Restauracje

by: sopnofruilip8

Wed Sep 28, 2011 at 06:26:18 AM EDT

Bruno Investigation Extends to elder Daughter and SUNY Research Foundation

by: Andrew C. White

Sun Jan 04, 2009 at 14:40:21 PM EST

At second glance... one realizes that wherever the FBI turns it discovers yet one more area of Joe Bruno's life that needs investigating.

Today's Albany Times Union brings us the latest in the epic saga.

ALBANY - The FBI's investigation of former Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno has expanded to the Research Foundation of the State University of New York, according to sources familiar with the probe.

In particular, a knowledgeable source said, the FBI is probing the work activities of Susan M. Bruno, the elder daughter of the former Senate leader.

Spitzer to pay for last week's flight to Western New York

by: robert.harding

Tue Dec 11, 2007 at 12:21:21 PM EST

Spitzer flew on a state plane last Wednesday with an unknown number of aides. Democratic sources say he held court at a Buffalo restaurant that evening with a number of political figures.

The next day, he spoke at a meeting of the state Farm Bureau in Niagara Falls, met with The Buffalo News Editorial Board, gave other interviews and took a brief shopping trip with his wife along Elmwood Avenue. That evening, he held a fundraiser at Jacobs Executive Development Center, the former Butler Mansion now owned by the University at Buffalo.

Democratic sources say the fundraiser, with tickets ranging from $1,000 to $5,000, raised about $75,000, and was hosted by Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, DBuffalo, and Paul F. Ciminelli, a local developer.

No doubt that was the right thing to do. One of the other things mentioned in the article was how Spitzer once flew on a commercial flight to visit WNY and how many politicians couldn't remember the last time a sitting governor did such a thing.

Cult leader delivered for Boss Bruno

by: devtob

Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 20:39:37 PM EDT

As in, what did Boss Bruno do for Newman, with state taxpayers' dollars, in return for Newman's granting Independence Party endorsements to endangered Republican senators downstate?

Which Newman did, in every instance.

Details below.

'Wild' Bill Hammond on Bruno, Ethics.

by: phillip anderson

Tue Aug 14, 2007 at 13:26:56 PM EDT

How do you spell ethics hipocrisy? B-r-u-n-o

n an op-ed piece for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle last week, Bruno claimed that the watchdog panel is unfit to probe Gov. Spitzer and his staff for three reasons: because its members "are all gubernatorial appointees," because some members "contributed heavily" to Spitzer's campaign and because their investigation would be "limited to violations of the Public Officer's Law, not potential criminal violations."

Wrong, wrong and wrong.

In fact, Spitzer appointed only one of the five current members - John Feerick, a former Fordham Law School dean who literally wrote the book on ethics in New York State government. The other four are holdovers from Republican Gov. George Pataki. Spitzer nominated one commissioner in his former role as attorney general - Carl Loewenson, who should probably recuse himself from this case. But the remaining three, two Republicans and an independent nominated by former Controller Alan Hevesi, owe Spitzer nothing.

Bruno also distorts the truth on campaign contributions. Apart from Loewenson, the only commission member who donated to Spitzer's campaign is Robert Giuffra, a Republican. That was in 2002, when Spitzer was running for a second term as AG. In last year's governor's race, Giuffra backed John Faso. Yes, the commission's executive director, Herbert Teitelbaum, did chip in thousands to Spitzer through his former law firm. But now he answers to the commission and to Feerick - an unpaid volunteer with a well-earned reputation for probity.

...

So the commission has all the independence and authority it needs to probe the Spitzer administration for using the state police to snoop on Bruno's political travels and leaking details to the press.

It's funny. Bruno didn't seem so concerned about conflicts of interest last year, when he announced the FBI was looking into connections between his official actions and his private business affairs.

"My interests outside the Legislature have all been cleared and approved by the Legislative Ethics Committee," he said then, with a straight face.

What he didn't say was that he personally appoints three of the six members of that panel, that the chairman receives a $6,250 stipend and that the committee has never punished anybody for anything.

