Paterson says he made initial leak to media
Valerie BaumanNew York Gov. David Paterson said Thursday that he was the first to reveal a conversation he had with a woman at the center of a domestic violence scandal, the second consecutive day the once-silent governor defended his actions.
The distinction is important for Paterson, who is trying to show he has nothing to hide amid two scandals that threaten his administration. He insists he did nothing wrong when he talked to Sherr-una Booker in February.
A special counsel is investigating whether Paterson illegally tried to get her to drop an abuse complaint against aide David Johnson or violated a state gift ban by accepting free World Series tickets, then lied about it. Paterson also denies wrongdoing in the latter case.
The New York Times first reported about his conversation with Booker, quoting "a person with knowledge of her account."
In an interview Thursday on WOR radio, Paterson said, "The individual who first made it clear that there had been a conversation was myself," referring to news reports about the matter. He did not identify the media outlet he talked to.
The Times disputed Paterson's account in a story posted online Thursday. The newspaper denied Paterson's claims that he was responsible for leaking the details to the public, saying that Booker's lawyer was the first to provide them with details, and that Paterson was forthcoming only after being provided with evidence that the Times already knew of the conversation.
Paterson does not dispute that he talked with Booker, aide Johnson's former girlfriend, who had accused him of attacking her in a dispute over a Halloween costume. The day after the discussion with the governor, Booker failed to appear in court, and the case against Johnson was dismissed.
The governor's lawyer didn't immediately return calls for comment Thursday.
Paterson has stayed mostly silent on the allegations against him, insisting he did nothing wrong but giving few specifics while the investigation was active. But on Wednesdsay he said he didn't urge Booker to drop her abuse complaint.
"I would never, nor did I ever, try to persuade anyone not to take the natural course of the law," he said on Don Imus' show on the Fox Business Network.
In the past three weeks, Paterson's deputy public safety secretary, press secretary, state police superintendent and communications director have quit because of the scandals.
The scandals have led to calls for Paterson's resigation and forced him to withdraw from the race for a full term. He was lieutenant governor when his predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, resigned amid a prostitution scandal in 2008.