THE "PORK" IN NEW YORK, Thoughts of an older American on Constitutional Government in the USA Options

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK OBSERVER

"What Would You Give to Be Near Spitzer?"

by Azi Paybarah

Published: August 3, 2007

Eliot Spitzer is trying hard to get past the ethics probes into his office and back to the business of governing.

And fund-raising.

A reader passed along this invitation for an October 3rd fund-raiser for the state Democratic Party, featuring the governor.

(A Democratic source said the date may be changed.)

The location hasn’t been determined, but it does include a “trustee reception with Governor Spitzer.”

According to an email that included the invitation, "trustees" are defined as people who help raise $25,000.

http://www.observer.com/2007/spitzers-fall-gala

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG:

"Ex-Spitzer aide cries 'unfair'"

BY JOE MAHONEY, DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF

Friday, August 3rd 2007, 4:00 AM

ALBANY - A criminal defense lawyer for Darren Dopp, Gov. Spitzer's suspended communications chief, said yesterday his client is being punished for the dirty tricks scandal and is willing to testify.

"What has happened to Darren is just not fair," the lawyer, Terence Kindlon, said in an interview.

"Darren is getting screwed."

On July 23, Dopp was suspended by Spitzer, indefinitely and without pay, from his $175,000-a-year job.

That made him the top casualty in the uproar that enveloped the administration after Attorney General Andrew Cuomo documented the misuse of state police by the governor's aides to collect information maligning Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno.

The lawyer insisted Dopp, a former newspaper reporter who has held state jobs for Democratic pols over the past 18 years, is not sore at Spitzer, despite being the only administration official to take a hit.

"This is not Darren vs. Eliot that we're talking about," Kindlon said.

"I don't think Darren thinks the governor acted unreasonably."

"He thinks the situation, created by events beyond his control, is what is unreasonable, and he's getting crunched up by it."

The suspension came after Dopp and the governor's chief of staff, Richard Baum, were advised by Spitzer's chief counsel, David Nocenti, to refuse to cooperate with Cuomo's investigators.

Instead, they submitted only brief written statements.

Baum, who had been told there was a plan to put out damaging information on Bruno's use of state aircraft, was not sanctioned.

Another official, homeland security adviser Bill Howard, was reassigned but is still on the state university payroll.

Asked whether Dopp was still in limbo regarding his job, Kindlon said, "It's more like purgatory - and he ought not to be there."

Told of Kindlon's comments and asked about Dopp's job status, Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson said in an e-mail reply, "A decision has not yet been made with respect to his sanction."

"Beyond that I have no comment."

Kindlon said he was not representing Dopp when Nocenti advised him to duck Cuomo's investigators.

He said Dopp would willingly appear before a grand jury if Albany District Attorney David Soares needs his testimony for his criminal probe.

Spitzer adamantly denies knowing about the scheme.

Kindlon declined to discuss specific criticisms leveled at Dopp by the Cuomo report.

"I'm hopeful that when things get clarified, Darren's salary will be restored and ultimately his job will be restored," he said.

"We're anticipating that Darren will be publicly declared to be innocent of any criminal conduct."

jmahoney@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/08/03...s_unfair-1.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Court ruling keeps heat on Bruno's pal"

BY JOE MAHONEY, DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF

Friday, August 3rd 2007, 4:00 AM

A state appeals court gave the green light yesterday for further investigation of a horse-racing lobbyist who came under scrutiny for providing - what else - a plane ride to Senate GOP Leader Joe Bruno.

Albany area businessman Jared Abbruzzese, a business associate of Bruno, was ordered by the Appellate Division to cough up records that could be used in a probe into suspected violations of the state lobbying law.

The midlevel appeals court ruled that the state Lobbying Commission had an "adequate basis" to subpoena the records pertaining to a December 2005 flight Bruno took from Schenectady to New York City in a plane owned by Abbruzzese, a lobbyist who had ties to a group seeking the state thoroughbred racing franchise.

The lobbying probe began before the current flap involving dirty tricks by aides to Gov. Spitzer against Bruno over the use of state aircraft.

It involves a ride Bruno got on a plane owned by Abbruzzese in December 2005 after then-Gov. George Pataki decided he couldn't use the state helicopter that day, officials said.

Bruno has defended his involvement with Abbruzzese and paid for the flight out of his campaign fund.

Bruno's business dealings with Abbruzzese - whose wife purchased land from a real estate partnership involving the senator - and Bruno's involvement in steering $500,000 in state grants to a technology firm tied to Abbruzzese - have been the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation.

The Senate Republican leader runs a consulting business from his house in Rensselaer County.

State Lobbying Commission Executive Director David Grandeau said Abbruzzese, who started a group called Friends of New York Racing, used legal maneuvers to try to stall the investigation until the lobbying commission is dismantled.

Grandeau said he will no longer have a job come Sept. 21, when his agency is blended into a new public integrity commission.

jmahoney@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/08/03...unos_pal-3.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"What goes around ..."

Friday, August 3rd 2007, 4:00 AM

Editorial

Considering Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno's incessant charges that Gov. Spitzer is hiding dark misdeeds, it was delicious that an appeals court issued a reminder yesterday that a Bruno pal is stonewalling an investigation into who paid for the senator to fly on a private jet.

The case has to do with Jared Abbruzzese, who has had financial, political and personal relationships with Bruno.

He has hired Bruno as a consultant, donated heavily to Republicans and made corporate jets available to Bruno.

Abbruzzese's wife also purchased land from a firm with Bruno ties.

Across the ledger, Bruno directed $500,000 in state grants to a company linked to Abbruzzese, the Associated Press reported.

The senator has said everything was on the up and up.

Still, Bruno's ties to Abbruzzese are the reason the FBI is giving the majority leader the once-over.

And the feds compelled the Lobbying Commission to subpoena Abbruzzese's flight records.

He must now give them to a judge, the court ruled.

Whether the documents show wrongdoing remains to be seen, but it is clear that Bruno likes to get around by plane.

Remember, his filching of rides to political events on a state helicopter is what started the so-called Eliot Mess.

At least one of Spitzer's aides wanted to expose Bruno, but he, or they, crossed the line by having the cops keep tabs on the majority leader.

In a hugely dumb move, that aide and another ranking staffer declined to be questioned by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's probers.

Instead, they submitted sworn statements, giving Bruno the opening to trumpet that Spitzer and everyone around him must "come clean."

And, of course, they must.

Spitzer has denied knowledge of the affair, and he has said, belatedly, that he will answer questions under oath.

That's good.

And the Ethics Commission has begun a probe.

That's good, too.

And, although Cuomo found no criminality, the Albany district attorney is reviewing the facts.

Good, again.

It's time for Bruno to give it a rest, and to come back to earth.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2007/0...es_around_.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG:

And speaking of Mr. Ravi Batra's "trickeries and deceits", VJ, and the Constitution and law in the State of New York, which Mr. Ravi Batra makes an absolute mockery of with his prattle about young Andy Cuomo acting as a "proverbial good samaritan" for Eliot "STEAMROLLER" Spitzer in the COVER-OVER of his and Baum's alleged involvement in the "TROOPERGATE FIASCO", let us go to the MSM for some other points of view on the subject, starting with the July 31, 2007 NEWSDAY article "Legal experts aren't backing senators' call", which starts out by stating:

On one hand, some said, Cuomo already has prejudged the case by concluding last week that Spitzer's office engaged in no "unlawful" conduct.

end quotes

Now, to be fair, that statement refers to young Andy Cuomo being unsuited to be a "special prosecutor", because he had already "prejudged the case" ...