Now that's an ethics watchdog Bruno can be comfortable with.

That Bruno can wail and whine about the Ethics Commission while not being laughed right out of the room is troubling indeed. That needs to change.

New York Deserves the Truth!

by: phillip anderson

Sat Aug 11, 2007 at 10:16:47 AM EDT

Or, um, something

Earlier this week, a Bruno aide turned down a Freedom of Information request from Gannett News Service for copies of the senator's e-mail correspondence with political advisers and for a schedule of all the trips Bruno took to New York City this year.

The information gathered by the Spitzer aides related to Bruno's use of state resources to travel to New York City, where he attended political functions as well as government-related meetings.

Such documents aren't covered by the Freedom of Information law, Bruno aide Steven Bogess said. The news service is appealing the ruling.

Theres an old saying about stones and glass houses that comes to mind...

A Kangaroo Court

by: phillip anderson

Fri Aug 10, 2007 at 10:24:34 AM EDT

Joe's show trial

Yesterday's state Senate hearing on the Eliot Mess proved to be stage-managed for maximum advantage of GOP Majority Leader Joe Bruno. No surprise there.

Bruno's handpicked Senate Investigations Committee chairman, George Winner, gave the game away by preposterously branding the shenanigans among Gov. Spitzer's staff "the most serious challenge to the integrity of New York government that we have faced in a long, long time." Has he forgotten the pay-to-play culture in which lawmakers wallow?

Instead of focusing on substantive matters - such as banning Bruno from abusing state police aircraft for political purposes - the panel fruitlessly hectored a hapless aide to no-show Inspector General Kristine Hamann and then courteously mulled the testimony of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's chief of staff. He called for giving the AG subpoena power to go after the likes of the Spitzer crew.

In the end, Bruno's show produced no insights - except to confirm that a hearing by allies of the alleged victim is the wrong forum for a fair investigation.

What was the Governor up to yesterday? He was trying to get more children covered by health insurance.

Bruno Speaks

by: phillip anderson

Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 13:54:42 PM EDT

In addition to calling for investigations of Eliot Spitzer’s office, Joe Bruno is now proposing legislation to prevent state officials from using the state police to collect information on political leaders.

C'mon, Joe. Must we leave everything to the FEDS?

New Q Poll Confirms Emerging Consensus

by: phillip anderson

Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 11:06:25 AM EDT

New York Voters Say Spitzer Knew About Troopergate, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Cuomo At New High As Bruno Is Hit Harder Than Spitzer

New York State voters say 53 - 27 percent that Gov. Eliot Spitzer knew what his aides were doing when they arranged for State Police records of Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's travels to be leaked to the media, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Gov. Spitzer's approval rating has dropped to 48 - 28 percent, down from 60 - 22 percent in a June 19 poll by the independent Quinnipiac University.

Voters disapprove 40 - 33 percent of the job Sen. Bruno is doing, with 27 percent undecided. This compares to Bruno's previous low, a 39 - 25 percent disapproval, with 36 percent undecided, in a February 13 survey.

New York State voters say 50 - 29 percent that Spitzer is a "steamroller." But only 18 percent say this tactic is working, while 53 percent say it contributes to legislative gridlock.

Voters still say 56 - 35 percent that Spitzer will be able to clean up state government.

Troopergate should be investigated further, voters say 52 - 36 percent. But voters split 35 - 36 percent, with 29 percent undecided, on whether further investigation will show Spitzer did something wrong.

Voters are more certain, 43 - 26 percent with 30 percent undecided, that further investigation will show Bruno did something wrong.

...

Voters say 58 - 26 percent that Spitzer is honest and trustworthy, compared to 58 - 20 percent who say Cuomo is honest and trustworthy. Bruno is not honest and trustworthy, voters say 36 - 29 percent, with 35 percent undecided.

