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.

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.

Spitzer Probe: Is the Fix In?

We've been chronicling the Eliot Spitzer follies for several months now, and all indications continue to point to the fix being in surrounding the Dirty Tricks Scandal involving Joe Bruno, with the latest allegations coming from state commission employees, who say former communications director Darren Dopp is being set up as the fall guy.

THE state commission supposedly probing the Dirty Tricks Scandal faces a revolt from employees who believe it's improperly steering the investigation "away from Gov. Spitzer," commission insiders say.

Several disgusted senior officials, as well as lower-level workers at the Commission on Public Integrity, have decided to resign or are close to doing so, the insiders told The Post.

The resignation threats come as aides to Spitzer turn over what one source called "embarrassing" information about the scandal in response to a subpoena from Albany District Attorney David Soares, who has also been accused of covering up for the governor.

"The feeling is that [Commission Executive Director] Herb Teitelbaum has been steering the investigation away from Gov. Spitzer to [former Spitzer aide] Darren Dopp, not going after the governor and others in the executive chamber where the evidence points," said a source with direct knowledge of the situation. "People on the inside are embarrassed by the situation and some are considering quitting," the source continued.

Two sources, meanwhile, also said commission staff is convinced that Teitelbaum is secretly providing inside information on the commission's probe to Spitzer Special Counsel Richard Rivkin and to another Spitzer aide, Robert Hermann, Rivkin's former law partner who now heads the governor's Office of Regulatory Reform.

"Teitelbaum is giving the governor's people information that should only be kept within the commission," one source said.

Commission spokesman Walter Ayres denied the charge. Hermann did not return a call seeking comment.

Read the rest.

Outside of Fred Dicker at the NY Post, little attention has been paid to this scandal.

Spitzer must wake up every day saying a prayer of thanks for the D after his name.

Governor Steamroller Lawyers Up?

I often get the feeling lately the New York Post's Fred Dicker is trying to provoke an outburst from Eliot Spitzer. Democrats aren't used to such scrutiny in these parts, and what with his notorious temper, Spitzer's bound to blow pretty soon.

It should be most amusing.

ALBANY - Gov. Spitzer is stonewalling questions on whether he's hired a criminal defense lawyer to help him prepare to testify before a state commission and, possibly, an Albany grand jury on the Dirty Tricks Scandal.

Spitzer's communications director, Christine Anderson, asked for three days by The Post if the governor has hired his own lawyer, refused to say, insisting, "We are not commenting on the ongoing investigation."

Sources familiar with what are now four scandal probes told The Post that they believe Spitzer and several of his top aides have hired private counsels to deal with the Public Integrity Commission. The commission's extensive probe is expected to include testimony from the governor and Albany District Attorney David Soares.

"With the DA getting back involved, they all need lawyers, including the governor," said a source close to the Spitzer administration.

Maybe we can call him Governor Stonewall.

Previously on Spitzer.

UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds links. 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.