PANELIST RIPS 'DIRTY TRICKS' SECRECY
THE state Public Integrity Commission gives the appearance of being "involved in a cover-up" of Gov. Spitzer's role in the Dirty Tricks Scandal because its probe has been slow and secretive, a member of the group has told The Post.Read the rest.
"Many of us are getting frustrated at the glacial pace and the secrecy within the secrecy that has come to define our investigation, not to mention the growing perception that we're involved in a cover-up," said the commission member, who has ties to Spitzer.
"I took this job to serve the state, not to help cover up for the governor or anyone else," added the member, who insisted on anonymity.
The unprecedented comment by one of the 13 unpaid commission members comes after months of confused and ineffective investigative efforts by the Spitzer-controlled panel into the use of the State Police by top gubernatorial aides to gather purportedly damaging information on Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer).
It also follows Spitzer's claim to the Buffalo News that his long-expected commission testimony won't be made public because of a supposed prohibition in the panel's "rules."
Legal experts told The Post that while state law bars the commission from disclosing certain investigative information, the law does not bar Spitzer from disclosing his own testimony.
"I don't know of anything that would bar the commission from allowing the governor to record his own comments, which he could then make public," said a well-known expert on state ethics laws.
"At the very least, the governor could agree to step outside and answer questions from the press the way he says he's prepared to answer questions from the commission," the expert said.
Spitzer has publicly claimed he wants to testify in public, but privately, he and his aides are fighting efforts by the commission and the Senate Investigations Committee to obtain scandal-related documents and testimony.
Meanwhile, the New York Sun offers some tips for the beleaguered Spitzer.
UPDATE: Latest Poll: Can It Get Any Worse for Spitzer?We can hope, can't we?
A new poll by the Siena Research Institute finds that for the first time, a majority of New York State voters — 51 percent, up from 46 percent in November — view Gov. Eliot Spitzer unfavorably and that most voters — including a plurality of Democrats — would favor “someone else” over re-electing the governor.More here and here..
The new poll, released this morning, shows the extent to which Mr. Spitzer’s first year in office has been damaged by his administration’s botched effort to discredit State Senator Joseph L. Bruno, his constant feuding with the Senate Republicans and his ill-fated proposal to grant driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
“Voters are continuing to lose faith in their governor,” said Steven Greenberg, a spokesman for the poll, part of Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y. “Today, a majority of voters have an unfavorable view of Spitzer. More than two-thirds give him a negative job performance rating. More voters think he’s doing a ‘poor’ job than think he’s doing an ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ job combined. Even 61 percent of Democrats view his job performance negatively.”
The telephone poll was conducted Dec. 3-6 with 625 registered New York State voters. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The poll found that 36 percent of voters viewed the governor favorably, and 51 percent unfavorably, compared with respective margins of 41 percent to 46 percent in November and 64 percent to 22 percent in June. Most New York City voters still view the governor favorably, while upstate voters overwhelmingly do not, the poll found.
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