Incoming New York Governor Admits Marital Infidelity
Mar 24th, 2008 • Posted in: NewsIn wake of departure of predecessor amid prostitution scandal, David Paterson puts his past on display, but says it will not affect his ability to lead
ALBANY
New York State’s increasingly bizarre political scene again featured high moral drama last week, as new governor David Paterson, giving a speech one day after taking over the office vacated by the disgraced Eliot Spitzer, admitted that he had affairs with several women.
But Paterson said the affairs did not affect his ability to lead, the Associated Press reports.
Newsday notes that Paterson’s surprise announcement about his infidelities was a strategic attempt to seize control of a narrative that otherwise might spin out of control and hurt him.
“The core reason for coming forward is you are able to define what the story is,” Dan Keeny, a public relations consultant who specializes in damage control, told Newsday. “You put the frame around the picture.”
Both Paterson and his wife acknowledged having extramarital affairs during their 15-year marriage.
While Paterson’s poll numbers dipped after the revelation, he has retained his overall popularity, according to the New York Post. Seventy-five percent of voters surveyed by Quinnipiac University said the incoming governor will lead effectively, with 67 percent saying he will restore trust in government.
According to the New York Daily News, poll numbers remained solidly in condemnation of Spitzer, who resigned after being linked to a high-priced prostitution ring: 81 percent said resignation was the correct option, with 48 percent saying Spitzer should be charged with a crime.
In related news, the U.S. Department of Justice, which nailed Spitzer via some of its most intrusive investigative tactics, last week defended its aggressiveness.
The scale of the probe, which involved monitoring phone calls, tailing the now-ex-governor, and sifting through his financial records, was an apparent departure for Justice, which rarely pursues prostitution rings unless there are extraordinary circumstances involved, such as child exploitation or vast amounts of money, notes the New York Times.
Government investigators told the Times that their pursuit of the case was justified because it involved the possibility of wrongdoing by New York’s highest elected official, who also had served the former top prosecutor for the state.
Justice officials who spoke to the Times anonymously said they had no choice but to investigate Spitzer after reports of suspicious bank activity had been filed with the Treasury Department. The unidentified investigators said the banking reports suggested that various machinations had been used to try to keep anyone from noticing transfers of his own money, which could have been symptomatic of bribery or extortion.
Sources: New York Times, Mar. 21 — New York Post, Mar. 21 — Daily News, Mar. 20 — AP, Mar. 19 — Newsday, Mar. 18.
For more information, see: Related Newsline Commentary, Mar. 17 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 17 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 4, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Jan. 16, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Aug. 1, 2005.
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