks after the scandal broke concluded that key Spitzer aides had the State Police cook up documents indicating that Bruno used state resources for political trips. Cuomo also concluded that Team Spitzer then lured a credulous newspaper, The Albany Times-Union, into using the documents to smear Bruno. In contrast to Soares, Cuomo managed to find all this out, even though Dopp and Baum refused to answer any of his questions. The Times also confirms The Post's account that the Spitzerites weren't just responding to a media inquiry, as Spitzer said; rather, he pushed Dopp to "get a story published" in the Albany Times-Union. Cuomo's report suggested that the T-U, editor Rex Smith and reporter James Odato either were duped by Team Spitzer into targeting Bruno or actively collaborated with it. Then, its cover blown, the T-U spent months doing its best to scuttle any meaningful official investigations into the scandal - particularly by Soares, whose upset win for DA was in large part due to the paper's support. Unlike Spitzer, however, the Times-Union remains standing - meaning Soares still has to curry favor with his patron. So it will be interesting to see what his new investigation discloses about the T-U's role in this scandal. Soares, in fact, needs to find the courage to lay out all the details. Spitzer himself may be gone, but a full Dirty Tricks accounting still needs to be made.
Report:Spitzer ordered travel records on Bruno Friday, March 28, 2008 The Associated Press
A criminal prosecutor said Friday that former Gov. Eliot Spitzer ordered the dirty tricks travel records scandal to discredit Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno despite the former governor’s public denials. Troopergate report To read Albany County District Attorney David Soares' complete report on the Troopergate scandal, click here (Warning: Report includes bjectionable language). Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares said his second investigation of the scandal finds former Spitzer aide Darren Dopp was directly ordered by Spitzer in a profanity laced exchange to release records that could embarrass Bruno and perhaps lead him deeper into a federal investigation. Soares called for no action against Spitzer or any aides. Spitzer resigned two weeks ago after he was implicated in an investigation of a prostitution ring. In September, Soares issued a report saying no one in the Spitzer administration acted improperly and that there was no evidence of a plot to discredit Bruno. Two aides argued they were following orders to fulfill media requests seeking records. Spitzer disciplined them both. But Attorney General Andrew Cuomo found two top Spitzer aides misused state police to compile records of Bruno’s use of state aircraft on days he attended Republican fundraisers and releasing them to a reporter. Soares recently returned to the case, however, and further investigated Dopp’s role after a statement provided for him by Spitzer administration lawyers seemed to conflict with Dopp’s testimony to the state Public Integrity Commission, which is also investigating. Dopp was questioned by Soares during the second investigation. Friday’s report said that at first, in May 2007, Spitzer just wanted to "monitor the situation” after Dopp said a reporter asked for Bruno’s flight records. Spitzer didn’t want “anything to interfere with the possible ... conclusion of the legislative session,” Dopp was quoted as saying in Soares’ report. But in June, when Bruno was blocking Spitzer’s initiatives in the Legislature, top Spitzer aides discussed providing the flight records to “the feds” after they read in the newspaper that Bruno was being investigated by the FBI for business dealings. Dopp said that on June 25 or June 26, governor’s Secretary Rich Baum told him, “Eliot wants you to release the records.” Dopp said he went into Spitzer’s office to make sure. Dopp told investigators that he told Spitzer: “Boss, you’re OK with the release of the plane records?” “According to Dopp, the governor replied, ‘Yeah, do it,’” the Soares report said. “Dopp asked Spitzer: ‘Are you sure?’” noting Bruno would be angry. Dopp said Spitzer then used vulgarities to describe Bruno and ordered Dopp to “shove it up his (expletive) with a red-hot poker.” The scandal led to gridlock in Albany and destroyed Spitzer’s once record-higher popularity. There was no immediate comment from Spitzer’s spokeswoman, Anna Cordasco.
