Spitzer was behind Troopergate

I never wrote about New York State’s remarkable Troopergate scandal after it broke last July and went on for months, dragging Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, lower and lower in the polls. Close aides of Spitzer had improperly used state police to gather damaging information on his chief political rival, Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno, and then released the information to an Albany newspaper friendly to the governor. From the start, Spitzer denied that he had been personally involved. This was universally regarded as unbelievable, given Spitzer’s micromanaging of everything done by his office. Now the New York Times reports:

Spitzer Pushed Staff’s Effort to Smear Bruno
March 24, 2008

Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer was deeply involved in his administration’s efforts last year to discredit the State Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, holding detailed discussions with senior aides, ordering damaging information about Mr. Bruno released, and calling an aide at home repeatedly to check on the progress, according to several people with direct knowledge of the investigation.

The governor has previously said he was not personally involved in the effort, suggesting only that he was vaguely aware that his aides had responded to a reporter’s inquiry about Mr. Bruno’s travels on state aircraft.

But testimony and other information gathered by the Albany County district attorney, P. David Soares, indicate that the governor’s participation was extensive and reflected Mr. Spitzer’s intense desire to damage Mr. Bruno, the people with knowledge of the case said.

The investigation was based on examination of e-mail messages, along with interviews with about a half-dozen senior administration officials, chief among them Mr. Spitzer’s former communications director, Darren Dopp, whom prosecutors decided last month to give immunity from prosecution.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Spitzer, who resigned March 12 after reports that he had patronized a high-priced prostitution ring, could not immediately comment on Sunday night.

Heather Orth, a spokeswoman for Mr. Soares, said: “As with all cases of public integrity, we will not comment on an ongoing investigation. We expect to be completed with our investigation at the end of the month, and will report our findings then.”

The effort to tarnish Mr. Bruno was the first major blunder of Mr. Spitzer’s first term. A report by the attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, on July 23 said that the Spitzer administration had improperly used the State Police to assemble records on Mr. Bruno’s flights. Mr. Spitzer apologized, placed Mr. Dopp on indefinite unpaid leave, and said he would not tolerate such behavior.

But according to the people with knowledge of the investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the inquiry is not over, Mr. Dopp described a meeting he had with Mr. Spitzer just before releasing the records assembled on Mr. Bruno to a reporter from The Times Union of Albany.

Around June 25 or June 26, Mr. Dopp told prosecutors, he first met with Richard Baum, the governor’s chief of staff, who told Mr. Dopp that the governor wanted the records on Mr. Bruno released to the media. “Eliot wants you to release the records,” Mr. Baum told him.

But Mr. Dopp, mindful of the political war that would erupt between the governor’s office and Mr. Bruno, hesitated and decided to check with the governor.

He told the governor that Mr. Bruno would be furious, according to people familiar with his account. Mr. Spitzer responded with expletives about Mr. Bruno and belligerently dismissed the warning.

The governor was so angry, Mr. Dopp recalled, that he turned red and spit out coffee he was sipping as he directed him to release the records immediately. “As he was saying it, he was spitting a little bit,” Mr. Dopp said. “He was spitting mad.” [cont.]

This out-of-control individual was the governor of a state. The photo accompanying the Times story, of a May 2007 meeting between Bruno and Spitzer, says it all. Bruno speaking, and Spitzer with a look of furious rage on his face that says, “Why do I have to spend a single moment of my life dealing with this inferior? I want to be rid of him.” Early last year, shortly after becoming governor, Spitzer had shocked his aides by referring to Bruno as a “senile piece of s__t.” But the man who thought he was superior to everyone around him, was himself on the bottom.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at March 25, 2008 08:37 AM | Send