I think we now have a pretty good snapshot of where the public is on this. A majority of New Yorkers believe that the Governor did indeed know what his aides were up to. They aren't so sure that he did anything wrong, but they want it investigated anyway. His job approval has certainly taken a hit. That said, they like the Governor and see him as an agent of change. They sent him to Albany with nearly 70% of the vote for a reason. They see some progress in cleaning up Albany but want much more. Cuomo gets a big boost. People really don't like Joe Bruno (or Shelly Silver, for that matter) all that much.

Did Bruno Just Blink?

by: phillip anderson

Mon Jul 30, 2007 at 15:12:09 PM EDT

Winner: Give Cuomo Subpoena Power

Sen. George Winner, chairman of the Senate Investigations Committee, is asking Gov. Eliot Spitzer to appoint Attorney General Andrew Cuomo as a special prosecutor, in order to give the AG subpoena power in the Troopergate investigation.

...

Critics, particularly in the Republican-controlled Senate, have said the absence of testimony from the two aides - Dopp and Spitzer’s secretary, Richard Baum - points up a need for further investigation. Winner says the issue could be resolved by having Cuomo go back at the matter, this time with the power to force people to testify.

Is Bruno bailing on a Senate investigation or am I just reading this wrong?

More Post Fallout Polling

by: phillip anderson

Mon Jul 30, 2007 at 14:57:38 PM EDT

NYers Think Spitzer Knew What His Aides Were Up To
Spitzer Still Popular, But Gets "C" Average on Enacting Agenda, Dealing with Legislature & Everything Changes on Day 1 Promise

Cuomo’s Standing With Voters Jumps; Bruno & Silver Stay Low

More than half of New York voters who have read or heard about the Attorney General’s report issued last week believe that Governor Eliot Spitzer was aware of what his top aides were doing, despite the fact that he says he did not, according to a new Siena (College) Research Institute poll of registered voters released today. The Siena New York poll also shows that Spitzer still has a better than two-to-one favorable rating, although his job performance rating has fallen significantly. While voters overwhelmingly believe he has been the most effective state leader over the last six months, they give him only average grades on getting his agenda enacted, dealing with the Legislature and following through on his promise that everything changes in Albany on Day 1.

"In the last month, Spitzer’s favorability rating has fallen from three-to-one positive, to two-to-one positive. His job performance rating is negative for the first time since he took office. And he is developing a credibility problem with voters since he continues to maintain that he had no knowledge of what his aides were up to, yet by a margin 51-28 percent, voters think he did know," said Steven Greenberg, Siena New York Poll spokesman. "At the same time, however, voters overwhelming think he has been the most effective state leader over the first half of 2007 and, despite the scandal, voters believe the Governor is committed to reforming Albany, by a margin of 58-28 percent."

Spitzer’s favorable rating is 59-28 percent (down from 62-22 percent in June and 75-10 percent in January). While 46 percent say he is doing an excellent/good job, 48 percent say he is doing a fair/poor job (55-37 percent in June). Andrew Cuomo’s favorable rating is the highest ever in a Siena poll, 55-26 percent, as is his job performance rating (52-33 percent, up from 46-36 percent in June).

"On virtually every measure the Governor and Cuomo do best with upstate voters," Greenberg said. "While Spitzer scores better with Democrats than with Republicans or independents, and New York City has the highest concentration of Democrats, Spitzer does better with upstate voters than New York City or downstate suburban voters on his favorability and job performance ratings, on whether voters believed he knew what his aides were doing, and on his commitment to reforming Albany.

Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno has a negative favorability rating of 23-42 percent (it was 17-37 percent in March). Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has a negative favorability rating of 24-34 percent (virtually unchanged from 23-35 percent in March).

Spitzer Mulls 'Staff Changes', Bruno Aims Gun at Foot

by: phillip anderson

Mon Jul 30, 2007 at 09:40:30 AM EDT

More Spitzer staff changes possible

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been reviewing his administration's internal operations, and more personnel changes are possible in the wake of a report that his staff misused the State Police to discredit a political rival, people with knowledge of the review said Sunday. Spitzer has already taken action against two staff members.

