The new chairman of the Public Integrity Commission has issued a strong defense of that beleaguered body and its Troopergate investigation. Chairman Michael Cherkasky disses the inspector general's report, and adds this: "I will tell you that former governor Spitzer was and is my friend. But, I firmly believe that relationship is irrelevant in this instance. In any event, proof of a relationship should not be confused with proof of a bias."
I do not argue here with Cherkasky's characterization of the inspector general's report, or his contention that this is much fuss about not a whole lot (which is also Spitzer's position, although if David Grandeau is right that Darren Dopp was being railroaded to protect Spitzer, that ain't exactly nothing). But it has been clear for some time that the PIC handled Spitzer with kid gloves, alleging that four of his top aides (including communications director Dopp) violated the law but making no such finding about the governor, despite Dopp's testimony to Albany County DA David Soares (which Soares found credible) that Spitzer told Dopp what to do. It's not just the PIC executive director leaking information to a Spitzer aide that is the problem, but the entire pattern of the PIC seeming beholden to the governor. And the (former) governor's buddy is not in the best position to issue a ringing defense of the PIC's conduct. The fact that Cherkasky cannot recognize this obvious conflict does not fill one with confidence that he is the one to untangle or slice through Albany's Gordian Knot of ethics.
Update: Most people, including me, believe Dopp's "red-hot-poker" testimony to Soares about Spitzer. Even before that testimony surfaced, most people including me (though apparently not including Soares when Spitzer was in office) had a hard time believing that Spitzer himself was not thoroughly involved in Troopergate, and not just the four aides implicated by PIC. So if Dopp told the truth to Soares, where is the justice in the PIC bringing charges against the aides but not the (former) governor? Why hasn't Spitzer been grilled about Dopp's testimony? Why wasn't he on the PIC witness list at the Dopp hearing in March?
Update: Gov. Paterson's press office issued the following statement in response to Cherkasky's:
"As he has stated publicly on many occasions, Governor Paterson's request for the resignation of all commissioners from the Public Integrity Commission was not a reflection on the integrity or character of those individual commissioners -- but rather a recognition that the public has lost its faith in the ethics process as a whole. The Governor believes the commissioners are individuals of unquestioned honesty and integrity. However, the fact that the Commission as a whole failed to address very serious allegations is further evidence that the system needs reform.
"While he respects Chairman Cherkasky's request, Governor Paterson continues to believe the ethics process in Albany is broken. This is why he is still calling for the resignation of every commission member and has proposed reform legislation that will create a truly independent, functional and efficient Government Ethics Commission."
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