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Mar 24, 2008 11:33 pm US/Eastern
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'Troopergate' Report Could Add To Spitzer's Ruins
Ex-Gov's Involvement In Political Scandal To Be Center Of Albany DA's Investigation
Administration Official To CBS 2: 'He Called All The Shots'
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBS) ―
Gov. David Paterson moved to put Eliot Spitzer's "Troopergate" scandal behind him Monday by naming a new state police superintendent. The scandal occupied a good part of Spitzer's first year in office and so it was probably no coincidence that the first agency head replaced by Paterson was a man at the center of the controversy.
"The superintendent appointment is probably the most important appointment in our government," Paterson said Monday.
Paterson accepted the resignation of the now former top gun Preston Felton, who was head of the state police when two aides were accused of misusing state police records to embarrass Republican Sen. Maj. Leader Joe Bruno and documenting his use of state aircraft during trips that involved GOP fundraisers.
"It is my great pleasure to introduce my nominee to become the superintendent of the New York State Polie, Harry J. Corbitt," Paterson announced during the morning news conference.
Corbitt, who retired from the state police in 2004, implied it was sad that Felton's prior career in the state police was tarnished by the Troopergate scandal.
"I don't have intimate knowledge about Troopergate, I only know what I read in the paper," he said. "I do know that whenever politics and police mix, it's a bad mixture."
Republicans were delighted with Paterson's move.
"I think it's a great move. I think it's a move that shows he wants to do what's right for the state police and what's right for people of New York," said Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn). "They thought they were electing a white knight and he became a court jester."
Pundits said it was a smart move by the governor to enhance his working relationship with the Senate majority.
"It could well be a peace offering to Joe Bruno. It's also an effort to try to calm waters that are still roiling about issues of gubernatorial conduct," said Baruch College professor David Birdsell. "It takes a bone of contention between him and the Legislature off the table."
SPITZER'S ROLE Sources told CBS 2 that Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares is poised to issue a report by the end of the month that will detail Spitzer's detailed involvement in Troopergate. Sources said that contrary to his public statements, the former governor was directing the efforts to embarrass and discredit Bruno.
If his involvement with a prostitution ring didn't topple him, Spitzer's involvement in Troopergate might have led to his downfall.
"There were no violations of the law, there were judgment errors that were egregious," Spitzer said last summer when he was busy denying any personal involvement in the move to bring down Bruno.
"In my view, it's time to move on," Spitzer had said.
But sources told CBS 2 that members of the Spitzer administration have now told Soares that the governor was deeply and personally involved in the scandal.
"He called all the shots," one administration official told CBS 2.
One aide speaking to Soares is Darren Dopp, Spitzer's communications director. He was given immunity from prosecution and apparently divulged the depth of Spitzer's involvement.
"This was a politically-charged case from the get-go, and my view is that when someone is in the political crosshairs of this type of investigation, the only way to stay out of harms way is not to talk to anyone or talk with immunity. There's just too much that could go wrong," said Michael Koenig, Dopp's lawyer.
Republicans close to Bruno believe that Soares' report will be damning for Spitzer, especially the internal administration e-mails that were turned over.
"We thought he would be severely injured and if not would have to step down because of the e-mails that were circulated, not only from him, but from his entire inner circle," said Golden. "We believed that they were so damaging that everybody would have had to clean house including himself."
A spokesman for Soares would not comment on the Troopergate case, but she said a report on the scandal would be issued by the end of the month
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