Paterson Reimbursing Campaign for Hotel Stays

David Paterson is reimbursing his campaign $253 for two stays at a hotel for which his campaign counsel, Henry Berger, said there was not enough adequate documentation to justify as a campaign expense.

In a press conference at Berger’s office in the Empire State Building this afternoon, Berger said the expenses were for staffers who stayed there, and not related to the extramarital affairs Paterson recently admitted to.

Berger also said the campaign would produce the $1,000 check they paid to a woman who told the New York Post that she didn't know the governor or work for him. Berger suggested that the woman may have denied the professional relationship simply in order to avoid the media.

In the clip above, Berger and Errol Cockfield, Paterson’s spokesman, say they will continue to field questions about the campaign, but do not plan to conduct a proactive review of all the expenses. Also, Cockfield goes on to describe the inquiries as “sexist” for suggesting that every woman who worked for Paterson may have been romantically linked to him.

One interesting detail to come out of the nearly hourlong briefing with reporters was the fact that Paterson was the only person with a campaign credit card. That means that for every hotel expense charged to the campaign—and supposedly for the use of a campaign staffer—Paterson must have physically gone to the hotel to pay for it. So, that puts Paterson at the hotels on the nights his staffers were using the rooms.