BUT ..

The key sentences in that article which serve to undermine what Mr. Ravi Batra is stating in here, and which serve to buttress the points that I am raising, are as follows:

In New York, the attorney general typically does not have criminal jurisdiction, including the power to subpoena witnesses or question them before a grand jury.

The governor has virtually unlimited power under the state constitution and a section of the Executive Law to confer that jurisdiction in a particular case.

end quotes

There, VJ, is the heart of the matter very clearly stated:

IN NEW YORK STATE, THE GOVERNOR HAS VIRTUALLY UNLIMITED POWER UNDER THE STATE CONSTITUTION AND A SECTION OF THE EXECUTIVE LAW TO CONFER CRIMINAL JURISDICTION ON YOUNG ANDY CUOMO, INCLUDING THE POWER TO SUBPOENA WITNESSES AND QUESTION THEM BEFORE A GRAND JURY, AND ...

And in this particular case, VJ, Eliot "STEAMROLLER" Spitzer DID NOT do that ...

According to Mr. Ravi Batra, VJ, who I consider to be a "VOICE FROM INSIDE THE ROYAL COURT", what Eliot "STEAMROLLER" Spitzer did instead was to "INVITE" young Andy to be a "GOOD SAMARITAN" for which we all are supposed to now be grateful ...

"AH, SAY, YOUNG ANDY," says the apparently disembodied voice of Eliot "STEAMROLLER" Spitzer ...

"I'M DOWN HERE IN THE SWAMP, YOUNG ANDY!"

"I'M IN THE QUICKSAND!"

"I'VE FALLEN, AND I CANNOT GET UP!"

"WOULD YOU BE A GOOD SAMARITAN, AND GET ME A ROPE, BEFORE I GO UNDER ALL THE WAY?"

"THERE'S A GOOD LAD, NOW, YOUNG ANDY!"

"BE QUICK ABOUT IT, NOW, LAD, AND I'LL REWARD YOU WITH SOME CANDY WHEN YOU GET ME OUT OF THIS QUAGMIRE!"

And so ...

Posted by: John Galt | August 5, 2007 8:13 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli..._64.html?page=2

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"DA steamrolls Spitzer - Hevesi nemesis launches criminal probe into plot to ruin Bruno"

BY JOE MAHONEY, DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF

Thursday, August 2nd 2007, 4:00 AM

ALBANY - Albany District Attorney David Soares opened a criminal probe yesterday into the dirty tricks plot by aides to Gov. Spitzer against Senate GOP leader Joe Bruno.

Soares' surprise announcement came after several declarations by Spitzer that no further investigation into the plot against Bruno was needed because Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Inspector General Kristine Hamann found no violations of criminal or civil law.

"It must be remembered that while certain conduct may appear unethical or even immoral, the only issue for our consideration is to determine whether the conduct is of such regard that criminal liability can be assessed," Soares said in a prepared statement.

Soares, a Democrat, is the same prosecutor who forced state Controller Alan Hevesi from office last year, nailing him for defrauding the state by using state workers to chauffeur his ailing wife.

A full-blown Soares probe would present the most serious challenge yet to the Spitzer administration as it tries to contain damage from the scandal.

Cuomo's report found aides to the governor directed state police to compile reports on Bruno's use of state aircraft and to plant an unflattering newspaper story.

Unlike Cuomo, Soares won't be hamstrung by a lack of subpoena power and the refusal of Darren Dopp, Spitzer's suspended communications director, and Spitzer's chief of staff, Richard Baum, to cooperate, said Karl Sleight, former director of the state Ethics Commission.

"The district attorney has very powerful tools at his disposal - the grand jury being a very significant one," Sleight said.

Word of the district attorney's inquiry came after the Ethics Commission - which probes only violations of the Public Officers Law - opened its own preliminary investigation last Thursday.

Without naming names, Soares said he is seeking "relevant information from all involved parties" as well as "the materials that led the attorney general and the inspector general to conclude that no laws were broken."

A spokesman for Soares refused to say whether probers will seek to depose Spitzer, Baum, Dopp, acting State Police Superintendent Preston Felton and homeland security adviser Bill Howard.

The latter three were recommended for discipline by Cuomo.

Bruno said he was "glad" to learn of the probe because it will "help us get to the truth of what the governor and his aides knew, when they knew it and whether any laws were broken."

Spitzer has denied being in the loop on the scheme, blaming Dopp and Howard for "egregious" mistakes.

After earlier asserting no further probes were needed, Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson said the administration has "respect" for the district attorney's "constitutional authority."

In addition to looking into whether laws were broken, an Albany grand jury could report on whether there was "misconduct, nonfeasance or neglect in public office by a public servant."

Soares' announcement didn't slow down GOP senators who are planning to hold legislative hearings on the scandal as early as next week.

"If the Spitzer administration has even minimal culpability, this [probe by Soares] should be of concern to them," said Senate Investigations Committee Chairman George Winner (R-Elmira).

The state Investigation Commission is also mulling starting its own probe.

jmahoney@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/08/02...ls_spitzer.html

[Livyjr]

"Spitzer's top aide Baum chats about Eliot's empire - TH-R interviews former Orange lawmaker who heads governor's staff"

By Brendan Scott

Times Herald-Record

July 09, 2007

Albany – Rich Baum is a long way from Orange County now.

As secretary to the governor, this Town of Wallkill farmboy-turned-political whiz sits at the right hand of the state’s most powerful leader, Eliot Spitzer.

This is no glamor gig.

It’s Baum’s job to carry Spitzer’s ambitious and controversial agenda through Albany.

In other words, he’s the guy who has to sit down and cut deals with the same people his boss has vowed, alternately, to take out, reform or whip into action.

TH-R: As things have gotten messier, as people have tried to analyze what they see as missteps in the administration, they sometimes blamed you for it.

They say, “Well, this must be Rich Baum and that team of novices.”

What’s your response to that?

Baum: In this kind of role, there’s going to be a lot of second-guessing.

On balance, I feel we’ve done well.

He promised a lot of change and a lot of change as happened.

Some people don’t like the direction of it.

I think largely the people of the state do and I think the governor likes the direction of it.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...NEWS%2F70706008

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Spitzer 'happy' to be grilled"

BY JOE MAHONEY in Syracuse and ELIZABETH BENJAMIN in Troy, N.Y. DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Wednesday, August 1st 2007, 4:00 AM

Spitzer aides say the Ethics Commission is the right body to conduct a new investigation because it is empowered to investigate misconduct by government workers, not crimes, and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo found no crimes.

Republicans say Cuomo's probe was hampered because two key Spitzer aides, Darren Dopp and Richard Baum, refused to testify.

They want Spitzer to grant Cuomo subpoena power to take a second crack at it, or another body such as the state Commission of Investigation to take it on.

