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Jul 26, 2007 7:28 pm US/Eastern
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State Ethics Commission To Probe Spitzer Aides
Republicans Say Attempted Discrediting Of Bruno 'Criminal'
by Marcia Kramer
ALBANY (CBS) ―
CBS 2 has learned of a major development in the scandal surrounding Gov. Eliot Spitzer's administration.
The State Ethics Commission said Thursday it would investigate several of the Democratic governor's top aides accused in a plot to discredit Republican Senate Leader Joe Bruno.
Meanwhile, for the fourth day in a row Spitzer tried to put "Trooper-gate" behind him.
"There were no violations of law, and that's why we acted appropriately," Spitzer said. "In my view it's time to move on."
But that is not going to happen. The State Ethics Commission said Thursday it will now probe the scandal in which top aides to Spitzer used state police in a plot to discredit Bruno. The Commission has subpoena power and it can compel the testimony.
Spitzer aides, Communications Director Darren Dopp and Chief of Staff Richard Baum, both refused questioning by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. They submitted written statements, while Spitzer pushed his own innocence.
"I've answered all your questions about my knowledge of what I knew," Spitzer said.
But the situation is so bad that a member of Spitzer's own party compared the digging up of dirt on Bruno to Richard Nixon and Watergate.
"That goes back to the old days of Richard Nixon and it didn't work out very well for him, for his henchpeople or henchmen," Assemblyman Keith Wright, D-Manhattan, said. "They bungled a mere burglary."
The Republicans said they've started their own probe and compared the actions of Spitzer's staff to the Kremlin.
"The hair stood up on my neck because just returned from trip to Black Sea and there was a lot of KGB operating out there. I didn't know they were coming to monitor activities here in New York," said State Sen. George Winner, R-Elmira, the Chairman of the Senate Investigation Committee.
Added State Sen. Martin Golden, R-Brooklyn: "This borderlines criminality, what happened herea."
The State Ethics Commission will seek all interview transcripts, notes, e-mails and other material from the investigation just completed by Attorney General Cuomo.
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