Christine Anderson, the governor's press secretary, said Sunday that there is no "shake-up planned; we're still in the process of doing our internal review."

"Are changes a possibility? Sure," she added.

The governor is moving swiftly to try to put the matter behind him, but he and his staff will likely face scrutiny for months.

Reading the comments on this site over the past week, I feel I'm not alone in thinking that some "staff changes" might be a very healthy thing. Better late than never, I say.

Meanwhile, Bruno appears to be aiming a loaded gun squarely at his foot:

Referring to Spitzer's article, John E. McArdle, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, said "there's nothing in there that's going to deter us from proceeding with what we are doing."

...

Senate Republicans are seriously mulling their own investigation, and McArdle said that Sen. George Winner Jr. would meet on Monday with officials from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office in anticipation of a potential inquiry. Winner is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations.

A partisan investigation, lead by someone party to the original dispute, isn't going to impress anyone save maybe Dicker and Mondello. A Senate investigation in addition to a likely Ethics Commission inquiry is a recipe for disaster for the Bruno crew. You would think Bruno would get that.

Apparently not.

Put a Sock In It, Joe

by: phillip anderson

Fri Jul 27, 2007 at 09:21:24 AM EDT

Please, Mr. Bruno

"A lot of people in authority think there was criminality in the executive branch," Mr. Bruno says, without mentioning of course that Mr. Cuomo isn't one of them. The attorney general instead found that no laws were broken.

Someone so dismayed at what he says he read in the attorney general's report should read it again. Mr. Bruno was cleared of wrongdoing by Mr. Cuomo only because of what his report calls "the laxity of the existing standard concerning the use of state aircraft, which permits personal or political business to be mixed with official state business on the same trip."

The standard that Mr. Bruno did satisfy regarding use of that aircraft is, in Mr. Cuomo's view, so "overly permissive and porous" that it "allows for an abuse of taxpayer funds."

That constitutes vindication?

Yet Mr. Bruno gloats on.

Here Comes The State Ethics Commission

by: phillip anderson

Thu Jul 26, 2007 at 17:27:12 PM EDT

State Ethics Commission investigation will have power to subpoena testimony in the scandal

The state Ethics Commission will investigate the scandal in which top aides to Gov. Eliot Spitzer used state police in a plot to discredit Republican Senate leader Joseph Bruno, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

The letter dated Thursday says the state Ethics Commission, which has subpoena power, will investigate the case that has dominated the Albany agenda since an investigative report was released Monday by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

The letter addressed to Cuomo was provided by a state official on the condition of anonymity because the investigation hadn't been officially announced. When told of the letter, state Ethics Commission spokesman Walter Ayres confirmed it came from the investigative agency.

The commission seeks all interview transcripts, notes, e-mail and other material from Cuomo's investigation, but it can compel testimony under oath. Cuomo's interviews were voluntary because he lacked subpoena power in this case.

I feel at this point, an investigation was definitely going to happen. I'd rather have the Ethics commission conduct one than have an actual party to the dispute conduct his own through the Senate. Bruno has been saying that he's willing to abandon the work of actual governance until he satisfies his unquenchable hunger for "the truth." Hopefully, this will quiet him down for a bit.

But, of course it won't.

Not Liking This:

by: phillip anderson

Wed Jul 25, 2007 at 11:02:25 AM EDT

Gov's aides stonewalled AG's probe

Two top aides to Gov. Spitzer refused to answer questions under oath in the probe that uncovered a dirty-tricks scheme against Senate GOP leader Joe Bruno, it was revealed yesterday.

"We requested to interview Richard Baum [secretary to the governor and Spitzer's top aide] and Darren Dopp [Spitzer's communications director], but they refused and submitted sworn written statements," said Jeff Lerner, spokesman for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

What NYCO Said

by: phillip anderson

Tue Jul 24, 2007 at 13:49:24 PM EDT

...I thought, furthermore, that Spitzer wasn’t properly employing his political capital toward message-building.

