I'm no fan of Joe Bruno, but according to Attorney General Cuomo Spitzer took his feud with the Senate leader a little too far by using state resources to go on the attack. Ordering the state police to go after Bruno and acquire potentially damaging information against him is currently the job of the FBI. Spitzer needs to focus on being the Governor, not an investigator or prosecutor.
From The New York Times:
Spitzer aides, chiefly his communications director, Darren Dopp, concocted a false story for why the information was being gathered, saying the governor’s office had acted after receiving a press request seeking details of Mr. Bruno’s use of state aircraft, the report said.
Mr. Dopp later made misleading statements about the involvement of the governor’s office in the effort, the report indicates. The report concludes that Mr. Bruno’s use of the helicopters — on trips that included both political and legislative events — was proper.
Minutes after the report was made public, Mr. Spitzer announced he was suspending Mr. Dopp indefinitely without pay. He said he was also transferring his liaison to the State Police, the deputy secretary of homeland security, William Howard, to a position outside the governor’s office.
This is a serious no-no. As the Times notes, Republicans are now looking to review agreements with the Governor such as the campaign finance deal last week and severely curtail whatever amicable working relation that existed before. Suspending Dopp is hardly a fix for this mess, Spitzer might be looking at some form of punishment from the Attorney General's office. The road to reform we put Spitzer on is going to need some serious resurfacing and soon.
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