The long legal saga of Eliot Spitzer’s private e-mails just took an interesting turn. While the recently failed candidate for city comptroller gets to have his say before a court can order him to release the e-mails, he’ll have to do it under oath.
Former American Insurance Group exec Howard Smith is seeking the Spitzer e-mails as part of his defense in a suit the then-attorney general launched against him in 2005. Smith claims Spitzer turned his office loose on AIG out of personal spite, not evidence of wrongdoing. And he says the e-mails Spitzer sent from his private account to reporters and AIG insiders will prove it.
But he’s faced several obstacles. For one thing, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman declined to go after the e-mails, saying his office doesn’t have the authority to demand them. Last month an appellate court judge ruled that Spitzer has a right to be heard on the issue. In response, Smith has now filed court papers asking that Spitzer be named a defendant, which would give him his day in court.
Spitzer himself insists no such e-mails exist. But as Albany Supreme Court Justice Christopher Cahill had earlier noted, “there appears to be no dispute” that Spitzer, as governor, “used a private e-mail account to conduct official business” during the Troopergate scandal.
This is the same modus operandi Smith says Spitzer used against him. We’re with Judge Cahill here. If politicians can keep their dirty work secret simply by doing from their private e-mail, accountability will become a joke. Let’s hope Spitzer is indeed named a defendant in this case. We’d sure like to hear what he says under oath.