ALBANY – A former senior State Police official yesterday sharply disputed Gov. Paterson’s claim that the State Police had determined Charles O’Byrne didn’t compromise his office by evading taxes for five years.
“That’s bulls- – -,” the former official said.
“That’s not what we do. The State Police aren’t experts on what does or doesn’t ‘compromise’ the secretary to the governor.”
“We do background checks on individuals, and we deliver them to the governor’s appointments office, and if there’s anything of a negative nature that had any potential consequences to it, that would be pointed out,” added the former official, who has had direct involvement in vetting high-level officials.
Paterson, in the wake of a press conference in which O’Byrne’s lawyers revealed the aide had failed to pay almost $300,000 in taxes and penalties until as recently as Tuesday, issued a statement saying that shortly after he took office in March, he directed the State Police to conduct an “assessment” of O’Byrne.
“This investigation references the information related to his tax situation,” Paterson said. “The State Police determined that this information did not compromise Mr. O’Byrne’s position in the chamber.”
A spokesman for the State Police referred questions to Paterson’s office.
Paterson Communications Director Risa Heller had no immediate comment on the former State Police official’s claims.
At a fund-raiser last night, Paterson declined to respond to a question about whether he was standing by his trusted aide.
Meanwhile, a one-time senior official in ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s administration disputed the claim by Paterson that the State Police failed to complete background checks on nearly 60 percent of the then-governor’s senior staff..