We Still Have Eliot Spitzer to Kick Around

The cesspool that is the New York Democratic Party seems to be engaged in one massive cover-up, and thanks to endless stonewalling, it appears we'll never get to full truth on the Troopergate scandal that engulfed the Spitzer administration long before Spitzer was forced from office over his dalliances with a prostitute.

Papers now released via a Freedom of Information request expose Albany DA David Soares as a total hack unwilling to seriously probe Spitzer and his goon squad that tried to set up State Senate GOP leader Joseph Bruno.

More than 8,500 pages of Dirty Tricks Scandal documents released yesterday by the Albany district attorney reveal kid-gloves treatment for then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer and little interest in aggressively pursuing criminal charges against any of his aides.

The documents, forced into the open by Freedom of Information requests filed by The Post and other news organizations, confirm earlier reports that Albany DA David Soares was reluctant to probe the explosive plot in which Spitzer's top aides used the State Police to gather purportedly damaging information against then-Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer.)

Spitzer received light and friendly questions with little, if any, follow up by Soares' office in September with his nonsworn testimony running only 22 pages, according to the documents.

Criminal investigator Linda Griggs warmly welcomed Spitzer to the questioning, saying, "Governor, we do appreciate your willingness and cooperation in helping us with our inquiry."

Spitzer responded, "It's my pleasure" to be there.

The tone of the interview was also sympathetic and unquestioning, as when Spitzer was asked, "Did you ever direct any type of surveillance by anyone on Senator Bruno?"

Spitzer responded, "Absolutely not," and there was no follow-up questioning.

But Darren Dopp, Spitzer's communications director, has repeatedly insisted, both publicly and in sworn testimony to the state Public Integrity Commission, that Spitzer was aware that his own top aides were using the State Police to orchestrate a campaign against Bruno.

In contrast to Soares' treatment of Spitzer, the commission - which last month accused four top Spitzer aides including Dopp of breaking the law - aggressively grilled the now-former governor under oath in May in testimony running 277 pages.

The commission also revealed that a top Soares aide secretly sought prior approval from Spitzer's office before releasing a statement on its supposed investigation.

Read the rest. Soares should be booted from office, at the very least.

Knowing New York State, he'll probably wind up as Attorney General some day.

What a joke.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Spitzer Goons Face Ethics Charges

After noting earlier today how Eliot Spitzer's hooker was back in the news, I was wondering what Eliot and his former henchpersons were up to.

Well, what do you know, we now find out four of his goons are now facing ethics charges for trying to railroad GOP Senate Leader Joe Bruno. Sure, it's all basically slap on the wrist stuff and these punks should be staring at jail time; maybe they'll roll over and rat out the big cheese, though I won't hold my breath on that.

Four former officials of the Spitzer administration violated the state’s Public Officers Law when they sought to have the state police gather damaging information about State Senator Joseph L. Bruno’s travels on state aircraft last summer, according to a report released today by the State Commission on Public Integrity.

Two of the officials, Richard Baum, the former top aide to Gov. Eliot Spitzer, and William Howard, a former public safety adviser to the governor, have already reached settlements with the commission.

The other two officials, former communications director Darren Dopp and former state police superintendent Preston Felton, are contesting the charges. If the commission’s findings are upheld, Mr. Dopp could be subject to a $10,000 fine and Mr. Felton to fines totaling $20,000.

The Albany DA David Soares and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo are both Democrat hacks, so don't expect them to work overtime pursuing Spitzer.

It's likely his public humiliation is his ultimate punishment.

More here, which notes this gem from Spitzer during his testimony before the commission.

"I'm giving you my best recollection, which is that I have no recollection of it happening," Spitzer said in testimony before the commission, denying any memory of receiving updates from his staff on the monitoring of Bruno by state police.

'I Don't Like These Guys Tagging After Me...'

Most people wouldn't object to having such an active security detail, not to mention having someone get your bags for you.

Apparently, however, disgraced former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer didn't like state troopers "clinging" to him.

