ALBANY — The state’s top ethics watchdog hit former Eliot Spitzer mouthpiece Darren Dopp yesterday with the maximum fine allowed by law for his role in orchestrating the disgraced governor’s Dirty Tricks plot.
The $10,000 fine ends yet another chapter in a two-year Albany saga that began after a series of Post reports revealed how Spitzer aides used state troopers to gather information on then-Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Republican, and leak it to the Albany Times Union newspaper.
Commission Chairman Michael Cherkasky slammed Dopp for using his role in the scheme to discredit a political rival.
“Such misconduct erodes public confidence in both the integrity and the independence of our state police,” Cherkasky said.
“To assess him anything other than the maximum penalty would send the wrong signal to those who might consider similar actions in the future.”
Dopp, for his own part, pledged to sue the ethics panel.
“This decision is unfounded, erroneous and tainted,” Dopp said.