Free Republic

ALBANY — Again and again when he appeared before a state ethics commission last year, a top aide to Gov. Eliot Spitzer tried to explain that he had told the governor about steps he was taking to gather the travel records of Joseph L. Bruno, then the Senate majority leader. But the commission’s executive director kept changing the subject and did not want to hear about Mr. Spitzer’s involvement, says the aide, Darren Dopp. In his first extended interview about the case, Mr. Dopp said this week that he was refusing to reach a settlement with the ethics commission, known...

<p>The lawyer representing Governor Spitzer's embattled communications director, Darren Dopp, is lashing out at Senate Republicans, accusing their former political strategist, Roger Stone, of concocting the entire state police scandal.</p> <p>The lawyer, Terrence Kindlon, said Mr. Dopp and the governor were victims of an orchestrated smear campaign comparable to the damaging "Swift Boat" attacks on the military record of Senator Kerry during the 2004 presidential race.</p>

ALBANY, Sept. 13 — Private lawyers for two top aides to Gov. Eliot Spitzer said on Thursday that they would not fight subpoenas issued by the State Ethics Commission earlier this week. Terence L. Kindlon, a lawyer for Darren Dopp, the governor’s communications director, said his client told him to abandon his plan to fight a subpoena and instead cooperate with the commission. And Steven F. Reich, a lawyer for Richard Baum, the secretary to the governor, also said his client would not fight the subpoena issued to him. Two months ago, the governor said he and his staff had...