CAPITOL DA report: Spitzer lied Aide told of then governor’s ‘Troopergate’ role BY BOB CONNER Gazette Reporter
Albany County District Attorney David Soares issued a report Friday suggesting Eliot Spitzer lied to him last year, as the then governor tried to cover up his role in the “Troopergate” scandal. The only reason Soares did not refer Spitzer’s conduct to a grand jury for possible indictment, the report said, is that Spitzer is no longer a public official. Spitzer announced his resignation on March 12 after being exposed as a client of a high-priced prostitution ring. “Troopergate” is the name attached by Soares and others to efforts last year by the Spitzer administration to use state police to monitor and discredit Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick. Spitzer denied on many occasions any involvement in those efforts. He denied it to Soares last year when the district attorney was conducting his first investigation into Troopergate. But this year, after Soares granted immunity from prosecution to Darren Dopp, Spitzer’s former communications director, Dopp implicated Spitzer in the scandal. According to Dopp, Spitzer at first counseled restraint in releasing information to reporters about Bruno’s use of state aircraft, but later changed his mind and denounced the Senate leader in a stream of obscenities. Spitzer then, according to Dopp, became highly involved in reviewing the material about Bruno, overseeing its release to reporters and commenting on the stories they wrote. At one point, the report says, Spitzer arranged for a former state police offi cial to brief a reporter. When Soares interviewed Spitzer during his investigation, the report says, the then governor answered “no” when asked if he ever directed “the gathering of any documents concerning Senator Bruno’s use of state transportation at any time?” He also answered “no” when asked “Did you direct the release of any documents at any time to the media concerning Senator Bruno’s use of state transportation?” Spitzer was not under oath during the interview. Soares’ report says: “If Dopp’s testimony is credited, then former Governor Spitzer’s answers were not truthful.” The report clearly implies that Soares believes Dopp, not Spitzer, saying, for example: “We are simply concluding that the interests of New York state and Albany County are better served with Dopp’s cooperation and truthful testimony.” Soares said he held to his original finding that Troopergate itself did not involve criminal conduct, but suggested Spitzer’s statements to him last year might have involved “misconduct, non-feasance or neglect” that a grand jury could have investigated, had not Spitzer already resigned. Troopergate has been the subject of several investigations, the first and most significant of which was by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who, like Spitzer and Soares, is a Democrat. Cuomo’s report was critical of three top Spitzer administration officials, Dopp, William Howard, and Preston Felton, then the acting superintendent of state police. On Friday, Cuomo issued a statement saying: “Our report last July found that members of Governor Spitzer’s senior administration staff had used the state police in a political plot to discredit an adversary. The Albany district attorney’s report today demonstrates this same improper conduct. Indeed, the district attorney’s report also reveals that the scheme involved the former governor himself. “I believe our statements and findings of eight months ago have been proven correct. Those who sought to minimize this incident, or isolate the conduct to one or two mid-level staff, were wrong. A political plot involving state police by senior state officials is a toxic brew. In government, even a legitimate goal does not justify unscrupulous means. “This situation also proves the old adage: ‘The cover-up is worse than the crime.’ ” Sen. George Winner, R-Elmira, chairman of the Senate Investigations Committee, issued a statement critical of Soares, saying he “could have undertaken a hard-hitting investigation that used, to the fullest extent, all of the investigatory powers at his disposal. “Instead, District Attorney Soares just kept trying to protect Governor Spitzer. He failed to pursue a competent and thorough investigation.” Soares was not available for an interview Friday evening, his spokeswoman said. Spitzer’s spokeswoman could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for Gov. David Paterson said he “will now take the time necessary to properly review” the Soares report. Bruno issued a statement saying “this report sheds more light on a sad and disgraceful chapter in New York state history and on a governor who clearly had his priorities wrong and, as I said so often, lacked the temperament to govern.” Bruno also said the report showed Spitzer “was obsessed with conducting a political ‘hit job’ to damage me personally and politically; and that the administration enlisted favored members of the news media, principally the Albany Times Union, to carry out their plot.” Times Union Editor Rex Smith was out of the office and unavailable for comment, said Associate Editor Mike Spain on Friday evening. Dopp could not be reached for comment. He was suspended by Spitzer and then resigned after the Cuomo report was issued last year, and now works for a lobbying firm run by Patricia Lynch, former top aide to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan. After releasing last year’s report, Soares said in a press conference that Spitzer was not involved in Troopergate, and had in fact tried to restrain his aides. His report Friday painted an entirely different picture. Soares is in his first term as district attorney and is up for re-election this year. Unlike previous Albany DAs, he has taken on state corruption, notably in the case of Comptroller Alan Hevesi, whom he successfully prosecuted and compelled to resign. However, Paul Clyne, the former DA whom Soares defeated and who may run against him again, has been critical of Soares’ high-profile involvement in both the Troopergate case and his major investigation into the illegal use and sale of steroids.
