Paterson Rips "Bombshell" Story, Gets Advice from Spitzer

Governor Paterson is savoring his sense of vindication after the Times "nonshell" story blew by without causing much damage. (Though, when you think about it, wouldn't it be Jedi if someone in Paterson's camp had started the salacious bombshell rumor so that when the Times finally ran their story—about how the Governor's right-hand man has a history of assaulting women—it would seem tame by comparison?) Paterson took to the airwaves again after the hotly-anticipated article ran and had this to say:

Yeah, this was the big bombshell that during the Super Bowl I had to spend half the time trying to get my office to shut down rumors that the governor has to resign over this big bombshell. It’s kind of like, since they couldn’t find anything on me, they went and found something on one of my assistants who they act is the chief of staff-he’s not even part of our senior staff-he is a valued and hard-working assistant.

Well, according to the Times, this "assistant," David Johnson, has actually come to serve as Paterson's filter: "Some heads of significant government agencies have said they feel they have to go through Mr. Johnson, often known as D. J., to get to the governor." And one former official says, "I started getting messages from D. J. telling me to call certain players in my industry."

Still, Paterson has successfully spun L'affaire D.J. as an election-year attack from shadowy political operatives. But will he try to blame the Times nonshell for what's looking to be a poorly-attended campaign kickoff event at Hofstra Saturday? Apparently, the Governor is not only having a hard time getting Democratic officials to attend, he's also struggling to fill the audience. The university has sent out an email urging students to attend, and Baruch College's Doug Muzzio tells the Daily News, "If he doesn't get good turnout, it is just further indication that the candidacy is doomed, that it's stillborn."

And a Sunday campaign event planned for Harlem has been "delayed" so that key supporters could be included to make a bigger event. Meanwhile, the cavalry has arrived to save Paterson in this treacherous time! Sources tell the Post that the Governor has been taking advice on how to "rescue his flailing administration"... from Eliot Spitzer. There's a joke in here somewhere about the blind leading the blind, but it's probably in poor taste.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on February 18, 2010 10:45 AM

Comments [rss]

cleanupnynow

This is not at all surprising. David Paterson and Eliot Spitzer are two hypocrites who belong together.

David Paterson makes domestic violence one of his signature issues, while at the same time gives a free ride to David Johnson, a women beater - what a hypocrite. Didn’t Eliot Spitzer make headlines by going after prostitution rings, and then personally solicited their services? Seems like Paterson and Spitzer are alike as two peas in a pod.

Paterson is just up not up to the task of governing. He does not have what it takes to govern effectively. “The Democratic Conference Organizational and Structural Report” detailing the workings of Paterson’s office while he was Senate Minority leader is an objective assessment of this clowns ability to manage or more precisely mismanage.

http://www.politico.com/static/PPM110_demreportfinal.html

This scathing report indicated that Paterson’s Senate Minority office, headed by the supremely incompetent Michael Jones-Bey, was completely dysfunctional. Mr. Jones-Bey, a childhood friend of Paterson, who is now incredulously Director of Division of Minority & Women's Business Development at Empire State Development Corporation, was reported to be more interested in partying and boozing up with staff than working.

Wow! You can be a total bozo, but if you work for David Paterson you get promoted for your incompetence.

At the end of the day, we must not only blame David Paterson for his failings. We must also lay blame to our beloved former love Guv Eliot Spitzer for failing to do his due diligence and putting David Paterson on the Democratic ticket.

sexisicilian

Look at that smirk: He is giving him the whore's (oh, excuse me) escort's digits;)

SP

"credibility with its readers that Gothamist has suddenly thrown out the window."

Gothamist? Credibility? LMFAO!!!! Dude, this is a hipster driven paraphraseist site. Come on, they have no "credibility." Read at your own risk. This site is all about entertainment.

whatevsies

Really though, what an embarrassment for Gothamist this has turned into.

I sincerely doubt that salivating over tabloid rumors about rumors (see the brilliant "Resignation Imminent?" headline for instance) was worth it in the end, for the credibility with its readers that Gothamist has suddenly thrown out the window.

I--and clearly many other people, judging from the precipitous drop in comments about these stories--have changed the weight with which I take in this blog.

boomshanka

thanks

boomshanka

when the Times finally ran their story—about how the Governor's right-hand man has a history of assaulting women

Did the story actually say that or are you making shit up? I thought I read that the police were called over some arguments but nothing about assault.

nycraf

From the Times article:

"In 2001, when Mr. Paterson was a state senator, Mr. Johnson, according to a person who was present, punched a girlfriend outside the senator’s Harlem office. No arrest resulted, and Mr. Johnson, through a spokesman for the governor, said that he never touched the woman, that she had come to the office inappropriately and that she had been asked to leave by others. He declined recent requests for interviews."

and

"The governor said he was aware that Mr. Johnson might have had another problematic encounter with a girlfriend last October in the Bronx. He described it, essentially, as a bad breakup.

Interviews with people who have been briefed on the police report indicate that the police responded at 9:50 p.m. on Halloween night, and that the dispute involved the woman’s costume and whether Mr. Johnson had torn it off her or menaced her further. Mr. Johnson was gone, the interviews suggest, by the time the police arrived.

The woman, in a brief interview this month, said that there had been an incident and that she had not seen Mr. Johnson since. She would not comment further."