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NY-Gov: NYT Says Paterson Directed Aides to Contact Woman in Abuse Case

by: DavidNYC

Mon Mar 01, 2010 at 10:33 PM EST


This is beyond disgusting:

Gov. David A. Paterson personally directed two state employees to contact the woman who had accused his close aide of assaulting her, according to two people with direct knowledge of the governor's actions.

According to one person who was briefed on the matter, Mr. Paterson instructed his press secretary, Marissa Shorenstein, to ask the woman to publicly describe the episode as nonviolent, which would contradict her accounts to the police and in court.

Mr. Paterson also enlisted another state employee, Deneane Brown, a friend of both the governor and the accuser, to make contact with the woman before she was due in court to finalize an order of protection against the aide, David W. Johnson, the two people with direct knowledge said. Ms. Brown, an employee of the Division of Housing and Community Renewal, reached out to the woman on more than one occasion over a period of several days and arranged a phone call between the governor and the woman, Mr. Johnson's companion.

Please resign. Now.

UPDATE (J): Politico reports that Paterson could potentially face criminal charges for witness tampering and obstruction of justice. State AG Andrew Cuomo -- viewed by many as the man who'll ride to the rescue of Democrats in the fall -- is already investigating the incident.
DavidNYC :: NY-Gov: NYT Says Paterson Directed Aides to Contact Woman in Abuse Case
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NY-Gov: NYT Says Paterson Directed Aides to Contact Woman in Abuse Case | 45 comments
I
am glad to be a Hoosier. I thought Mitch was bad; gosh this guy has to be the one of the worst Governor ever.  

Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  
Is there a race to the bottom or something among governors?
39% is a great contender for worst governor also.

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28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)
[ Parent ]
Mitch isn't that bad.
For a Republican, anyway.

Having lived under Mitt Romney in 2005 and Jim Douglas in 2009, you can do far worse. (And I really feel for the poor sods who have to live with Carcieri, Schwartzenegger, Perry, Sanford, etc. right now.)

[ Parent ]
Amen to that, brother
My particular curse is the Governator. Don't blame me, I voted against the recall and for the Green Party candidate in the recall election.

If I had a bigger car, that could work as a bumper sticker.

But seriously, I do think the American people, as a people, like checks and balances. That's why there are Democratic governors in Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma and Republican ones in California, Vermont, and Connecticut.

Well..at least in part--I understand that the local politicos were a major part, I'm just sayin' conditions are ripe for that sort of thing.

Kansan by birth, Californian by choice, and Gay by the grace of God.

[ Parent ]
And ironically, this time next year
there will be Republican governors in Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma and (probably) Democratic governors in California, Connecticut and (maybe) Vermont.

Also, talking of bumper stickers, my favorite is "Tea parties are for little girls with imaginary friends". Now THAT would get me shot at if I ever drove outside the city!

My condolences for living in California right now. I can't imagine how much it sucks to be on the brink of anarchy. (Well, I sort of can, as a former resident of Oregon, but you know what I mean.)  

[ Parent ]
the worst thing douglas would do
is take an extra penny from the take a penny tray.

Also remember when patterson said "it is off the table, and he doesn't know why it was even on the table" from earlier today in a galaxy far far way? THIS IS WHY!  

Top ten signs you're an SSPer #1: your favorite song is "Panic At Tedisco" and no one understands what you mean.

[ Parent ]
Um,
after completely decimating the state workforce for no other reason than he wanted to fire some people. (The Leg actually submitted a state budget that didn't fire anyone and he rejected it because he wanted to put people out of work, in spite of the fact that he has a large, overpaid, and generally useless executive press corps just sitting there at taxpayer expense.)

And appointing his own unqualified agency heads Bush-style to run roughshod over everything.

And trying to repeal Act 250.

And cutting benefits for Catamount until it became a joke.

And standing up unceasingly for the corrupt and incompetent Entergy mismanagement of Vermont Yankee, even after they discovered tritium leaking into the river.

And, and, and.

Also, when he was a student at Middlebury years ago, he believed that segregation was a myth invented by liberals to make their poll numbers go up. The man is the second coming of Calvin Coolidge - seems nice enough on the outside until he starts quietly deregulating everything, yet still wildly popular in spite of himself.

Blame Vermont's incompetent media for not knowing a story if it hits them in the face.  

[ Parent ]
Sadly
I'm living under the Governator who is LITERALLY terminating our future. Our budget has been slashed to the bone and then some. I'm going to college in the fall and it's not going to be rosy with all the cuts and the tuition hikes the colleges have taken here. UC Berkeley rioted over tuition hikes just last week. The state has cut off all state funding from public transportation meaning the buses and train systems especially here in the Bay Area have slashed services and raised fares. BART (the major rail system in the Bay Area) has raised fares, slashed weeknight and weekend train service to every station south of San Francisco by 50%. They are even mulling cutting train service to San Francisco by half during the afternoon on weekdays and during the weekends. My bus system (Samtrans) axed all but one of their express routes heading into San Francisco.