Hmm. I wonder why?

FORMER Gov. Eliot Spitzer, forced to resign when his trysts with a high-priced hooker were exposed, had repeatedly protested that his State Police bodyguards were watching him too closely, a former top aide recalled.

"I've stayed awake at night thinking about it," former Spitzer Communications Director Darren Dopp told The Post, adding that he now believes the complaints may have been hints at the scandal to come.

"I've thought about it because it didn't seem right to me at the time," Dopp said.

Dopp, a key figure in the Dirty Tricks Scandal who has only begun to discuss Spitzer in the last two weeks, said that days after taking office on Jan. 1, 2007, the governor started complaining that his State Police security detail was too involved in his day-to-day - not to mention his nighttime - activities.

"Early on, Eliot was saying, 'I don't like these guys tagging after me. They pick up my bags. They're everywhere.'

"He was regularly complaining, to me and to others, that the security detail was being oppressive," Dopp continued.

"I was very confused by what he was saying. I said, 'Boss, you sound like Mario [Cuomo] 12 years earlier,' " said Dopp, who also worked for Gov. Cuomo, known for ditching his security detail so he could mix with the public.

"Eliot was overreacting to the security detail when we started the administration. He kept complaining about the security detail being oppressive," Dopp said.

Glenn Reynolds links. Thanks!

The Stonewall Comes Crumbling Down: Secret Spitzer Testimony to Be Revealed

Well, it's about time. Only took about a year, the downfall of his administration and a pathetic attempt at covering up by the Albany County District Attorney. Now we may just get to the bottom of the Dirty Tricks Scandal.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares, threatened with the prospect of legal action by The Post and other newspapers, flip-flopped yesterday and agreed to release thousands of Dirty Tricks Scandal documents.

The hapless Soares was embarrassed last month when an Albany County official overruled his initial refusal of The Post's request for the records. Soares had insisted that releasing the documents could harm investigations of last summer's plot by then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer to use the State Police to damage Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.

Soares' refusal to comply with the Freedom of Information Law shocked officials of the state Committee on Open Government. The Post then began a proceeding aimed at forcing the district attorney to comply with state law.

More here. Still sounds like the timeframe is muddy. No doubt Soares will try and stall.

Soares had initially refused to release the documents but was overruled by Bryan Clenahan, the county's appeals officer on Freedom on Information cases. His office said it will now release thousands of pages of documents sought by several news organizations, including the Times Union, after the material is reviewed.

A Soares spokeswoman could not say when that would occur, but said it would take some time.

Soares' investigation into the matter concluded Spitzer was directly involved in his office's release of travel records on Senate Majority Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, contrary to the former governor's numerous public assertions that he'd been in the dark on what his aides were doing. Soares' probe found that aides to the governor sought to release the records to expose Bruno's use of state aircraft and State Police drivers on days he attended political fund-raisers in New York City.

An earlier probe by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo found that Spitzer's aides had improperly used State Police to assemble the travel records from memory and involved the police agency in a political matter. The governor's chief spokesman, Darren Dopp, a key figure in the scandal, was suspended and later resigned. His testimony to Soares revealed that the governor had lied about his involvement.

This pathetic saga never would have occurred has Spitzer not been so outrageously power hungry and threatened to "steamroll" people who got in his way.

Hopefully, we get to the bottom of this sordid mess and he pays the price for his actions.

Nobody should feel sorry for this man.

Previously.

Dirty Tricks Cover-Up Continues

If you figured the Dirty Tricks scandal involving Eliot Spitzer would be resolved with his resignation a few months back, then you were hopelessly wrong.

The Albany County DA, David Soares, who particpated in a bogus investigation last year, has now gone so far as to block Freedon of Information requests in violation os state law.

We've now seen a governor resign (granted, there were other factors) and two State Police employees commit suicide in the wake of this scandal, yet the cover-up continues.

An absolute disgrace.

What's worse is the current governor is nowhere to be found on this issue.

