Mar 18, 2008 11:39 pm US/Eastern
Paterson Admits To Multiple Affairs
Confesses One Affair Was With A State Employee
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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A published report says Gov. David Paterson and wife Michelle have both admitted to having extra-marital affairs in the past.
Zack Seckler/Getty Images
There's a new governor and a new scandal. And once again marital infidelity is at the forefront.
Just hours after taking office David Paterson admitted he's had several affairs.
On Tuesday, Paterson and his wife spoke publicly about the infidelity in their marriage.
The scene was eerily familiar. For the second time in a week, a New York governor appeared with his wife and announced to the world that he'd cheated on her.
"I betrayed my commitment to my wife several years ago," Paterson said.
In fact, he says he betrayed his commitment many times over a period of years, including having an affair with a state employee.
"Several years ago, there were a number of women when I became aware of something. I was pretty upset and I was kind of just angry and for a period of time I was just using poor judgment," Paterson said.
He was angry, he suggested, because his wife Michelle was cheating on him. So he did the same, reportedly at a Manhattan Days Inn not far from his Harlem office.
The new first lady appeared by his side with tears in her eyes.
"We dealt with it as a family – and, yes, I did seek counseling," Michelle Paige Paterson said.
Rumors about Paterson's extra-marital affairs have been the subject of chatter in legislative corridors for years, but he says it's a private matter.
"I haven't broken any laws," Paterson said. "I don't think I violated my oath of office."
The news was almost too much for Albany to take, just a week after Eliot Spitzer resigned in a prostitution scandal. But there were no calls for his resignation, and legislators were giving the popular new governor some slack.
"What David and Michelle Patterson chose to do is divulge a private part of their life that they didn't have to, and hopefully the message will be when the going gets rough you work through it," state Sen. Diane Savino, D-Staten Island, said.
Paterson's rise followed a dramatic plunge for Spitzer, who was elected with an overwhelming share of the vote and who had vowed to root out corruption at the state Capitol.
Federal prosecutors must still decide whether to pursue charges against Spitzer. The married father of three teenage girls was accused of spending tens of thousands of dollars on prostitutes, including one in Washington the night before Valentine's Day.
Assembly Democratic Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, said Tuesday he doesn't believe Paterson was weakened by the disclosure that he and his wife had affairs, he doesn't think it affects the ability to get things done in Albany and the story should be over.
"This Albany press corps was in a feeding frenzy, looking for anything they could do to find it," Silver said. "And basically what David Paterson did was say, 'Stop bothering people. Here's the story. And that's it."'
Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said Paterson's personal life is Paterson's business only as long as it doesn't interfere with how he governs. He said he expects Paterson to continue to handle himself properly, and the important thing now is to finish a budget.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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