Metro

Ex-AIG exec wants to see Spitzer’s ‘secret’ e-mails

A former honcho at AIG has filed court papers demanding that Eliot Spitzer be named a defendant in an ongoing case aimed at obtaining secret e-mails the ex-governor may have concerning actions he took against the insurance giant when he was state attorney general.

The initial lawsuit filed by ex-AIG Chief Financial Officer Howard Smith listed only the Attorney General’s Office as a defendant in his bid to retrieve Spitzer’s private communications.

Smith filed a Freedom of Information request with the AG’s office in 2007 to unearth any correspondence Spitzer may have had with the media via a private account regarding the civil action his office he took against the company.

Smith filed the lawsuit after running into a dead end with his request for Spitzer’s e-mails.

In a surprise ruling last month, a state Appellate Court in Albany said Spitzer should be a party to the case so he can represent his “significant private rights and property.” The decision referred the case back to the lower court for resolution.

In light of the ruling, Smith attorney Daphne Morduchowitz filed a motion dated Nov. 13 for state Supreme Court Justice Christopher Cahill to name Spitzer a defendant in the case. She did so after claiming current AG Eric Schneiderman’s office refused to take a position.

A Spitzer insider insisted that he did not have a secret e-mail account to conduct business.

Spitzer said in a statement Monday, “It is clear that Hank Greenberg and Howard Smith live in an alternate universe. In a fact based world, Mr. Greenberg was removed by his own board because he repeatedly invoked the fifth amendment and refused to answer questions about AIG’s accounting.”