Hapless Albany County District Attorney David Soares, who tried to hide Gov. Eliot Spitzer's Dirty Tricks Scandal last year with a half-baked "investigation," is now breaking the state's Freedom of Information Law by refusing to release dozens of scandal-related records.

Soares has blocked an official, legally binding ruling by the Albany County public-information appeals officer - and at the same time rejected the finding of the state's top Freedom of Information official - that transcripts of highly questionable scandal-related testimony by Spitzer, fired acting State Police Superintendent Preston Felton, former top Spitzer aide Darren Dopp and others be provided to The Post.

The potentially explosive ruling was issued nearly two weeks ago, and Soares, in a blatant and possibly unprecedented violation of the Freedom of Information Law, has refused to make the documents available, much less say whether he will honor what is a legally binding ruling.

"I am disturbed by this," Robert Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open Government, told The Post.

"The appeals authority is supposed to be able to make a binding ruling."

The still-secret testimony formed the basis of Soares' September whitewash "report" on Spitzer's involvement in the Dirty Tricks Scandal, in which the then-governor and his top aides used the State Police to gather purportedly damaging information on Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer).

The testimony would likely provide further proof that Spitzer, Dopp and others lied to Soares in an effort to get the Democratic DA, a strong Spitzer political ally, to issue a report challenging Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's earlier finding that top aides to the governor had blatantly misused the State Police in the anti-Bruno plot.

At the very least, Soares should resign. Clearly, he's covering his own backside.

Sadly, Fred Dicker appears to be the only one following the case. The rest of the media is silent.

Shocker! Spitzer Dirty Tricks Campaign Began Earlier Than Thought

Actually, there's nothing to be shocked about. What would be stunning is if the rest of the media outside of Fred Dicker actually got around to investigating this thug.

Gov. Spitzer'S office has turned over "damaging" documents to the Albany County District Attorney's Office revealing that the Dirty Tricks plot against his chief GOP opponent began much earlier than suspected, The Post has learned.

Law-enforcement sources said Dirty Tricks Scandal material subpoenaed weeks ago by DA David Soares from Spitzer's office suggests that the effort to damage or destroy the career of state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer) began as early as January 2007, the month Spitzer took office.

"The documents, which include e-mails, are damaging and embarrassing, and the press will have a field day if the material ever becomes public," said a source close to Spitzer.

I beg to differ. How would the press have a field day when most of them aren't even interested?

You think the New York Times is going to put any of their valuable resources into this when they're busy going after Bruno and editorializing about it?

Please.

Meanwhile, two sources said Spitzer's chief counsel, David Nocenti, testified under oath for several hours on the scandal Thursday before the state Public Integrity Commission, which is conducting its own probe.

A day later, members of the Spitzer-controlled commission - which is believed to be focusing on the actions of former top Spitzer aide Darren Dopp - were told at a secret "executive session" that action in the case, most likely a charge against Dopp, is expected within weeks.

Until now, Spitzer - who has yet to testify under oath about the scandal - has maintained that the use of the State Police by his aides to gather supposedly damaging information on Bruno began only weeks before The Post disclosed the existence of the plot last July 5.

Spitzer, in response to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's bombshell July 23 report on the plot, also insisted he became aware of the effort to gather evidence on Bruno only shortly before The Post's disclosure.

That, my friends, is a damnable lie and Spitzer knows it.

I suspect Dopp is being set up as the fall guy here; Spitzer will magically avoid ever testifying under oath and will be on his merry way. Although Dopp may have had enough of this and is ready to roll over on Spitzer.

Dopp, a longtime Spitzer loyalist now working for Spitzer-connected lobbyist Pat Lynch, has sent signals to several political figures that he "won't remain silent" if he is legally charged.

How Convenient: Demoted Figure in Spitzer Dirty Tricks Scandal Gets Mystery Promotion

We won't yet call this witness tampering, but it sure stinks to high heaven.

We will, however, call it business as usual with the ethically-challenged Spitzer administration.

