ALBANY – The head of the state Senate’s probe into Gov. Spitzer‘s dirty tricks scandal accused the state inspector general of a coverup after she repeatedly refused to say yesterday if her investigation found evidence that Spitzer himself knew of the plot against Joseph Bruno.
The repeated refusals by Kristine Hamann to answer that and several other questions during her first public testimony on the scandal led Senate Investigations Committee chairman George Winner (R-Elmira) to charge, “The stonewall in the governor’s office unfortunately continues.”
Hamann is a Spitzer appointee and former senior district attorney in the office of Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau. She also refused to respond to Winner’s jaw-dropping charge that she told him during a telephone conversation that she never interviewed any members of Spitzer’s senior staff while supposedly investigating the dirty tricks plot.
Winner said Hamann made the admission in the wake of the release in late July of a bombshell report on the scandal by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
“Senator, I spoke to you because I felt that you had the right to know that information privately. That’s why I discussed it with you. I don’t want to discuss it publicly with you,” insisted Hamann after being asked about the call.
Winner quickly shot back, “I don’t recall your indicating to me at the time of the conversation that that was a private conversation.”
Cuomo revealed in the wake of his report that two top Spitzer aides linked to the plot, chief of staff Richard Baum, and Communications Director Darren Dopp, had refused to be interviewed under oath.
He said that he, unlike Hamann, did not have subpoena power to compel their testimony.
“Overall I know she is in a tough spot because she really didn’t undertake an investigation,” Winner said of Hamann after the hearing.
“I think she’s covering up the fact that she didn’t do a thorough investigation,” Winner continued.
Winner, meanwhile, said he had a “reasonable suspicion” that Spitzer himself was involved in a coverup, “given the fact that we have no testimony from the governor, we have no indication of whether or not that’s really going to occur.”
Spitzer, who has repeatedly refused to answer detailed questions about the scandal while insisting he knew little about it, has said he’s willing to testify under oath before the state Ethics Commission, which is headed by a gubernatorial appointee.
The commission and the Albany County District Attorney’s Office are conducting separate probes of the scandal.
Hamann, during two hours of testimony, told a confusing tale of how she began her investigation following The Post’s July 5 report on the plot against Bruno, but then abruptly ended it when “a serious allegation involving the official to whom I report” arose.
Cuomo’s report showed that Baum had received at least three e-mails making reference to the anti-Bruno plot.