A little-known but powerful state agency with broad powers to ferret out wrongdoing in government said today it has begun an investigation into how at least three different state and local agencies handled their probes of the Spitzer administration's attempt to smear a political rival with the help of the State Police.
Albany County District Attorney David Soares, for instance, cleared Eliot Spitzer of wrongdoing in his original probe of Troopergate last year, but in a new report last week concluded that Spitzer was heavily involved in the effort against Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.
In addition, various questions have been raised about the closeness of the two state agencies - Public Integrity and the Inspector General - because Spitzer appointees control those agencies, neither of which has interviewed Spitzer about his role.
The state Commission of Investigation, created by Gov. Thomas Dewey in 1951 to look into political corruption cases, can use its subpoena powers to look into the how effectively the state ethics agency, the state inspector general and the Albany County district attorney handled the scandal known in Albany.
"Let me be clear. The commission is not investigating the events concerning troopergate; more than enough investigations of the issues surrounding those events have taken or are taking place," SIC Chairman Alfred D. Lerner said in a written statement this morning.
To repeat, SIC won't be investigating Troopergate itself. But they will be investigating how these agencies conducted themselves when focusing on that scandal. This could be trouble for Soares, who is up for reelection this year.
