ALBANY – State Democrats are “increasingly distrustful” of Gov. Spitzer and fear he’ll use the same dirty-trick tactics on them as he’s used on Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a prominent Bronx Democrat charged yesterday.
“I believe there is a wide and growing dislike of the governor among legislators, who are increasingly distrustful of him,” Assemblyman Michael Benjamin (D-Bronx) told The Post.
“His attacks on Sen. Bruno make many of us feel that if we crossed Spitzer, we could look forward to some of the same type of treatment.
“I’m very disappointed in him.”
A spokeswoman for Spitzer declined to comment.
Benjamin also criticized Democratic Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith of Queens, who The Post revealed last week was secretly plotting with Spitzer to seek a tax-evasion investigation of Bruno by the Internal Revenue Service.
“I’m disappointed in Sen. Smith for looking to intimidate one of his colleagues in the Legislature, whether it is someone on the other side of the aisle or not,” Benjamin said.
“We shouldn’t be looking to use governmental processes to score political points.”
Benjamin’s blast comes as several public and private polls show Spitzer’s job-approval rating plummeting with voters, largely because of the Dirty Tricks Scandal – in which aides to the governor used the State Police to dig up purportedly damaging information on Bruno – and his efforts to grant driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.