Clueless Paterson Rehires Disgraced Chief of Staff

Hey, the guy had tax issues, so obviously that's a resume enhancer these days. Though it's odd rehiring a guy who caused so many problems that still plague David Paterson to this day.

Charles J. O’Byrne, the former top aide to Gov. David A. Paterson whose resignation amid a tax scandal last year destabilized the administration, will return to help oversee the governor’s 2010 re-election campaign, the governor’s office said on Saturday.

Mr. O’Byrne’s new role will be as an unpaid political adviser, a spokeswoman for Mr. Paterson’s office said, a setup that will allow Mr. O’Byrne to continue to work on behalf of private clients as a consultant.

Mr. O’Byrne’s duties were still being defined, the spokeswoman said. He is expected to have responsibility in helping to run Mr. Paterson’s political operations and to work in a significant way with the governor’s senior staff in the Capitol.

“The governor will have a reinvigorated operation led by O’Byrne that will focus on the re-election,” said one person with direct knowledge of the governor’s plans. “That’s where they decided to deploy him, and he’ll provide guidance to the new internal team about what works for the governor.”

The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss decisions that the administration has not revealed publicly, said it was possible that more top positions in the governor’s cabinet could change hands in the coming days and weeks.

The announcement that Mr. O’Byrne would rejoin the Paterson administration was made just two days after the governor started clearing a path for the former top aide’s return. When asked on Thursday about the possibility of Mr. O’Byrne coming back as the governor’s most senior adviser, Mr. Paterson replied that it was a “fascinating idea” that he planned to discuss with Mr. O’Byrne.

Mr. Paterson’s office released a statement on Saturday evening saying that the governor had spoken to Mr. O’Byrne about rehiring him and that the former adviser agreed to come back in a volunteer capacity.

“Yesterday evening, I met with Charles O’Byrne to discuss the possibility of us working together again,” Mr. Paterson’s statement said. “Charles is very much enjoying his new career and has offered to work as a volunteer in a leadership position with my 2010 campaign.”

Democrat Afflicted With 'Non-Filer Syndrome' Forced to Resign

How much ignominy can New York take? Obviously, Eliot Spitzer is forever a punchline, but his successor, David Paterson, seems to keep stumbling. Saddled with a chief of staff who absurdly claimed 'non-filer syndrome' as an excuse for not paying taxes, Paterson clearly saw no alternative than to sack Charles O'Byrne.

Gov. Paterson's chief of staff Charles O'Byrne resigned under pressure this afternoon, The Post has learned.

O'Byrne decided to resign a week after The Post first reported that he failed to pay his taxes for five years – a period in which he claimed to have suffered from clinical depression.

O'Byrne's hopes for political survival deteriorated two days ago, when his lawyers revealed his tax debt had actually reached nearly $300,000 – $100,000 more than he originally disclosed – and that he had only paid it off this week.

A suggestion by O'Byrne's attorney that his client suffered from "non-filer syndrome" also brought widespread ridicule and calls for O'Byrne's resignation.

O'Byrne's ouster amounts to the first major shake-up within the Paterson administration, barely seven after the former lieutenant governor took over in the wake of Eliot Spitzer's resignation.

The people of New York clearly have a huge tolerance for Democrat malfeasance. But I guess they hate being ridiculed.

Previously.

Democrat Invents Best Excuse Ever for Not Paying Taxes: 'Non-Filer Syndrome'

Let's see you or I try this one and see how fast we wind up in jail. But since this guy is the chief of staff to New York Governor David Paterson, it'll probably just spawn a legion of people now suffering from non-filers syndrome.

Unreal.

We'll bet even the IRS hasn't heard this one yet.

Gov. Paterson's chief of staff now says he owed nearly $300,000 in back taxes, $100,000 more than was previously known - and his lawyer blamed the problem on "non-filer syndrome."

Charles O'Byrne's attorney, Richard Kestenbaum, mentioned the virtually unheard-of ailment at a briefing for reporters intended to quell the firestorm surrounding O'Byrne's failure to file income-tax returns from 2001 to 2005.

