Aug 6, 2007 6:36 pm US/Eastern
Secret E-Mails Could Hurt Spitzer's Case In Probe
Reports Allege Aides Used Personal Accounts To Plot Against Bruno
by Andrew Kirtzman
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Gov. Spitzer's energy adviser, Steven Mitnick, resigned on Aug. 3 in the wake of an investigation of claims he threatened Cheryl Buley, a member of the Public Service Commission.
CBS
There are calls for Gov. Eliot Spitzer to finally come clean on the so-called "Troopergate" scandal. Published reports charge top aides to Spitzer communicated by private e-mail accounts that investigators knew nothing about.
Some lawmakers have been announcing their suspicions about the case, which charges two aides plotted to discredit Spitzer's top Republican rival, Sen. Joseph Bruno.
"I think it's pretty disingenuous that you can have two sets of e-mails," said state Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn).
Reports say most of the e-mails came from personal accounts, and only a small number of scandal related e-mails from official state accounts were given to investigators.
"If you're a corporation and you have two sets of books, believe me -- if you don't turn over one of those sets of books you're in pretty big trouble," Golden said.
Two new sets of investigations in the case are on the front burner: one with the State Ethics Commission and another with the Albany County District Attorney, who has subpoena power.
If there are private e-mails dealing with the Bruno case that weren't turned over in the initial probe, that could prove problematic, especially if the e-mails contain crucial evidence.
"Why do you need two sets of e-mails? What is there to hide and to do government business on a personal e-mail? It tells me that it's being done for a reason and that's to hide those e-mails," Golden said.
Pundits say the continuing scandal is really hurting Spitzer's image as a reformer.
"It's difficult to watch somebody who said he's going to reform Albany and also said he's fully cooperated and then you find almost every day evidence of not quite cooperating," said political guru Joseph Mercurio. "It's a problem."
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