Well, all that was written back when Spitzer had political capital to spend. Others will argue over the details of how much Spitzer knew and when he knew it and whether he ought to fire this or that person. I’m not concerned with that. It seems that six months into his term, Spitzer has completely squandered the tremendous political capital he had in November. Well, honestly, despite not being a true acolyte of the Great Pumpkin, I’m dumbfounded. How could he do that? How can it even be possible, under the normal laws of political physics as it were, to throw that much capital out the window?

On the other hand, I’m beginning to appreciate the uniqueness of living and observing politics in a state where everyone really knows what is really going on. It’s not like national politics, where fine-sounding theories are a dime a dozen. Everyone understands the exact nature of what’s wrong with Albany. Everyone (especially upstaters) understands the stakes. Everyone understands the power plays. Nobody needs to be an insider to understand Three Men in a Room. Nobody needs special Albany contacts to get the drift. Although nobody can win under the current rules, anyone can play. And nobody needs a blog or a columnist or a pundit to tell them what Spitzer has just managed to do to himself. He knows, they know and we know.

Now what?

What Bouldin Said

by: phillip anderson

Tue Jul 24, 2007 at 13:33:48 PM EDT

Politics are a good thing. In the present circumstances of divided government and an obstructionist republican majority in the Senate, elected with only 47.1% of the vote, the effort to secure the state Senate for a Democratic majority is a key task for Governor Spitzer. Everything else hinges on it.

What makes this task especially urgent is the complete failure of the old media to move beyond the framing of a personal spat between Joe Bruno and Eliot Spitzer to a discussion of the issues involved. The governor wants campaign finance reform - the republicans said no. The governor wants a brownfield cleanup - the republicans said no to that, too. The legislature passed a ground-breaking marriage equality bill - the republicans went to the golf course. Assemblyman Brodsky wrote an equally ground-breaking telecommunications bill that would, if implemented, transform the upstate economy. The Senate is still at the golf course, and the media are still writing their stories about personalities.

Even in these circumstances, however, we can't have, not as Democrats, not as New Yorkers and not as Progressives, a situation where zealous aides use assets of the state government in an effort to further tarnish Joe Bruno. The man is under FBI investigation - why gild the lily? What also simply can't happen is any misuse of the power of the governor's office, or anything that can be even implausibly construed as such. This because, again, the storyline needs to be, has to be for the sake of our common future, the obstruction of the governor's legislative agenda, not the doings of the governor's aides.

What New York State needs right now is a discussion, a loud and public discussion, of where this state wants to go in the next decade. We need to be talking about the best ways to finally breathe some life into the upstate economy. We need to talk about fixing legislative dysfunction. We need wholesale reform of the public authorities. Our entire state government needs to change.

We can't have distracting spats about the competing misdeeds of Joe Bruno and various aides. To have that would be a disservice to the voters and to our state's future.

A Roundup Of Air Bruno Fallout

by: phillip anderson

Tue Jul 24, 2007 at 11:37:53 AM EDT

His Aura Faded, Spitzer Faces Bolder Enemies and a Threat to His Agenda

More significantly, the report has emboldened Mr. Spitzer’s enemies and threatens to derail his entire legislative agenda, starting with one of his major objectives: overhauling Albany’s notoriously lax ethics.

Already, a deal the governor, a Democrat, announced last week with legislative leaders that would tighten state campaign finance laws seemed in jeopardy of unraveling, Republican lawmakers said on Monday.

The New York Sun says the Senate will most likely begin their own investigation:

Spitzer Faces Probe In Senate

Senator George Winner, the Republican chairman of the committee on investigations and government operations, said Senate committees have a "very broad jurisdiction to make inquiries."

"We don't have to create a witch hunt, but I would like the committee to have a look at the underlying e-mails and transcripts to see if there is other stuff out there," Mr. Winner said.

He said the committees could issue subpoenas if the documents are related to legislation under consideration by lawmakers, a hurdle that would easily be cleared if lawmakers introduce legislation, for instance, changing how freedom of information requests are handled by the state.