TOP aides to Gov. Spitzer have secretly promoted a central figure in the Dirty Tricks Scandal who was demoted last summer after his involvement was revealed, The Post has learned.

The unannounced promotion of William Howard, Spitzer's former homeland-security advisor and liaison to the State Police, occurred this month, although Howard is expected to testify in connection with several scandal-related investigations.

The promotion, to acting chief of staff of the Homeland Security Office, was approved around the same time a top scandal investigator with ties to Spitzer was secretly granted a hefty pay raise after only a few months on the job.

"Howard's promotion is startling, because it looks like it is part of a pattern designed to influence the [scandal] investigation," said a Spitzer-administration source.

Howard was demoted from his $175,900-a-year post last July after Attorney General Andrew Cuomo confirmed The Post's disclosure that top Spitzer aides had used the State Police in a plot to damage Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, the governor's chief Republican opponent.

Howard's pay was cut to $155,000 a year, and he was transferred from the Governor's Office at the state Capitol to a secondary post at the Homeland Security Office.

He is expected to receive "a significant raise," a source added.

News of the promotion was all "the buzz" at a homeland-security forum held last week by the state's Business Council. His new title appeared on the list of speakers.

Howard could not be reached for comment.

Naturally. Though I'm sure he could easily be reached when Spitzer needs a favor.

With Democrats running the show in New York, expect them to simply try and milk the clock on this. If only some other media outlets outside of the New York Post would pay any attention (looking at you, NY Times), this might get somewhere.

His promotion comes just weeks after Herbert Teitelbaum, executive director of the Spitzer-controlled Public Integrity Commission, which is probing the scandal, was granted a $15,000-a-year raise and time to take a 21/2-week South American vacation after only a few months on the job.

Last October, Darren Dopp, a key scandal figure suspended in the wake of the Cuomo report, was hired at increased pay and, according to sources, with Spitzer's approval, by lobbyist Patricia Lynch.

A few weeks later, Teitelbaum's commission said Dopp, the governor's former communications director, may have committed perjury when he released what Spitzer claimed was a sworn statement about the scandal.

It must be great to have that D after your name.

Spitzer's 'Bully' Issues Threats

The hijinx just never ends with New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and his band of bullies.

The notoriously hot-tempered rookie governor has found himself plagued with scandals, idiotic legislative proposals, dirty tricks campaigns and now one of his top aides is alleged to have threatened a utility executive during a screaming match.

Some folks at the New York Times obsess over Rudy Giuliani supposedly being a bully, yet remain oddly silent over the behavior of Spitzer and his henchmen.

That 'D' after your name sure does come in handy.

'ELIOT'S BULLY' MADE THREAT: INSIDER

A TOP aide to Gov. Spitzer involved in the Dirty Tricks Scandal angrily threatened to "professionally kill" a top utility executive for opposing the governor's energy policies, sources have told The Post.

Spitzer Policy Director Peter Pope said he was "going to kill" Gavin Donohue, the head of the Independent Power Producers of New York, an association of private energy companies, in a bitter clash early last summer over the governor's efforts to block the construction of nuclear-power plants and more than two "clean coal" plants in the state, the sources said.

"He was really threatening Gavin. It was unbelievable. It was shocking," said one of the state's best-known lobbyists.

Shocking perhaps, but not surprising, considering Pope works for a guy who claims to be a "f---ing steamroller" and is a notorious bully.

"Pope was screaming and threatening to get him fired with his bosses and jabbing his finger in Donohue's face," added another source, who claimed Pope had also threatened several lobbyists over policy disagreements.

"He was yelling at Gavin, 'You're working against us! You're trying to hurt us! You have to pressure [Senate Majority Leader Joseph] Bruno to get with us on this!'

"When Gavin tried to explain why he opposed the governor's plan, Pope said he didn't want to know about the substance of the issue. He just wanted to close down [pass] the governor's bill," the source continued.

