As noted in this post from a couple of weeks ago, more than a few folks are not losing any sleep over the fact that former crusading state attorney general and current New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is having trouble getting along with with his new playmates in Albany.
But now things are getting even more interesting. According to a report issued yesterday by Andrew Cuomo, Spitzer’s successor as New York AG (and perhaps as governor sooner than we thought), Spitzer’s aides used the state police to gather information about whether Spitzerís chief political rival, Joseph Bruno, improperly used state-owned aircraft for political purposes. To make matters worse, when the improper use of state police was revealed, Spitzerís communications director, Darren Dopp, concocted a false story as to why the aides sought the information. Although the Cuomo report concluded that the aidesí conduct was ìnot unlawful,î Spitzer suspended Dopp and conceded at a press conference that his administration had ìgrossly mishandledî the situation. And all this occurred despite the fact that Cuomo’s report was not thoroughly prepared.
Spitzer has a lot of experience in the area of “grossly mishandling” situations. OpinionJounal notes the same thing.
The irony of Spitzer’s plight has generated quite a few entertaining blog post titles around the blogosphere, the best of which are Ellen Podgor’s (she of “Busted for Yoga” fame) “Spitzer Spitzered” and Nathan Koppel’s “Spitzer Schadenfreude.” Seems as if Spitzer is redefining the bully pulpit.