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Early Addition
Whoa: Attorney General Andrew Cuomo released a report investigating allegations that Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno misused state aircraft, using it to travel to political fund-raisers, as well as Bruno's subsequent allegations that Governor Spitzer misused the state resources to spy on him. The report clears Bruno of wrongdoing, noting that the Republican was conducting state business and could justify using state aircraft.
But the report says, "The governor's office planned to obtain information concerning Senator Bruno's use of state aircraft for the purpose of giving this information to the media," and that some Spitzer appointees, like the acting superintendent of the state police and communications director Darren Dopp, could face disciplinary action. The CityRoom calls this a "devastating assessment and serious blow to Governor Spitzer." No kidding!
You can read the 57-page report here (PDF) - the most interesting part is on page 4, where the report says Spitzer's office had been planning to give media information about Bruno's state aircraft use since May. So the Post was right?
And while Bruno might be gloating, the Attorney General had a rebuke for him. Though Bruno was technically doing state business on days he use state helicopters to fly to NYC, the Attorney General notes that the state business only took up a "small part" of each day and that the policy of using state aircraft "is overly permissive and porous and allows for an abuse of taxpayer funds."
Update: Spitzer has suspended Dopp and reassigned Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security (because Bruno was a Homeland Security threat?) William Howard.
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Hopefully a lesson that Spitzer will heed. This "steamroller" crap works real well against easy-target Wall Streeters, who get no sympathy from anyone, but using it against other elected pols doesn't work and will likely backfire.
Albany needs reform, but it has to be done legally, with some modicum of civility - slowly bring people to your side and wear down the opposition with well-timed examples of what is really wrong with the current process. Being a simple attack dog against your (elected) opponents ain't gonna make it - I can almost guarantee that Bruno gets reelected now.
Oh, and please get over the fantasy that you're going to be President in 2012. Let's see you fix Albany first. If you can't do that, you sure as hell aren't going to fix Washington.
Unbelievable. Only one comment so far? If everything about this story was exactly the same but you switched "Spitzer" for "Pataki" this would be a 50 post thread ranting about what an asshole Pataki is. I'm sure the word crony would be used about 20 times.
You guys are raging hypocrits and are a shining example of everything that is wrong with the American political scene.
Well said #1.
And while we are on Spitzer, was anyone else really annoyed by his picture on the cover of New York Magazine that came out the day after Albany voted down (or didn't vote at all for that matter) Bloomberg's congestion pricing? Who does he think he is? Must have been one of the most smug looking pictures I have ever seen.
Proving once again that becoming enamored of polticians is equal to being with a good whore and thinking you're in love (SO I'VE HEARD!!). You think this will be different, but you'll just be real dissapointed in the end.
Sorry, Eliot, you're just like everybody else.