Spitzer aides defend the move to keep Dopp and Baum from answering questions in Cuomo's inquiry, saying they were only sought out after it was determined there was no crime.

Brief written statements were offered instead.

Republicans say it is highly suspicious that Dopp and Baum ducked Cuomo's probers, suggesting a possible coverup to protect others, including Spitzer.

Cuomo's office made it clear it wanted Dopp and Baum to answer questions.

SYRACUSE - With public pressure on him building, Gov. Spitzer said yesterday he now would "love to" testify for investigators looking into the dirty tricks scheme his aides ran against Senate GOP leader Joe Bruno.

"I'm happy to, I'm going to, look forward to it," Spitzer said during a visit to Syracuse.

"If they call me, I'd love to."

"If they don't, I'd love to send them my statements because this is going to be clarified."

Spitzer was referring to the state Ethics Commission, which is considering a full-blown investigation into the scandal.

Until yesterday, Spitzer and his office wouldn't discuss whether he would agree to answer their questions.

The governor also gave his most impassioned declaration of innocence in the plot - revealed July 23 in a bombshell report by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo - to have state police compile data on Bruno's use of state aircraft and feed it to an Albany newspaper.

"Nobody has pointed to a single thing, nor will they be able to, that I personally misstepped," he told reporters.

Speaking earlier to the Syracuse Post-Standard editorial board, Spitzer said if he had known what his aides were up to, he would have stopped it.

"Had I ever known, suspected, believed, thought that the state police were asked todo something out of the ordinary, I would have said, 'Stop immediately.'"

"'What's going on?'"

"'You can't do this.'"

Polls in the past week have shown a majority of New York voters are suspicious of Spitzer's story and want more investigation.

Spitzer argued for days that Cuomo's probe should end the matter, though two of his aides refused to answer questions.

Now, he is offering their and his cooperation with the Ethics Commission.

But the Democratic governor is still rejecting calls for an inquiry acceptable to Republicans.

Bruno said yesterday the state Commission of Investigation, which he said is empowered to "look at the abuse of power," should dig into the scandal.

He and other Republicans contend the Ethics Commission is relatively toothless and its makeup is too dominated by Spitzer appointees to be impartial.

"The public has the right to the truth and we're going to get to the truth," Bruno said in a news conference in Troy.

In another development, a source close to Darren Dopp, Spitzer's suspended communications director, said he has retained a lawyer specializing in employment rights law.

Suspended for at least a month by Spitzer, Dopp is not expected to return to the administration, the source said.

Dopp could not be reached for comment.

A second high-ranking Spitzer aide, homeland security adviser Bill Howard, has been banished from the governor's chamber of Capitol offices but remains on the State University payroll.

jmahoney@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/08/01..._grilled-1.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"AG stings Gov in frame game - Spitz apologizes after report says aides used police to target Bruno"

By JOE MAHONEY, DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF

Tuesday, July 24th 2007, 4:00 AM

ALBANY - A blistering report by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo charged yesterday that top aides to Gov. Spitzer improperly used the state police to plant an embarrassing story on Senate GOP Leader Joe Bruno.

Spitzer suspended without pay his communications director, Darren Dopp - a close, longtime aide - and reassigned homeland security official Bill Howard for their roles in the dirty tricks.

Cuomo's findings were a shocking turn in the raging feud between the governor, who rode into Albany promising to clean up the town, and the lawmaker he has derided as a relic of old-style politics.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/07/24...frame_game.html

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Raging Joe wants probe"

BY JOE MAHONEY, DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF

Thursday, July 26th 2007, 4:00 AM

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Branding Gov. Spitzer's staff "a gang that can't even shoot straight," Senate GOP Leader Joe Bruno yesterday urged new investigations to see if the dirty tricksters broke any laws.

"A lot of people in authority think there was criminality in the executive branch," Bruno told reporters, without naming names or specific crimes as he attended the opening of the horse-racing season here.

"I believe for the first time in the history of this state ... the governor's office has seen fit to abuse the power of that office to spy and track and attempt to really destroy what apparently the governor's office considers a political rival," Bruno said.

He said the Senate Investigations Committee has kicked off an inquiry into the scandal and argued the Democrat-led Assembly should commence a probe of its own.

Bruno also said the rarely used State Commission of Investigation, which can subpoena witnesses and documents, should also be activated to delve into the scandal "if necessary."

The GOP leader's attempt to keep the controversy on Albany's front burner drew a counterattack from the Spitzer camp and Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

The governor's office said that constitutionally, it was none of the Senate's business.

"Any new Senate hearings on this same issue would be a complete waste of state taxpayer dollars for purely partisan and political purposes," said Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson.

"Moreover, the state Senate lacks the constitutional authority to conduct investigatory hearings into the internal operations of the governor's office."

Although he called Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's 53-page report on the scandal "thorough," Bruno said it's entirely possible Spitzer was part of the conspiracy to collect data from state police suggesting the GOP leader misused state aircraft.

Spitzer said he had no part in that.

"Nobody believes that a hands-on, micro-manager like this governor let all of his operatives do the misdeeds that they did ...." he said.

He vowed "the public is going to have a full report, one way or another."

Silver told the Daily News that he's not going to pile on.

"I'm not going to engage in those political hearings," he said.

Noting Cuomo's report found no criminality, he urged Bruno to accept Spitzer's apology and "move on."

Albany District Attorney David Soares' office also said it has no plans to delve into the case.

An SCI spokesman would not confirm the agency might undertake a probe.

Spokesman Steve Greenberg said the commission only comments on investigations when it produces final reports.

Spitzer has apologized for what he calls the bad judgment of his aides.

One, communications director Darren Dopp, was suspended without pay.

Another, homeland security adviser Bill Howard, is being shuffled into an unspecified post.

A third official recommended for discipline by Cuomo, Acting State Police Supt. Preston Felton, faces no sanctions.

Bruno said yesterday that he believes Felton was unwittingly "used" by Spitzer's staffers.

jmahoney@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/07/26...ants_probe.html

[Livyjr]

TO REVIEW THE "TROOPERGATE REPORT" OF NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ANDREW CUOMO, CLICK ON THIS LINK:

http://adcreatives.nydailynews.com/static/...eral/index.html

[Livyjr]

"New issue in scandal surfaces"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Monday, August 6, 2007

A scarcely discussed sidelight in the "Troopergate" scandal is what some see as a similarity to the high-profile case that brought down former Comptroller Alan Hevesi.

Hevesi resigned last winter after admitting he used state employees as drivers and to run errands for his ailing wife.

He pleaded guilty to defrauding the state after repaying more than $206,000 for the employees' time.

Some legal experts now wonder if key players in Troopergate might eventually be asked to reimburse the state for the time they and police spent retracing details of Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno's use of state aircraft and State Police drivers to give to the press.

The political nature of those plans was noted in Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's July 23 report on the affair, which said staffers communicated about the scheme in e-mails.

One observer, who asked not to be identified because he's close to the situation, said such e-mails suggest the aides were plotting political strategy on state time.

But he said it would be hard to calculate what percentage of their pay they might be asked to reimburse.