The New York Daily News says "Boxcar Joe" (Really.) is likely to hit back hard:

Et tu, Bruno? He's likely to hit back hard

Senate GOP leader Joe Bruno is likely to swing back hard at Gov. Spitzer, taking advantage of the cloud hanging over the administration, Republican activists said last night.

"You don't pick a fight with Boxcar Joe and expect he's not going to hit back," a GOP strategist close to New York's top Republican said.

It would be an understatement to say that I'm disappointed.

Cuomo's Report "Mixed", Spitzer Accepts Responsibility

by: phillip anderson

Mon Jul 23, 2007 at 13:21:02 PM EDT

Gov. Eliot Spitzer said he accepts AG Andrew Cuomo's report, apologized to Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, the State Police and the people of New York and announced disciplinary action against two members of his administration: Darren Dopp and Bill Howard.

Despite the fact that Cuomo's report found "no violations of law, the governor said, Dopp, Spitzer's communications director, will be suspended without pay for an "indefinite period," which will be no less than 30 days. Howard, the assistant secretary for Homeland Security and a Pataki administration holdover who is the liaison to the State Police, will be reassigned to an undefined position outside of the governor's office.

...

Spitzer, who said he called Bruno this morning to issue an apology, insisted his past comments that denied any wrongdoing on the part of his administration when it came to the majority leader, said he made those statements based on "incomplete and inaccurate information."

"I believed that everything was done properly pursuant to media requests," Spitzer said, referring to the FOIL request filed by the Times Union seeking information about Bruno's use of state helicopters and travels while in the company of State Police troopers.

This is from the Governor's statement:

With respect to the use of State aircraft, today’s report makes clear that
New York’s rules relating to non-governmental use of aircraft are much
weaker than the laws and procedures in other states, and the report
recommends that the laws be strengthened. I agree, and have asked my staff
to review the existing laws and guidelines, and to make recommendations on
how they can be improved to address this issue.

The report also describes events leading to the location of records
relating to Senator Bruno’s alleged use of State aircraft for political
purposes, and the creation of records to memorialize travel that had
already taken place. As the report makes clear, this conduct was not
illegal. However, because the matter involved an elected official from
another party – indeed, one whom the public views as a “political opponent”
– every effort should have been made to follow proper procedures, and thus
reduce any perceived conflict. Moreover, although the steps taken were
within the bounds of the law, they created an appearance that the State
Police were being used inappropriately, and certainly above and beyond what
would be required to provide information to the public.
As a result, I have decided to take several actions based upon the
allegations set forth in the report issued today.

More, including the Governor's full statement on the flip...

Bruno Ditching State Police "Spies"

by: phillip anderson

Fri Jul 13, 2007 at 11:12:01 AM EDT

BRUNO IS GIVING UP HIS 'SPIES'

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, fearful State Police have spied on him, will notify Gov. Spitzer's administration today that he no longer wants their protection - despite threats against his life, The Post learned last night.

Bruno, in a letter to acting State Police Superintendent Preston Felton, will say that he will use Senate personnel and possibly a private security firm to assure his safety.

"Given what went on, we no longer want State Police protection," said a Bruno aide, referring to the ongoing controversy over claims that the Spitzer administration engaged in what Bruno (R-Rensselaer) has called "political espionage."

"The troopers were being asked to do things that haven't been done before, keeping records on Sen. Bruno, and that's not fair to them or the senator. So we're not going to be in a position where that is done any more, not now, not ever," the aide said.

Bruno - who says he's been the target of several death threats in recent years - will rely on Senate employees, several of whom are retired state troopers, for his security or perhaps use campaign funds to hire the security firm headed by Bo Dietl, the famed former New York City detective, the aide said.

Bo Dietl? What, Blackwater was too busy?

Whoever gets the Bruno protection gig, I wonder if they'll be able to honor his "standing request" for "sirens and emergency lights when they drive him in New York City to speed his progress through traffic."