Donohue, former deputy chief of staff to Gov. George Pataki and a one-time state Environmental Conservation Department executive deputy commissioner, wasn't intimidated by the confrontation, telling associates, "I told Pope, in so many words, to go f - - - himself."

"I have never been treated so unprofessionally in my whole life," he told associates.

Donohue kept detailed, written notes of the clash, one associate said. Contacted by The Post, Donohue said he'd had "intense negotiations" with Pope.

But when asked whether he had been threatened, he responded, "I have no comment."

Pope, meanwhile, declined to be interviewed for this column but called the information obtained by The Post "inaccurate," according to Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson.

The sources, meanwhile, compared Pope's alleged behavior to the repeated charges that Spitzer - a self-described "f- - - -ng steamroller" - has repeatedly threatened or sought to intimidate political enemies and policy opponents, both as governor and as attorney general.

Pope, a longtime Spitzer friend, was known as "Eliot's bully" because of his aggressiveness as a high-level deputy to Attorney General Spitzer, said a source in the AG's Office.

Pope is one of three Spitzer lawyers who helped prepare a controversial sworn statement for the governor's former communications director, Darren Dopp, in which Dopp gave details of his role in the effort to use the State Police to gather purportedly damaging information on Bruno (R-Rensselaer).

Meanwhile, before he was governor, Spitzer was the New York Attorney General, and really made a lot of friends in that role.

A Park Slope dentist has filed a $75 million lawsuit, claiming Eliot Spitzer used the Attorney General's Office to trump up politically convenient charges of Medicaid fraud against him in 2006.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Brooklyn federal court, charges that Spitzer, who in 2006 was the attorney general and the Democratic front-runner in the primary battle for governor, was getting slammed as being soft on Medicaid fraud - and found a convenient fall guy.

"I had it all, and overnight I lost it all for no good reason, other than for the governor to have a nice headline," said the dentist, Leonard Morse. "If that's what they'll do to a professional, imagine what they could do to the everyday citizen."

Previous posts on Spitzer here.

UPDATE: Hot Air and Suitably Flip link. Thanks!

Did One Spitzer Aide Threaten Another?

Now that Eliot Spitzer has wisely junked plans to hand out driver's licenses to illegal aliens, he's far from in the clear.

More problem lies ahead in his dirty tricks campaign against Joe Bruno.

For instance, did his political director threaten his communications director?

The Albany DA (an ally of Spitzer, by the way) would like to know.

A top aide to Gov. Spitzer is expected to be asked by the Albany district attorney if he or others threatened former Spitzer communications director Darren Dopp with dismissal if he refused to sign a controversial affidavit on the Dirty Tricks Scandal, it was learned last night.

The question will likely be posed to Spitzer policy director Peter Pope, who has been summoned to appear before DA David Soares as soon as today as part of a potentially explosive new investigation of whether Dopp, a central figure in the scandal, committed perjury when he signed the statement, a source said.

"Pope is expected to be asked if he or others threatened Darren with termination unless they signed the affidavit," the source said.

Pope, along with Spitzer counsel David Nocenti and Sean Patrick Maloney, the governor's first deputy secretary, helped prepare a sworn statement signed by Dopp on July 22, a day before Attorney General Andrew Cuomo released a blockbuster report on the use of the State Police by top Spitzer aides to gather purportedly damaging information on Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer.)

Question: How would the rest of the media treat this case if it were a Republican doing this?

UPDATE: Hot Air links. Thanks!

Allahpundit also notes an egregious tax grab by Spitzer.

UPDATE II: Michelle Malkin also links. Thanks!

UPDATE III: Spitzer held a DC press conference along with the congressional delegation from New York, regarding dropping the licenses for illegals scheme. Full of sophistry, solipsism and santimony, it's all pretty much Bush's fault. As we predicted, he'll be back trying to weasel this plan through.

All the Governor's Men

After some new revelations came to light in the dirty tricks campaign run by New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and his henchmen, the Albany DA will now be interviewing a top aide of Spitzer.