"How did they book their time?" he asked.

Another lawyer, a government expert who didn't want his name used because he's not directly involved in the case, said there is a difference between doing political work on state time and acting out of "political animosity" but staying within the bounds of one's job.

Sen. George Winner, R-Elmira, who heads the Senate Investigation Committee, said reimbursement probably won't be a priority Thursday when his committee meets to discuss the possibility of more extensive hearings.

But the issue, he said, could come into play for Albany County District Attorney David Soares, whose Public Integrity Unit is looking into the matter, or the state Commission of Investigation, which Bruno wants involved.

"I'm sure those are matters that Soares would look at if he gets involved and the State Commission of Investigation would look at if they get involved," Winner said.

Return of a prosecutor

A criminal prosecutor has left academia to rejoin the U.S. Attorney's Office as part of a team looking into possible public corruption cases in upstate New York, including the Capital Region.

To lend his expertise to an inquiry involving Sen. Bruno and his business dealings, as well as other cases, Steven Clymer was lured away from Cornell Law School to direct the special area of white-collar crime.

"Most of my role would be coordinating all public corruption cases in the office," said Clymer, 49.

Several law enforcement officials describe Clymer as tough, thorough, very bright and creative; some think he'll have a big role in the Bruno probe, which the office has not officially acknowledged.

A graduate of Cornell University and its law school, Clymer began his legal career investigating police corruption as an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia.

As chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney's Central District of California, he led a series of high-profile cases, including the prosecution of Los Angeles police officers charged in the beating of Rodney King.

Contributors: Capitol bureau reporters Rick Karlin and James M. Odato.

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Elizabeth Benjamin

"Double standard - Cuomo probe skipped Bruno staffers"

Monday, August 6th 2007, 4:00 AM

Democratic State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has won Republican praise for his tough probe of the Spitzer administration's dirty-tricks scheme to undermine Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, appears to have applied a different set of standards when it came to investigating Bruno's use of state aircraft.

Cuomo's July 23 bombshell report, which both cleared Bruno of any wrongdoing and found top aides to Gov. Spitzer inappropriately used state police to keep tabs on the majority leader, stated that "key interviews were conducted under oath."

But it seems only witnesses related to the Spitzer probe were considered "key."

Cuomo's report quotes liberally from the testimonies of now-reassigned Spitzer aide Bill Howard and acting state police Superintendent Preston Felton in exposing their efforts to collect potentially damning evidence on Bruno.

The report refers to, but does not excerpt, interviews conducted with Bruno's counsel, scheduler, staffers and outside contacts to affirm the senator's claim he attended meetings about state business - not just political fund-raisers - when he flew to Manhattan on publicly funded state aircraft.

Bruno spokesman John McArdle said that had Bruno staffers been asked to testify under oath or submit sworn statements, they would have "done it gladly."

Testifying under oath produces a paper trail that enables witnesses to be charged with perjury if they are later found to have lied.

The day after Cuomo's report was released, his office revealed that two top Spitzer staffers - Communications Director Darren Dopp and chief of staff Richard Baum - had refused requests to testify under oath and instead provided sworn statements.

Cuomo lacks subpoena power in this instance and so could not compel the two to testify.

Spitzer has suspended Dopp without pay indefinitely but has taken no action against Baum.

Cuomo spokesman Jeffrey Lerner refused to say whether the attorney general asked Bruno aides to testify under oath or provide sworn statements.

"Given the ongoing investigations, it would be inappropriate to comment at this time," Lerner said.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares and the state Ethics Commission - both of which have subpoena power - are considering full-blown investigations of Spitzer and Troopergate.

Senate Republicans have asked the bipartisan state Commission of Investigation to launch a probe.

While he chastised Spitzer and cleared Bruno, Cuomo's report also stated that the governor's aides had done nothing illegal.

The attorney general's office spoke to neither the governor nor the majority leader.

When the Senate Republicans called on Spitzer to make Cuomo a special prosecutor with subpoena power - a call the governor rejected - the attorney general's office had no comment, saying only that the findings of his report "speak for themselves."

Bruno is fighting to hold onto his two-seat GOP majority in the Senate.

Republicans hope this scandal could wound Spitzer enough to reduce his clout in the 2008 legislative elections.

The revelation that Cuomo might have treated Bruno differently than Spitzer in his investigations angered some Democrats.

"He was given both issues to investigate and he should have followed the same procedure," said one high-level Democrat.

State Inspector General Kristine Hamann, a Spitzer appointee who has come under fire from Senate Republicans for declining to use her subpoena power to investigate her boss and his aides in Troopergate, has agreed to appear before the Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee in Albany on Thursday.

Hamann and investigators from Cuomo's office who were involved in the attorney general's report on Bruno's aircraft use and Troopergate have "agreed to come in and go through the report," McArdle said.

They were not subpoenaed.

Other topics of discussion will include a bill Senate Republicans have introduced to ban the use of state aircraft for political purposes and another that would limit the state police superintendent's appointment to three-year terms, with renewal subject to Senate consent.

The committee's proceedings will be open to the public.

ebenjamin@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/08/06...e_standard.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK POST

"SPITZ'S HIDDEN E-TRAIL - SCANDAL AIDES' PRIVATE NOTES KEPT FROM PROBERS"

August 6, 2007 --

INVESTIGATORS for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the state inspector general weren't given potentially crucial evidence - private e-mails from top aides to Gov. Spitzer - related to the explosive Troopergate probe, The Post has learned.

"It's a huge gap in the investigation," conceded a source close to both investigations.

Cuomo's probers, who eventually produced an explosive report showing top Spitzer aides used the State Police in a plot to destroy the career of Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer), allowed the governor's legal counsels to decide what "relevant" e-mails would be turned over as part of the investigation.

Those lawyers - who instructed top Spitzer aides, including the governor's chief of staff, Richard Baum, and communications director, Darren Dopp, not to cooperate with Cuomo's investigators - turned over a small number of scandal-related e-mails from official state e-mail addresses, not personal ones, sources said.

However, Baum, linked to the scandal by e-mails sent to his official state address, has repeatedly used at least one private e-mail address to communicate with other administration officials in recent months, sources with ties to the administration told The Post.

One source provided The Post with a private e-mail address containing Baum's name, saying it was the address Baum often used for official communications.

An e-mail sent by The Post to the address went unanswered.

Dopp, who was suspended after the Cuomo report put him at the center of the scandal, also regularly communicated with other senior members of the Spitzer administration by private e-mail, sources said.

Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson refused to say whether private e-mails had even been reviewed as part of what the governor pledged would be a comprehensive effort to discover all Troopergate-related details.

Baum also refused to comment.

Dopp has refused to respond to inquiries since the Cuomo report was released two weeks ago.

Spitzer, who has denied any knowledge of the anti-Bruno plot, is a heavy user of government and private e-mails.

No government or private e-mails from him were turned over to investigators.

Cuomo's investigators were unable to compel Spitzer's aides to produce private e-mails related to the scandal - or to get them to testify under oath - because they didn't have subpoena power.

Inspector General Kristine Hamann, who was appointed by Spitzer but who reports to the uncooperative Baum, had subpoena power but refused to use it, even though she claims to have conducted her own probe.

