PALS: Sen. John Sampson (left) was “vulnerable,” so then-Gov. David Paterson tried to help, he admitted yesterday. (
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Never mind what was best for taxpayers — former Gov. David Paterson admitted yesterday that he signed off on a deal to award the Aqueduct racino contract to a “tainted” bidder in 2009 to help then-state Senate Majority Leader John Sampson cling to power.
But Paterson said yesterday he was surprised — and troubled — that federal authorities are now conducting a criminal probe of the Aqueduct contract over suspected bid-rigging.
Paterson said the explosive federal inquiry — revealed in Tuesday ‘s Post — comes three years after the state inspector general’s scathing report accused Sampson, Sen. Malcolm Smith and others of helping Aqueduct Entertainment Group land the multibillion-dollar pact.
“Certainly it is noteworthy that after the state IG investigated it in 2010 that it comes back in 2013,” Paterson told The Post’s Fredric U. Dicker’s on Albany’s Talk 1300 radio.
Paterson recalled that Sampson backed AEG but Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was opposed.
And Paterson admitted that he “broke the deadlock” on behalf of AEG as a political favor to Sampson — although he knew that some of AEG’s partners had checkered pasts.
Paterson said Sampson was a “vulnerable” new majority leader with a razor-thin majority. “He [Sampson] said he needs this a lot,” Paterson said of the AEG franchise. “And I went along with it.”
“The problem with the AEG company was that they had people on their board and involved in their operation who had scrapes and violations [with the law] on their record. So it immediately tainted their bid,” Paterson said.
“There was always this sense that something was wrong with the group. I didn’t know at the time whether it was true or wasn’t true.”
Albany officials rescinded the AEG selection amid the IG’s probe. A new bidding process led to the selection of Malaysia-based Genting, which currently operates the Big A’s Resorts World casino.