A new report in the New York Times today says Governor David Paterson personally directed two state employees to contact the woman who told police she was assaulted by one of his top aides.
The New York Times cites an unnamed source in reporting that the governor told his press secretary, Marissa Shorenstein, to ask the woman to describe the incident with David Johnson as non-violent.
The New York Post reports Shorenstein met yesterday with investigators from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office.
Paterson also reportedly asked another state employee, Deneane Brown – who is friends with both the accuser and the governor – to contact the woman before she was due in court to finalize an order of protection against Johnson.
Brown reportedly arranged a phone call between the woman and the governor.
The assault case was dropped when the accuser did not show up for a hearing on February 8th.
Johnson has been suspended without pay from the governor’s office.
In a public appearance yesterday, Paterson declined to comment on the case – citing the investigation by Cuomo.
He also said he will not resign, despite calls from some Democrats that he step aside.
(Source: NY1)
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2 Responses
There’s a difference between being a crummy governor and using state resources to tamper with a witness. Not only should he resign but the investigation might end up with him serving jail time for misusing state resources and witness tampering. This looks worse every day.
NineTwo, witness tampering is a federal offense. But, I doubt the Justice Department will launch not launch an investigation because the Governor is a Democrat and because he is black.