At my school, one teacher has been forced to teach only 2 classes per day. My chemistry teacher lost one of his classes due to the budget crisis. The number of freshman that are in the math and english classes was raised from 20 to 27. Once the stimulus funds run out later this year, the education system is going to be forced to take another cut in funding from the state.

I could go on for hours about the sorry state California is in right now.

19, Male, Independent, CA-12

[ Parent ]
I never understood why Indiana libs hate Mitch so much
You could have done a lot worse. He solved the property tax crisis, incrementally expanded health care access, improved Indiana's child welfare system, kept a tight budget, etc. Surely you aren't upset about Indiana entering Daylight Savings Time?
[ Parent ]
I'm an Indiana liberal and I don't hate Mitch
I don't like the toll road stuff he did, and think he could be doing a lot more with education, and some other things you and I would just fundamentally disagree on (that's why we're in different parties!) -- but I see Mitch more as someone who has a problem-solving orientation that he comes at from a conservative perspective than as a conservative ideologue.

Where I think he's going to run into trouble if he runs for President (which I don't think he will in the end) is with the socially conservative and rabid tea partying wing of your party.  As you know, the hard right has been skeptical of Mitch at very best.

And yes, I supported Daylight Saving Time -- but that was not a R/D split as much as an Indianapolis/Rural Indiana split -- remember that Julia Carson was one of DST's most prominent supporters.

[ Parent ]
If that was aimed at me,
that's pretty much what I just said.

Also, most of the Republican governors in this country right now are rushing to the bottom in what I would call an "asshole spiral". I would say that based on what I've seen Daniels is one of the few who isn't. (Rell is the only other one I can name.)

I'm still not crazy about Daniels, mostly because of his fetish for trying to privatize every piece of government property he can get away with (toll road, welfare system, etc.), but yes, we could do far worse.

I just hope that "far worse" doesn't end up being "Evan Bayh wins in 2012 and goes full Schwartzenegger on Indiana because he can".  

[ Parent ]
I have a family with many teachers in it
You figure it out. Also my family owns a lot of farm land and we are paying more in taxes than we have ever paid before. Although I will confess I think he is probably doing a better job than JLT would have done.

Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  
[ Parent ]
Could
anyone challenge the constitutionality of Ratovich if he became Governor? That is my main concern of Paterson resigning.

Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  
It's hard to see how
The CoA says he's the real Lt. Gov.
[ Parent ]
And of course, he can appoint HIS OWN LG
if he ascends.  
[ Parent ]
If Paterson resigns and he ascends,
I'm taking bets on what his scandal will be and when he'll resign.

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01
[ Parent ]
As to Ravitch?
I'll take the other side of that bet.
[ Parent ]
Then again
I would have taken the other side of that bet as to Spitzer, of course....
[ Parent ]
Me too
In spite of your well-justified caveat about Elliot Spitzer.

Ravitch has a long record and is known for his rectitude and supreme competence, at least in the jobs he's had before (including as an important head of the Metropolitan Transit Authority). Of course, none of that is anything close to a guarantee that he'd be anything but a failure as Governor; one never can tell when the Peter Principle may kick in. But regardless of how competent or incompetent he would prove to be, I sure wouldn't expect any hint of a scandal from him.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  

[ Parent ]
It seems impossible to me
The Court of Appeals (which, despite the confusing name, is actually the highest court in the state) said the Gov can pick a replacement, period, end of story. This is purely a matter of state law, so no appeal to the US Supreme is or was possible. If Ravitch became governor and then picked a new LG, someone could try challenging it, but they'd get bounced all the way to the highest court.

And if Ravitch does become gov, I do hope he picks an LG. There's so much to do during the rest of the term, and also, Ravitch is not young. Gov. Pedro Espada might be the only thing worse than Gov. David Paterson right about now. (And yes, I know some people think Malcolm Smith would become governor, but that's not a settled point - and I'd hate the court battle that would inevitably ensue and literally leave us without a governor.)

[ Parent ]
Yup
One thing I will say about Paterson is that his appointments have been pretty good. Judge Lippman has turned out to be everything we could have asked for:

In an interview, Judge Lippman acknowledged that he had a different approach from that of Judge Kaye, a longtime collaborator in running the courts. She was also nominated by a Democrat, former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, but during her nearly 16 years as chief judge, she often worked for unified rulings.

"I am a result-oriented person," Judge Lippman said, "and the result I am looking for is not necessarily unanimity."


[ Parent ]
*Ravitch


Some Dude, 19, Democrat, NH-02 (residence), MA-08 (college)
[ Parent ]
Richard Ravitch
I read the NYTimes profile of the guy and he seems kinda awesome. Would NY Republicans really challenge the constitutionality of his rise to Governor? Especially considering he might actually be able to fix some things?

And isn't the next in line that loathsome dude from State Senate? Would Republicans really force that dude on NY?

Basically...what up with Richard Ravitch?

Kansan by birth, Californian by choice, and Gay by the grace of God.

See my comment
[ Parent ]
Makes you miss Spitzer.