DA WILL PUT SPITZ MAN ON THE GRILL

Albany District Attorney David Soares will interview a top aide to Gov. Spitzer later this week about the circumstances under which the aide and two officials helped prepare a sworn statement by former Spitzer communications director Darren Dopp, who is under investigation for possible perjury, it was learned last night.

Peter Pope, Spitzer's policy director, will be questioned about the role he played with Spitzer counsel David Nocenti and Sean Patrick Maloney, the governor's first deputy secretary, in the statement signed by Dopp on July 22, one day before Attorney General Andrew Cuomo issued a blockbuster reporter on the Dirty Tricks Scandal.

The Commission on Public Integrity, which is probing the scandal, asked Soares late last week to investigate Dopp after determining that his testimony to the commission appeared to contradict the sworn statement.

A source in the governor's office said Pope had been assured by Soares that neither he, Nocenti nor Maloney were "targets" of the DA.

"We were told that Soares' inquiry at this point is solely and exclusively about whether or not Darren testified falsely before the Ethics Commission," said the source.

The source insisted Dopp himself had the final say as to what was in the sworn statement and no effort was made to encourage him to tell anything but the truth.

Word of Soares' widening new probe came as The Post learned that several aides to Spitzer - not just Dopp - gave conflicting testimony on the scandal to the Public Integrity Commission.

"There clearly have been absolutely contradictory sworn statements between witnesses from the governor's office, and I think very few people realize how serious this is," a source close to the commission told The Post.

Read the rest.

I don't exactly hold much faith this probe will get very far, as Democrats control every top position in New York State, but be assured Joe Bruno will be keeping this issue alive.

Meanwhile, it appears more likely Spitzer will abandon his cockamamie plan to grant driver's licenses to illegals. There is much hand wringing going on in Democrat circles, especially after Mrs. Clinton's inept attempt defense of this ridiculous plan.

What won't help is for Mr. Spitzer to stay on the fence over the volatile issue. He has to make a decision, and soon. The issue has morphed from a state matter to a national one, and may well have done serious damage to the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been lambasted by her primary rivals for trying to have it both ways by sympathizing with the Spitzer plan, while at the same time distancing herself from it.

UPDATE: Instapundit links. Thanks!

UPDATE II: John in Carolina has some questions about Governor Nifong.

UPDATE III: My, isn't this news just delicious?

Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s plan to provide illegal immigrants with driver’s licenses has sunk his favorability rating to an all-time low of 41 percent, and has left only 25 percent of voters planning to re-elect him, according to a poll the Siena Research Institute released Tuesday.

More again from Instapundit, as well as Lawhawk.

Damaging Revelations in Spitzer Dirty Tricks Scandal

Giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens may be the least of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's problems, as a New York Post report today reveals his former communications director, Darren Dopp, asked another aide to lie about the origins of a smear campaign against Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.

If true, this would contradict Spitzer's weak claim he had no knowledge of the plot, which first came to light several months ago.

The governor has some explaining to do.

Gov. Spitzer's former communications director, Darren Dopp, asked another Spitzer aide to lie about the origins of the Dirty Tricks Scandal - including the governor's own allegedly extensive knowledge of the plot to smear the Senate's GOP leader, a well-placed source told The Post yesterday.

Dopp wanted now-demoted Spitzer homeland-security aide William Howard to join him in denying there was anything unusual in their months-long effort to use the State Police to gather evidence purporting to show Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer) misused state aircraft for political purposes, said the source, who knows many of those involved in the scandal.

Dopp sought to have Howard, whose job involved overseeing the State Police, back up his initial public claim that the information gathered on Bruno was merely the result of a "change in State Police policy" designed to keep better track of the use of state aircraft, and was not part of a complex conspiracy aimed at damaging or destroying Spitzer's chief Republican opponent, the source continued.

The state Public Integrity Commission last week asked Albany District Attorney David Soares to examine possible perjury by Dopp before the commission.

UPDATE: Instapundit links. Thanks!