Her spokesman, Stephen Del Giacco, rejected repeated requests for an explanation.

fredric.dicker@nypost.com

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08062007/news/...c_u__dicker.htm

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG:

ITEM: Cuomo allowed Spitzer aides to pick which "relevant" emails were sent to him for review, and this did not include messages sent to at least one aide's private account.

"AH, SAY, YOUNG ANDY," says the apparently disembodied voice of Eliot "STEAMROLLER" Spitzer ...

"I'M DOWN HERE IN THE SWAMP, YOUNG ANDY!"

"I'M IN THE QUICKSAND!"

"I'VE FALLEN, AND I CANNOT GET UP!"

"WOULD YOU BE A GOOD SAMARITAN, AND GET ME A ROPE, BEFORE I GO UNDER ALL THE WAY?"

"THERE'S A GOOD LAD, NOW, YOUNG ANDY!"

"BE QUICK ABOUT IT, NOW, LAD, AND I'LL REWARD YOU WITH SOME CANDY WHEN YOU GET ME OUT OF THIS QUAGMIRE!"

And so ...

Posted by: John Galt | August 6, 2007 8:53 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...0.html#comments

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK POST

"DAVID SOARES' DUTY"

August 6, 2007 -- Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's finding that the newspaper was (at best) manipulated into attacking state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno surely must rankle T-U editor Rex Smith.

Cuomo's report suggested that the paper was duped by Team Spitzer into running a hatchet job on Bruno.

That, or its editors and reporter James Odato collaborated with Spitzer's aides.

Since that report - which purported to show that Bruno illegally rode State Police helicopters to

Among the more tantalizing mysteries of the Troopergate scandal is the unseemly eagerness of the newspaper that participated in it - the Albany Times-Union - to lay it to rest before all the facts are known.

One way to put the lie to that sort of thing would be for Odato to explain what he did, and how he came to do it.

Certainly the paper has no obligation to protect "confidential sources."

Cuomo clearly identified them - suspended Spitzer communications aide Darren Dopp and perhaps Deputy Homeland Security Director William Howard - in his Troopergate report.

Now Odato's obligation is to his readers - and to the truth.

Instead, the reporter is silent, and the T-U is doing its level best to scuttle a potentially productive inquiry into the affair by Albany County DA David Soares.

The paper played a big role in Soares' upset win for DA, so it has considerable influence with him.

Indeed, it is all but inconceivable that Soares would say no if the T-U demanded a thorough investigation.

Alas, no such thing.

Indeed, early last week, the paper termed the affair a "minor scandal."

Then, on Friday, it decried "state leaders [who] continue to be consumed by the so-called Troopergate scandal" while identifying the real bad guys as "Senate Republicans who insist on dragging [the matter] out . . . ."

"No laws were broken," insists the paper - citing the Cuomo report.

Well, that's not clear.

Dopp and Spitzer Chief of Staff Richard Baum refused to testify under oath before Cuomo's probe - that is, two of the men closest to the governor effectively obstructed the probe.

And Post State Editor Fredric U. Dicker reports this morning that critical private e-mails may have been withheld from the attorney general.

So Cuomo couldn't have known if laws were broken.

He didn't have subpoena power, and because of that he didn't - again, couldn't - get all the facts.

Soares won't have that problem.

That is, he won't if he decides to mount a full-throated investigation into what just about everybody agrees was the wholly improper use of the State Police to bring down a bitter Spitzer enemy.

If ever there was a case that cried out for the clarity a thorough grand-jury investigation can produce, it is this one.

Maybe there were no crimes.

Fine.

Soares can make that clear while explaining what did happen in a public grand-jury report.

He said last week that he's looking into it.

Now he has to take the next step.

It's not hard to see why the Albany Times-Union might not want that to happen.

It may be complicit.

And it's also obvious why Spitzer is spooked by the prospect.

Could he be guilty?

But Soares' duty is clear - as with Odato, it is to the truth.

And it is also to the law.

Soares is an honorable man with a bright future.

What a pity if he risks a sterling reputation by pulling punches while trying to get to the bottom of a bumbling, tawdry, yet thoroughly shocking, misuse of political and police power.

To protect whom?

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08062007/posto...editorials_.htm

[Livyjr]

And while we are on the in alienable rights of corporate entities here in America to poison our air and water, and to despoil our environment so that they can make money for their shareholders, we have ...

"Pollution upsets homeowners - Fort Edward residents say General Electric is moving too slowly to remove TCE, an industrial solvent"

By BRIAN NEARING, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, August 7, 2007

FORT EDWARD -- This town has become synonymous with the federal government's ongoing efforts to remove PCBs from the Hudson River.

But now another pollutant, which hasn't previously received much attention, is starting to roil residents as well.

The danger is underground in a six-street area around General Electric's capacitor plant on Broadway.

Four decades of GE operations through the 1980s left behind a plume of PCBs and a potentially carcinogenic solvent called trichloroethylene, or TCE, used to clean machinery.

In 2004, fumes from TCEs, which the U.S. Environmental Protection says are likely to cause cancer in humans, were found seeping out of the ground and into homes -- including the home of Raymond and Jody DeLong on West Summit Street, four blocks south of the GE plant and its parking lots.

That led the state to order GE to offer homeowners air pumps meant to dissipate fumes from basements to the outside air.

Forty-seven homeowners, including the DeLongs, have the pumps, whose white plastic stacks emerge from the sides of their houses.

A state-ordered cleanup by GE began in 2003 in a geological depression beneath the GE parking lot where up to 144,000 pounds of PCBs were believed to rest.

Many residents are upset that only about 14,000 pounds have so far been removed.

At that rate, the PCBs could be there for another three decades.

Despite the problems, a town reassessment in 2005 increased property values and tax bills in the polluted zone, which contains about 80 modest one- and two-family homes.

The DeLongs, rejected for a home equity loan by their credit union because of the pollution, are among 42 homeowners suing GE and the town, claiming their properties are devalued, according an attorney handling the lawsuit.

The couple wanted a loan to pay credit card debt on kitchen renovations and to add a third bedroom for their growing family, said Jody DeLong, a 36-year-old, a stay-at-home mother of two teenage boys and a 3-year-old girl.

Her husband, 33, drives a truck for Waste Management.

When she purchased the home in 1991 with a 30-year mortgage, she had no knowledge of chemical contamination.

But in October 2005, Stewart's Federal Credit Union rejected the DeLongs' loan application in a terse, one-page letter:

Pollution "has a debilitating impact on property value and our ability to collect our loan under terms provided in our loan notes for foreclosure ... we cannot consider taking the risk."

Meanwhile, the state Health Department is conducting a health study of how TCEs affected people who lived near the plant.

Well water from nearby homes was found to be contaminated in 1982, forcing GE to install municipal water in the area.

Department spokeswoman Claire Pospisil said the TCE health study will be completed in 2010.

The EPA has classified TCEs as "highly likely to produce cancer in humans," information on the agency's Web site said.

Exposure is associated with several adverse health effects, including damage to the nervous and immune systems, as well as affecting development in children and harming organs like the liver and kidneys, according to EPA.

