ALBANY County District Attorney David Soares allowed Gov. Spitzer‘s top aides to “review and edit” sections of his controversial report on the dirty-tricks scandal, administration sources say.
“There was cooperation between Soares and the governor’s office from the start, and the governor’s people were notified of the findings every step of the way,” one source told The Post.
“Spitzer’s people were given a chance to review and edit the findings,” the source continued.
Soares’ report on the scandal – which even some of the governor’s allies privately describe as a “whitewash” – found that neither the governor nor his aides did anything illegal.
That’s the same conclusion reached in an earlier report from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on the plot to discredit Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer).
But unlike Cuomo – who recommended disciplinary action against three top Spitzer aides – Soares’ report claimed nothing improper had occurred. It did, however, reveal that Spitzer and his aides spent weeks on efforts aimed at embarrassing or damaging Bruno by suggesting their GOP foe improperly used a state-owned plane to attend political events.
Soares, unlike Cuomo, also failed to put those he interviewed for the report under oath, oddly insisting he didn’t have to do so because he had no reason to believe anyone would lie.
The report by Soares failed to explain why two top aides to the governor – Chief of Staff Richard Baum and Communications Director Darren Dopp – refused to be interviewed for Cuomo’s probe under oath but agreed to give unsworn testimony to Soares.
Heather Orth, a spokeswoman for Soares, and Christine Anderson, Spitzer’s rep, both denied that the governor’s aides were given a chance to edit the report.
Some Spitzer administration members, as well as the governor’s political allies, almost immediately described the Soares report as a “cover-up” and an “embarrassment.”
“The logic isn’t there in the report,” one official said.
“Soares has the governor saying he doesn’t believe Bruno’s behavior was illegal, but then Dopp goes ahead anyway and leaks a breathless story about it to the local Albany paper?
“Then the governor claims he didn’t know anything about the ‘leak,’ but after the ‘leak’ occurs, he issues a statement saying this should be investigated by criminal authorities?” the official said incredulously.
“And even though the governor suspended Dopp and claimed he acted without authority, he now claims nothing wrong was done and he puts Dopp back on the payroll?”
For his part, Bruno called Soares’ report a “whitewash” and insisted, “This is not going to go away until we get the full and complete truth, which should involve the governor appearing in public and answering questions under oath.”