Say one thing for Eliot Spitzer, in light of newly released testimony from the Troopergate affair: he knows how to stick to a story.

The former governor was spared, from a legal standpoint, because, according to the State Commission on Public Integrity: "[t]he failure to supervise subordinates, without more, does not violate the Public Officers Law." (The commission made public some 277 pages of sworn testimony it took from Mr. Spitzer on May 9 in Manhattan, and found that four of Mr. Spitzer's aides violates ethics law.)

But the documents do show the way in which Mr. Spitzer held fast to his claim, even after he left office, that it was his staff and not he who ordered the state police to create and disseminate travel records of Joe Bruno, who was then majority leader in the State Senate and Mr.  read more »

Blair Horner of the good-government group NYPIRG was just on Fred Dicker's Talk 1300 radio show, saying that Tom Golisano may "undermine his own efforts" if "he gets caught up in the courts."

Golisano, who pledged yesterday to put $5 million towards State Senate races, mainly in western New York, says he's launching a political action committee. Horner said the problem may be that laws surrounding P.A.C.s do not allow them to coordinate with campaigns at all.

Golisano, by his own admission, has already met with some campaigns.

"It's pretty murky," Horner said.

David Paterson denied that he made derogatory statements about Michael Bloomberg, and specifically that he equated Bloomberg's temper with Eliot Spitzer's, both of which Fred Dicker reported in today's New York Post.

“I didn’t say any of the things I’m accused of saying,” Paterson said during a press conference in the capitol building in Albany, where he also discussed the O.T.B. deal that was negotiated over the weekend. “He and I never had an acrimonious relationship,” Paterson added.

Paterson said he will not demand a retraction because the article attributed the quotes to “a source” and not to the governor directly.

“But you’re quoted as saying something that you’re now telling us you never said,” said Daily News Albany Bureau Chief Ken Lovett (formerly of the Post), after asking why Paterson wasn’t demanding a retraction.  read more »

Also from David Paterson's interview this morning on Fred Dicker's radio show:

Paterson backed off the comment he made last week about Hillary Clinton's "desperation."

"I think a better word would have been 'frustration,'" he said, expressing some regret over how widely his statement was repeated.  read more »

There's some movement on the local political beat!  read more »

New York Post reporter Ken Lovett is leaving for the New York Daily News, where he’ll compete head-to-head with his former partner, the Albany titan Fred Dicker.

The shift was confirmed by a reporter in Albany who said Lovett has already cleared out his desk and begun the move. A Daily News publicist declined to comment.  read more »

Midnight tonight is the deadline for state lawmakers to approve the mayor’s congestion pricing program in order to qualify for $354 million in federal transportation funds. It’s still not clear that there are enough votes to get it passed in either house of the legislature.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Joe Bruno supports it, but may not have enough votes on his side of the aisle to get it through. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been typically lukewarm and has consistently suggested that his members are not inclined to be in favor.

But Michael Bloomberg’s top aid, Kevin Sheekey, still thinks it’s less about cobbling votes behind closed doors and more about forcing legislators to vote on the issue publicly.  read more »

Here's Chuck Schumer chatting with Fred Dicker during his radio show in the Capitol building in Albany.

Schumer told Dicker he became closer to Spitzer after he became governor, but has not spoken to him since the scandal broke because he wants to wait until "the dust settles."

When Dicker pressed him on how exactly that dust will settle (with criminal charges? with jail time?), Schumer said he was unsure.