Dennis Prevost knows about cancer.

He grew up on Putnam Avenue, about 120 yards east of the GE plant.

On his street alone, he can rattle off five cases of fatal cancer -- including his own brother.

He went door to door in the neighborhood to collect case studies and share them with the state Health Department in 2003 and 2004.

Prevost is vice president of Hudson River Citizens Along the River's Edge, a not-for-profit group that has been pushing for the plume to be cleaned up more aggressively.

He points to the PCB pollution at the GE plant in Pittsfield, Mass., where the company excavated polluted homes down to the replacement of trees.

"Here, GE is doing only what the law requires in a polluter-friendly state," said Prevost.

"Fort Edward is being treated like a red-headed stepchild."

GE spokesman Mark Behan said TCE removal is "a long term project ... our most important priority is that there is no human contact."

GE tests of air inside homes found no levels that exceeded state guidelines.

The company stopped using TCE some two decades ago.

Behan said he was "not in a position to evaluate decisions" like the DeLong's rejection.

But he said eight homes in the plume zone have sold at "at or above assessed value since February 2005."

So far, GE has treated 450 million gallons of polluted groundwater at the plant.

"This will take time, no question about it," said Behan, who said it is a "steady, dramatic progress."

The homeowners sued GE in July 2006, said Paul Wein, a Guilderland lawyer.

They have also sued the town for the 2005, 2006 and 2007 property assessments, asking for lower assessments and tax refunds, he said.

"This is PCB central with a complication, TCE."

"It's a double whammy," said Wein.

"When we started this, we asked GE to just buy our houses if they don't think there is any damage."

He also said tests that show levels were safe don't help owners sell homes.

"The tests were only on one day."

"It's a plume -- it moves, soil vapors change," said Wein.

"Suppose you are sitting in your dining room having dinner and a guy comes in and lights up a cigar."

"It may not give you cancer, but it is not helping the value of your home and you did not invite him there."

Town Supervisor Merrilyn Pulver said town officials are sympathetic to the plight of those living over the plume.

But she said any reduction on tax assessments could cause the tax burden to rise in other parts of the town.

"We have to be very careful in confirming the effects of TCE on property values," she said.

Pulver said the Town Board will discuss whether it should join the residents' lawsuit against GE, as has been suggested by Wein, and board members could have a decision by the end of September.

Jody DeLong is reminded of her problem every time her basement TCE air pump kicks in and the dishes in the cupboard start rattling.

"I can't walk away from this house."

"I worked hard to establish my credit," she said.

"I wouldn't want to sell this house to anyone with kids."

"I have some guilt that I raised by kids here, but I am between a rock and a hard place."

"What I know, I wish I didn't know."

"It's led to many a sleepless night."

Nearing can be reached at 454-5094 or by e-mail at bnearing@timesunion.com.

History of contamination

Here is a timeline of the history of contamination from the 32-acre General Electric capacitor plant on Broadway in Fort Edward.

1942: Main plant built to manufacture bomber turrets during World War II.

1946-77: GE manufactures capacitors using PCBs and trichloroethene, a solvent to clean machinery.

Industrial wastewater discharged untreated into Hudson until 1976, when a water treatment plant was built.

1982: Contaminants found in well water of nearby homes.

1983: GE replaces wells with municipal water hookups and builds shallow groundwater recovery wells to pump out TCEs.

1990: PCB-tainted soil removed from the site.

1994: More homes with contaminated wells hooked up to municipal water supply.

2004: TCEs found in groundwater and soils around basement slabs in neighborhood south of the plant.

Air tests find detectable TCE levels in some homes.

GE offers basement air pumps to 76 homeowners to dissipate air to the outside; 47 accept.

Source: State Department of Environmental Conservation.

[Livyjr]

"Spitzer: 'Passion' for reform, lack of humility allowed scandal"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 5:33 p.m., Tuesday, August 7, 2007

ALBANY -- Gov. Eliot Spitzer said the scandal stalling his administration shows how his "passion" for reforming Albany needs to be tempered with humility.

"Without vigilance and humility," Spitzer said Tuesday at the Chautauqua Institution retreat, "righteousness can become self-righteousness."

"Over the past few weeks, it has become evident that this principle was forgotten," Spitzer said, according to a transcript of the speech.

"We were fighting so hard for what we believed that we let down our guard and allowed our passion to get the best of us."

"I have accepted responsibility for these failures."

He also said "hubris is terminal," quoting an old saying, and added that "without a greater amount of humility, great power will not simply cause us to make mistakes."

"It will be our undoing."

It was rare introspection for the governor, who prefers detailed discussion of policy over philosophizing.

But the scandal has stalled his hard-charging administration despite his insistence he didn't know of a plot by aides against his political adversary, Republican Senate leader Joseph Bruno, who has called Spitzer a spoiled rich kid too used to getting his way.

The speech came as his administration was criticized by Republicans for providing only government -- not personal -- e-mails to the attorney general's office during its investigation of the political scheme targeting Bruno.

A Spitzer spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday personal e-mails were not provided, but steps were taken to preserve all documents.

So other correspondence could be available to the state Ethics Commission and the Albany County District Attorney's office, both of which have subpoena power.

Those offices are reviewing events surrounding the use of state police by two Spitzer aides to collect records on Bruno's travel on a state helicopter and with state police drivers while he mixed state business and political fundraisers.

The effort aimed to embarrass Bruno through a release of the information to an Albany newspaper, according to the Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's investigation.

The New York Post reported Monday that the administration didn't turn over e-mails from personal e-mail addresses from top aides to Spitzer.

"We did a diligent search of what was in our custody and control," Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson said Tuesday.

She said that means the only electronic correspondence turned over to Cuomo was from government e-mail accounts.

"It's another reason why we need an independent investigation to find out what information may not have been uncovered by the attorney general's report so we can get to the truth," said Bruno spokesman Mark Hansen.

Cuomo detailed his investigation of the scandal July 23 and concluded no laws were broken and the plot ended at the two aides.

Since then, the administration confirmed that one of the aides -- Communications Director Darren Dopp -- and Secretary to the Gov. Rich Baum, who received e-mails from Dopp, declined to be interviewed by Cuomo.

Instead, Dopp and Baum provided written statements.

The other aide, public safety adviser William Howard, was interviewed by Cuomo.

Spitzer has said he knew nothing of the plan and would have stopped it if he had.

He disciplined Dopp and Howard and said the administration cooperated with Cuomo.

But Cuomo's conclusion has been questioned by Republican senators because Baum, Dopp and Spitzer weren't interviewed and because personal e-mails weren't turned over.

In addition, state Inspector General Kristine Hamann, who ran an investigation concurrent with Cuomo, had subpoena power, but didn't use it.

"At no point in our investigation were our requests for information refused, so there was no need to issue subpoenas," said Steven DelGiacco, spokesman for Hamann's office in the first expansive comment on the case.

Asked about the refusal by Baum and Dopp to be interviewed, DelGiacco wouldn't discussion specifics of the investigation.

Spitzer's counsel's office had argued that the statements by Baum and Dopp addressed Cuomo's concerns.