CAPITOL Cuomo told to probe state police Troopergate prompts Paterson directive BY BOB CONNER Gazette Reporter
A potentially far-reaching investigation of the New York State Police will be conducted by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo at the request and direction of Gov. David Paterson. The investigation is connected to last year’s “Troopergate” scandal involving former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, but could go further than that. “Combining politics and police work is a toxic brew,” Cuomo said in a statement Tuesday. “Any questions about political interference within the state police are a serious concern. Our investigation will determine whether or not this has occurred within the state police, and if so to what extent.” In a letter hand-delivered to Cuomo on Monday evening, Paterson said, “Recent reported events raise questions of possible political interference with the state police and I am determined to not only ascertain the veracity of such reports but to do everything within my power to protect and strengthen the reputation of the state police.” The Troopergate scandal refers to Spitzer’s apparent effort to use state police to monitor and politically damage Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick. Bruno said in a statement Tuesday, “I congratulate Governor Paterson for requesting that the attorney general investigate the New York State Police in light of the role they played in the Troopergate scandal, as well as other disturbing allegations raised by the New York Post about potential abuses of police power. “ … The attorney general issued the first report that described how the Troopergate plot unfolded, but as we are learning now, that was just the tip of the iceberg.” Bruno’s mention of the New York Post referred to a story in Monday’s edition headlined “State police ‘smear squad.’ ” The story, based on anonymous sources, said government leaders suspect that “a renegade unit” within the state police “has secretly compiled personal information on top New York officials — possibly including Gov. Paterson.” Asked for further information, Paterson Press Secretary Errol Cockfield released a statement saying “it would be inappropriate to comment on any facts or circumstances that may be the subject of the inquiry.” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, issued a statement supporting Paterson’s move and the Cuomo investigation. The statement said Silver and his Assembly colleagues “have complete confidence” in state troopers. “Nevertheless,” Silver’s statement said, “we are concerned by the actions of certain individuals in the Division of State Police whose actions reflect badly on the entire department.” His chief spokesman, Dan Weiller, declined to say which individuals and actions the speaker was referring to. Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, said it appears Paterson and the other state leaders are taking seriously the Post report, which said several lawmakers have complained about state police harassment. Tedisco said he, too, was concerned by the report, but does not have any independent knowledge of improper state police investigations. He said he supports the Cuomo investigation because of the need to find out and reveal the truth, and to protect the justifi ably good reputation of the great majority of state police officers. State police spokesman Lt. Glenn Miner said, “We will fully cooperate with any inquiry the attorney general may conduct into these matters.” The Post story claimed that Daniel Wiese, a former state police official, “remains a powerful behind-the-scenes figure in running the state police.” Wiese also was named in Albany County District Attorney David Soares’ second report on Troopergate, released on Friday evening, which said Spitzer arranged for Wiese to brief a reporter about Bruno. In 2003, Wiese was hired by the New York Power Authority, where he now earns $181,701 per year as inspector general and vice president of corporate security. Christine Pritchard, a spokeswoman for the Power Authority, said Wiese was not available for comment Tuesday evening. Also on Tuesday, State Commission of Investigation Chairman Alfred D. Lerner announced the SIC would investigate the Troopergate investigations. “We are seeking to determine the efficacy of the various investigatory efforts,” the SIC statement said, “including those of the Albany County District Attorney, the State Inspector General and the State Commission on Public Integrity.” Lerner is a Republican appointed by former Gov. George Pataki. Spitzer, Paterson and Cuomo are Democrats. Walter Ayres, spokesman for the Commission on Public Integrity, has cited legal restraints as barring him or its leaders from making any comment on its investigation into Troopergate. At the commission’s most recent meeting, its chairman declined to comment on Spitzer’s resignation, and most of the public discussion was about whether it would be permissible for public officials to accept the gift of a cup of coffee. Paterson’s letter to Cuomo requested that he investigate “pursuant to Executive law 63(3), and I direct you to conduct an inquiry pursuant to Executive law 63( should you find that the public interest requires it.” Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, arrives at his office at the state Capitol on Tuesday. Bruno said Gov. David Paterson’s request for the Attorney General’s Office to investigate the state police is warranted. MIKE GROLL/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Official named in Troopergate report put on paid leave ALBANY — Daniel Wiese, state Power Authority inspector general, has been put on paid leave. Power Authority spokeswoman Christine Pritchard declined further comment on Wiese’s indefinite leave, citing an investigation. Wiese, a former state trooper, was named in Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares’ report on so-called “Troopergate,” Spitzer administration disclosures of state aircraft use by rival politician Sen. Joseph Bruno. Reports were gathered by State Police. Soares found no criminal wrongdoing but concluded Spitzer, who later resigned in a prostitution scandal, may have lied about his own plotting. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, asked by Gov. David Paterson this week, began a new investigation.
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should you find that the public interest requires it.” 