O'Byrne, 49, a former Jesuit priest with close ties to the Kennedy family, has already blamed his neglect to file - first reported by The Post - on clinical depression.

Kestenbaum said yesterday O'Byrne also had "non-filer syndrome."

"Many times, that syndrome causes them not to be able to file their tax returns," he explained.

Rhondalee Dean-Royce, a spokeswoman for the American Psychiatric Association, said there is no such disorder or syndrome in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a standard reference.

Plenty of professionals don't file because they're too busy or too depressed or because of a family tragedy, said IRS spokesman Larry Wright. But he's never heard of non-filer syndrome.

Other tax experts found the concept ridiculous.

"Yes, it's quite common," one Manhattan accountant joked. "A hundred percent of my clients suffer from this syndrome, and it gets especially bad every year as April 15th approaches."

Paterson spokeswoman Marissa Shorenstein later played down Kestenbaum's diagnosis.

"The lawyer was referring generally to a condition he has had experience with, both in private practice and while he worked at the IRS, called 'late-filers syndrome.' Charles O'Byrne has never been diagnosed with that syndrome," she said.

The "syndrome" claim came five days after The Post first reported that O'Byrne - who earns $178,500 a year - recently repaid some $200,000 in back taxes, penalties and fees to state and federal tax authorities.

Yesterday, O'Byrne's attorneys revealed his debt had actually reached $292,780.

Since according to Joe Biden paying taxes is the new patriotism, does this make O'Byrne unpatriotic?

If President Obama raises my taxes and I refuse to pay them, will that make me a conscientious objector?

Needless to say, O'Byrne is taxing credibility.

Hot Air links. Thanks!

Democrat Failed to Pay Taxes Because He Was 'Depressed'

Joe the Plumber has a tax lien for a thousand bucks and gets raked over the coals by the left, but here we have a the top aide to New York Governor who failed to pay taxes for five years to the tune of $200,000 and claims he failed to do so because he was depressed.

Aww, poor thing.

Gov. Paterson's top aide has paid more than $200,000 in back taxes after failing to file his income taxes for five years - claiming he was suffering from severe mental illness, The Post has learned.

Charles O'Byrne, the governor's $178,500-a-year chief of staff, says he recently settled a debt that soared to at least $206,000.

The sum included $151,000 owed to the IRS and another $56,000 in state taxes, including various penalties and interest.

O'Byrne did not file state or federal returns in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. During part of that period, he was employed by the state.

O'Byrne disclosed the tax debt and his failure to file returns after being questioned by The Post about an outstanding $11,500 tax warrant listed by the Department of State.

A former Jesuit priest who officiated at both the wedding and funeral of John F. Kennedy Jr., O'Byrne said it all stemmed from two severe bouts with depression.

"Certainly, I'm ashamed of the fact that this has occurred in my life," O'Byrne told The Post. "But I'm clinically aware of the fact that it is a consequence of an illness over which I had no control.

"As anyone who's been through a clinical depression understands, parts of life fall apart," he added.

"Keeping up with the mail, frankly, and keeping up with the personal affairs of my life was the primary casualty of the depression I've suffered and have been treated for."

O'Byrne says he is no longer suffering mental illness and is not undergoing treatment. All outstanding state and federal tax claims have been satisfied, he said.

O'Byrne, 49, serves as the senior in-house adviser to Paterson, whose administration is currently cracking down on corporations, small businesses and individuals trying to cheat the state on taxes.

For his own part, Paterson said he was generally aware of O'Byrne's tax debt before he hired him as a speechwriter in September 2004.

Obviously that's poor judgment on Paterson's part. But Democrats are above the law, so why does any of this matter.

By the way, nobody here is making light of depression. The point is despite hardships, physical maladies or mental illness of any kind, you're still required to pay your taxes and if you're incapable of doing so, someone should be appointed to handle your affairs.

These flimsy excuses after the fact don't cut it. If this were a top aide to a Republican governor, the guy would be in jail.