"We concluded that the state police had not conducted surveillance of Sen. Bruno and that no laws had been violated," DelGiacco stated.

"However, we also determined, in agreement with the attorney general's office, that two officials of the governor's office had engaged in serious misconduct."

He said a separate report by Hamann would be "redundant."

"Once the Attorney General's Office issued its report, which was consistent with the results of this office's investigation, the inspector general decided that further inquiry by us would not result in a final resolution of this matter," he said.

"In view of the fact that, pursuant to statute, the inspector general reports to the secretary to the governor, Richard Baum, and that questions have been raised about Baum's possible actions, further investigation by this office would present a direct conflict and serve no practical purpose."

Republican senators will explore the scandal in hearings scheduled to begin Thursday.

[Livyjr]

TO REVIEW THE "TROOPERGATE REPORT" OF NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ANDREW CUOMO, CLICK ON THIS LINK:

http://adcreatives.nydailynews.com/static/...eral/index.html

"Spitzer: 'Passion' for reform, lack of humility allowed scandal"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 5:33 p.m., Tuesday, August 7, 2007

ALBANY -- In addition, state Inspector General Kristine Hamann, who ran an investigation concurrent with Cuomo, had subpoena power, but didn't use it.

"At no point in our investigation were our requests for information refused, so there was no need to issue subpoenas," said Steven DelGiacco, spokesman for Hamann's office in the first expansive comment on the case.

Asked about the refusal by Baum and Dopp to be interviewed, DelGiacco wouldn't discussion specifics of the investigation.

"Once the Attorney General's Office issued its report, which was consistent with the results of this office's investigation, the inspector general decided that further inquiry by us would not result in a final resolution of this matter," he said.

"In view of the fact that, pursuant to statute, the inspector general reports to the secretary to the governor, Richard Baum, and that questions have been raised about Baum's possible actions, further investigation by this office would present a direct conflict and serve no practical purpose."

"Spitzer: 'We let down our guard' - Governor refers to scandal as attorney general's office reveals probe included official e-mails only"

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Gov. Eliot Spitzer, in an unusual display of introspection, said Tuesday that his passion to reform Albany may have gotten the best of him.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans may launch yet another investigation into the Democratic governor's actions, in addition to the one already planned by the Senate Investigations Committee.

A potential new front in the numerous probes also seemed to open with revelations that the private e-mail accounts of Spitzer's aides were not examined in an investigation by the attorney general.

While not directly mentioning the scandal swirling around his administration, Spitzer's speech, titled "The Need for Both Passion and Humility in Politics," appeared to be his strongest apology yet.

"Without vigilance and humility," Spitzer said, "righteousness can become self-righteousness."

"Over the past few weeks, it has become evident that this principle was forgotten," Spitzer said, according to a transcript of the speech delivered at the Chautauqua Institution, a retreat in western New York.

"We were fighting so hard for what we believed that we let down our guard and allowed our passion to get the best of us."

Spitzer has maintained that he was unaware his top aides improperly got State Police to recreate travel records of trips that Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno took to New York City during which the senator, a Republican, used a state helicopter and State Police drivers.

The creation of those records has sparked investigations and Republican accusations of dirty tricks.

The Senate Committee on Investigations is scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss hearings on the matter, which could require aides to Spitzer and even the governor himself to testify under oath.

The Times Union has learned that the Senate Elections Committee may get involved, too, possibly under the aegis of legislation that would control the use of loans in financing campaigns.

If that were to happen, Senate Republicans would not only explore what Spitzer knew about the scandal but could highlight an incident in 1998.

Spitzer, who then was running for attorney general, first said he had taken out personal bank loans to finance the race but later admitted that his father, real estate developer Bernard Spitzer, lent him the money.

"This obviously has become an issue that people have talked about," said Ryan Nobles, spokesman for Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, who heads the Elections Committee.

Were the Elections Committee to get involved, it would bring the number of investigations that have started or may start to seven.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares, the state Ethics Commission and state Commission on Investigations also may be looking into the recent allegations.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo investigated and issued a report last month.

Inspector General Kristine Hamann also investigated, but she said her report was folded into Cuomo's.

Cuomo found no surveillance or illegality in "Troopergate," but he concluded that Spitzer's aides, including now-suspended Communications Director Darren Dopp and Homeland Security official William Howard, who has been re-assigned, acted improperly in getting police involved in what was essentially a partisan political matter.

Cuomo's probe has been criticized because two of the key players in Spitzer's administration, Dopp and Secretary Richard Baum, refused to testify before investigators.

Adding to criticism by Republicans were revelations this week that investigators got only official e-mails among Spitzer's aides, leaving out messages used in personal e-mail accounts.

"We did a diligent search of what was in our custody and control," Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson said, explaining that only government e-mails were given to investigators.

"It's another reason why we need an independent investigation to find out what information may not have been uncovered by the attorney general's report so we can get to the truth," replied Bruno spokesman Mark Hansen.

Rick Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.

With Associated Press and Bloomberg News.

[Livyjr]

ALBANY, NEW YORK TIMES UNION CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

And since there are a lot of “evidence” types in here who want to “SEE THE BEEF” as it were, when charges of on-going public corruption are laid against public officials in here ..

In support of what I am stating about the “use” of the NYSP to intimidate and harass citizens in order to cover over public corruption in NYS, I have here before me right now on my desk a copy of a March 2, 1990 correspondence on STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK STATE POLICE letterhead from Edward J. Minahan, Lieutenant Colonel, Assistant Deputy Superintendent, NYSP, to former Rensselaer County Associate Public Health Engineer Paul R. Plante, P.E., of Joe Bruno’s CORRUPT Rensselaer County acknowledging receipt of a February 15, 1990 letter from Plante to the Superintendent of the NYSP at that time …

That letter to the NYSP from Plante concerned itself with the cover-up by the NYSP of a HIT-AND-RUN ASSAULT on Plante on December 29, 1989 by a GOON allegedly associated with the JOE BRUNO MACHINE in Rensselaer County …

At the time, Plante had been investigating corruption in the Rensselaer County and New York State Departments of Health, which had resulted in a March 15, 1989 REPORT OF INVESTIGATION by then-NYS Health Commissioner Dr. David Axelrod which confirmed corruption in the NYS and Rensselaer County Dept’s. of Health going back to around 1977 or 1978 …

That REPORT OF INVESTIGATION was subsequently in the hands of the FBI in Albany in connection with a federal Hobbs Act “public corruption” investigation in Rensselaer County that had roped in none other than “BIG JOE” Bruno himself, in connection with his own “land dealings” in Rensselaer County, where the Rensselaer County Department of Health was Joe’s personal “rubber-stamping machine” for him and his protected and connected “buddies” and “pals” … …

So …

To get rid of the investigation, all that was necessary to do was to get rid of the witness …

And so it was done …

And the NYSP were an integral part of that “final solution” …

And this is not just smoke that I am blowing here ..

