Don't miss the story in today's Newsday about AG Cuomo's "humanitarian" effort to use a personal friendship with Darren Dopp's wife to get her husband to spill his guts on Spitzer last year.
The story raises a few questions. Judging from what his aides say, Cuomo carefully tried to navigate the line that would have prohibited a law enforcement officer from going behind the back of Dopp's lawyer. But:
Why had he issued a report purportedly informing the public of the facts about Troopergate without telling the public that he actually believed a key player, Dopp, had not told the full story? Why was he still investigating when he had assured the public that no crimes were committed? Why was he involved after a real prosecutor began to investigate?
(Update: Discerning readers will also be amused to learn that a)The calls were completely personal and humanitarian, because of Andrew's concern for Sandy Dopp; and, b)He had an aide listening in most of the time, ready to contradict if necessary any suggestion that anything inappropriate occurred, including the version of the call offered by three other sources contacted by Newsday.)
The calls imply that Cuomo -- who had not put anyone under oath, who had never demanded subpoena power, who had not interviewed Spitzer, and who reported that his investigators had been lied to multiple times but insisted he couldn't do anything about it -- himself knew that his own report didn't tell the full story.
Now, for a variety of complicated and interesting reasons, he has emerged from it all as Albany's big winner. Go figure.