A report issued Thursday by Former Chief Judge Judith Kaye found that Governor David Paterson misled investigators about his intention to pay for free tickets to last year’s World Series at Yankee Stadium.

Serving as an independent counsel, Kaye says the decision to charge the governor with perjury now lies with Albany District Attorney David Soares, who is currently investigating the matter, as well.

In the report, Kaye writes, “The evidence indicates at a minimum the above-described portions of the Governor’s testimony before Commission staff were inaccurate and misleading…”

Kaye adds the evidence warrants consideration of possible criminal charges by the Albany DA.

Soares’ office released a statement saying, “We are aware of the report issued by Judith Kaye this afternoon and the matter is under review. We will have no further comment until our review is completed.”

The governor says his presence at the game was official business, so he was entitled to the fifth seat.

State law prohibits officials in the executive branch from accepting gifts of more than nominal value from lobbyists.

The New York Yankees are registered to lobby in connection with stadium financing.

The report comes on the heels of another investigation by Kaye, in which she found that the governor acted inappropriately but not criminally by reaching out to a woman alleged to have been abused by top aide David Johnson — a main figure in Thursday’s report.

According to Kaye, Johnson would not cooperate with the investigation or the state Commission on Public Integrity, which wrote the initial report alleging Paterson lied about soliciting free tickets for the Yankees game.

Both the Commission and Kaye found the governor made no effort to pay for the tickets prior to the game, and that the check for his son’s ticket and his son’s friend was not written by the governor as he had testified, but was actually signed and backdated by Johnson.

The governor’s attorney disputed the findings, saying, “The Governor did not lie when he testified about the Yankee tickets, and the report does not recommend the bringing of criminal charges or conclude that the Governor intended to give false or misleading testimony. We are therefore hopeful that D.A. Soares will ultimately conclude that no criminal charges are warranted.”

(Source: NY1)