There is already discussion of this same incident at:

http://blogs.timesunion.com/localpolitics/?p=193#comments

Where then-Assistant Rensselaer County District Attorney Richard McNally can be seen having to stand before then-Rensselaer County Court Judge M. Andrew Dwyer to tell the judge that McNally “had no evidence” …

The “evidence” that McNally did have was lies from New York State Troopers …

Which is what the March 2, 1990 Minahan letter to Plante was about …

The highest echelons of the NYSP knew of this hit-and-run, and they knew of the cover-up by NYS Troopers …

And they elected to protect the Troopers and the lies …

All of which is a sorry, ugly chapter in NYS history that is very well-documented in the records of the Rensselaer County Clerk …

And yes, two of those Troopers involved in the cover-up of that hit-and-run were promoted to BCI …

And so …

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=5169#comments

[Livyjr]

ALBANY, NEW YORK TIMES UNION CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

Comment by John Galt — August 8, 2007 @ 7:32 am

More recently, in August of 2001, to be exact, when Eliot “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer was the NYS AG, this same engineer Plante was documenting with a digital video-camera the same type of on-going corruption which had existed in 1988 in the Rensselaer County Dept. of Health involving licensed professional engineers making and filing false reports with the Rensselaer County Department of Health to obtain various permits, when he was assaulted on camera by a young thug who openly bragged on camera about being a “protected person” in Rensselaer County who was an untouchable ...

On August 22, 2001, this same individual was able to “procure” for a “disbursement” a fraudulent “involuntary psychiatric commitment order” for Plante from a political doctor in Troy, New York …

According to public records and the sworn affidavit of an Albany, New York Police Officer who happened to be an eye-witness to the false imprisonment of Plante in the secure psychiatric wing of the Stratton VA Hospital in Albany based on that fraudulent commitment order, the actual securing of that fraudulent “commitment order” on August 22, 2001 directly involved the active participation of a NYSP BCI investigator in the office of “BIG JOE” Bruno’s son, Kenneth, who was then Rensselaer County District Attorney …

According to public records, the office of Eliot “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer got the sworn affidavit of the Albany Police Officer suppressed, and the NYSP BCI Investigator simply shut his mouth, and the office of NYS AG Eliot “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer protected the BCI Investigator and kept quiet his role in the commission of alleged state and federal crimes, in the words of Rensselaer County Court Judge Patrick McGrath, who himself had reviewed the evidence, including the videotape of the assault, and the sworn affidavit of the Albany police officer, which the SPITZER-ITES managed to suppress to protect the PERPS and the NYSP …

And so …

That folks, is another part of the sad and very ugly history of NYS, including the “use” of the NYSP to harass and intimidate NYS citizens who would challenge corruption and the staus quo in Albany, that is preserved in extensive public records here in NYS …

And so …

Sorry Terry O’Niell, Esq., and Boyer U. Klum-Cey and Impeach Eliot …

But that is just how the actual story as documented in public records here in NYS goes …

And so …

Comment by John Galt — August 8, 2007 @ 7:55 am

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=5169#comments

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Spitzer says he's learned - Dirty tricks scandal helped teach me humility, governor adds"

BY JOE MAHONEY, DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF

Wednesday, August 8th 2007, 4:00 AM

Gov. Spitzer said yesterday he has been chastened by the dirty tricks scandal that rocked his administration, learning the value of humility and admitting his team "allowed our passion to get the best of us."

Spitzer's remarks were his most contrite and reflective since two of his top aides were blamed by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for misusing the state police to collect information against Senate GOP leader Joe Bruno.

He went 300 miles from Albany to deliver them at the Chautauqua Institution in Jamestown, on the western edge of the state.

"Without vigilance and humility, righteousness can become self-righteousness," the governor said in his speech.

"Over the past few weeks, it has become evident that this principle was forgotten."

"We were fighting so hard for what we believed that we let down our guard and allowed our passion to get the best of us."

"I have accepted responsibility for these failures."

Republicans who have pressed for further investigation were unimpressed.

"The speech didn't shed any new light on the scandal," said Bruno spokesman Mark Hansen.

Roger Stone, a strategist retained by the Senate GOP, said, "Eliot Spitzer cannot regain the trust of the voters until there is a full, bipartisan investigation of all the facts."

Supporters of the governor who had told the Daily News less than two weeks ago that he needs to moderate his style gave the speech two thumbs up.

"He showed contrition and a recognition of his failure in personal relationships," said former Mayor Ed Koch.

Spitzer's words, he said, were "absolutely" sincere and showed that "he is filled with pain."

Instead of peppering the speech with his usual laugh lines, Spitzer reached into the writings of the late theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in underscoring the need to be humble.

"Without a greater humility, great power will not simply cause us to make mistakes."

"It will be our undoing," he said.

Meanwhile, a source familiar with Albany County District Attorney David Soares' investigation said it is likely that Spitzer's highest-ranking assistant, Richard Baum, will be retaining his own criminal defense lawyer, just as suspended Communications Director Darren Dopp has.

Dopp had been recommended for discipline in the attorney general's report, while Baum was not.

However, both men were aware of the effort to publicize Bruno's use of state aircraft, according to the Cuomo report.

jmahoney@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/08/08..._learned-2.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Fire dirty aides & they'll come clean - Bruno"

BY JOE MAHONEY, DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF

Tuesday, August 7th 2007, 4:00 AM

ALBANY - State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno scolded Gov. Spitzer yesterday for refusing to fire any of the aides responsible for the dirty tricks scheme against him - and he suggested the reason is to keep them quiet.

Spitzer reassigned and cut the salary of former homeland security adviser William Howard last week.

Earlier, he suspended without pay his communications director, Darren Dopp.

Both men were recommended for discipline by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in a July 23 report on the effort to have state police gather unflattering information about Bruno's use of state aircraft.

"If you cut people loose ... then they will feel much freer to tell the truth," Bruno told Albany radio station WROW.

He said the administration's response to the scandal "appears to be a coverup, and we need the truth."

Spitzer's spokeswoman Christine Anderson rejected Bruno's criticism.

"Considering the facts laid out in the report, the governor believes the sanctions he instituted are appropriate and necessary," she said.

Dopp's lawyer Terence Kindlon also jabbed back, telling the Daily News:

"As far as I'm concerned, Joe Bruno should be fired for misusing the state police helicopter."

Bruno's use of the state chopper three times this year passed the legality test because he included at least one governmental meeting on trips that included several political events.

Now, Senate Republicans are seeking to outlaw any trip not strictly for official business.

Kindlon also disclosed Dopp is willing to waive his right to invoke the Fifth Amendment should Albany District Attorney David Soares put him before a grand jury.

"Darren Dopp has done nothing wrong," Kindlon said.

"We're fully prepared to participate in anybody's investigation."

"We're ready, willing and able to answer any questions."

The Senate Investigations Committee is set to open its own inquiry into the scandal Thursday, although sworn testimony will not be taken on that day, according to the panel's chairman, Sen. George Winner (R-Elmira).

One committee member, Sen. Tom Duane (D-Manhattan), sent Winner a letter yesterday, saying he feared the hearing would be governed by "partisanship" and argued the Ethics Commission, which has also opened an inquiry, is the "appropriate forum" for answering remaining questions.

Republicans say the Ethics Commission is not suited to run an impartial probe because it is headed by Spitzer appointees.

jmahoney@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/08/07...clean__bru.html