NY-13, Democrat. Blog @ http://infinitefunction.wordpr...
Egh,
it's times like this when I really start missing Eliot Spitzer.

I'll take expensive hookers over this kind of flagrant abuse of power any day.

If Cuomo doesn't run, Spitzer should. After all that Paterson has put the state through since Spitzer's resignation, I think the voters would forgive him, and he doesn't have the Bush DOJ trying to sandbag him this time, so he might actually be able to get something done.  

Sophomorish and terrible.
At least hookers are interesting. Interfering with domestic violence stuff is just evil w/out any of the T&A.

On the other hand, that report from Cuomo about the "rouge unit" of the State police was incredible. Great material for a James Ellroy novel.

Interesting perspective
At least hookers are interesting.

Spitzer could use that as his comeback slogan. Combine it with an appearance on the Colbert Report, and he's good to go.

[ Parent ]
"Yes, Stephen."
"As the honorable Robert Wexler once said, hookers are a fun thing to do!"

Independent Socialist & Chair of SSP Cranky Indianian Hoosier Caucus, IN-09
[ Parent ]
NY
This has to start hurting Cuomo at some point just for sharing the same party.

29/D/Male/NY-01
Really?
Really? You really think that? Hurting Cuomo for sharing the same party? And I suppose the rest of NY Dems will be tarnished, too? Really? Seriously?

You're, like, a constant analysis FAIL. Also!, that's in my opinion, of course. You're free to disagree with that assessment.

Kansan by birth, Californian by choice, and Gay by the grace of God.

[ Parent ]
hm
if someone who is openly investigating a Governor loses because of people made at what the governor did...

actually, that has probably happened in one way or another before

[ Parent ]
hah

[ Parent ]
This one is good even for Tek (eom)

[ Parent ]
Not to mention Barbara Boxer.

[ Parent ]
Risk for Cuomo?
I don't mean like Tek said above, I think Paterson's problems are his, and the D brand will be fine. But if Paterson doesn't resign, with Cuomo investigating, and then Cuomo (presumably) declaring for governor, I'm worried that Paterson can still do damage.

What are the chances that Paterson throws some baseless (and racially-charged) accusations at Cuomo during all of this, just out of spite? I can imagine Paterson trying to muddle the chronology on this, and try to downplay the scandal and make Cuomo look bad for investigating the man he seeks to replace.

Regardless, Cuomo has played this smart up to this point, and I'm sure he'll make it to November without too much trouble. But that doesn't mean Paterson can't try to make it ugly. Cuomo will have to be careful with all of this.

Who know what Paterson would be capable of?
He clearly has a tenuous grasp of reality. But that said, do you really think people would put much credence in anything he might say? I don't.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
That's true
I really hope NYers would ignore anything he said. But headlines like "Embattled Gov Says Cuomo..." sell newspapers and could be a stupid distraction.
[ Parent ]
Sure, people would read it
But we wouldn't give it any credence.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
Didn't Paterson call for Cuomo to investigate in the first place?
it's hard to imagine how Paterson could be any worse but attacking the investigation he himself called for would do the trick.

21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/
[ Parent ]
David Paterson gets a bad wrap
Obviously much of his behavior during his Governorship has been bizarre. Obviously he should see the inside of a prison cell if he is guilty of this, although this sounds blown out of proportion. And obviously I wouldn't vote for him.

But I do have to give Paterson some props for making politically suicidal but necessary cuts to spending (with some relatively modest tax hikes) to keep the state solvent. Thanks in part to some of the decisions he's made, New York isn't a complete disaster like California.

The difference is that by law, New York State
has to balance the budget every year, or at least push through gimmicks to make it seem as if they have done so. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure that any new bond issues must pass a statewide referendum, and those referenda usually fail.

As for Paterson, remember, he's a Democrat who has been very ready to cut services that help the non-rich, who are incidentally core Democratic constituencies, but he has been dead-set against raising taxes on millionaires. As a Republican, I'm guessing you might be sympathetic to that philosophy. But he isn't Governor George Pataki (R-New York). So even disregarding the extremely sordid scandal he dragged himself into, he is a dismal failure as a Democratic governor.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  

[ Parent ]
Unlike California
New York does not require a 2/3 vote of both houses of the legislature to approve budgets, plus it is nowhere near as ballot-measure crazy.

My blog
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28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)
[ Parent ]
I'm not even sure that ballot measures are legal in NY.
They probably are, but generally speaking they're something that only gets used/abused in the Western states (California, Oregon, and Colorado being the biggest culprits). There are actually some northeastern states, such as Vermont, where they're explicitly illegal. I don't think NY is one of them, but it wouldn't surprise me either way.  
[ Parent ]
Ballot measures are legal in New York
and there's usually one or two in each election. However, they aren't unrestricted. My impression, just from voting here, is that they are usually either proposed bond issues by the state or amendments to the City Charter.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
NY-Gov: NYT Says Paterson Directed Aides to Contact Woman in Abuse Case | 45 comments

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