Things are getting bad for New York Gov. David Paterson — and his state police superintendent — as more revelations surface in the wake of the big Times story today.
The latest: Paterson’s deputy secretary for public safety, Denise O’Donnell, has resigned and is accusing the state police superintendent of lying lied to her about police involvement in the domestic violence case of Paterson aide David Johnson.
The woman in the case has accused state police of “harassing” her to not pursue a protective order, and State Police Superintendent Harry Corbitt admitted to the Times that a member of the detail assigned to the governor had approached the woman after the October incident.
Corbitt claimed that the state police merely wanted to apprise her of her options, and that it was was standard procedure in any potentially high-profile case.
O’Donnell has a different view.
After Corbitt informed her of the incident last month, “My immediate concern was what role the State Police would take in the investigation and I was assured by Superintendent Corbitt that the State Police were not involved,” she said in her resignation statement (via Ben Smith).
“It was only last night when I learned from press reports the contrary details, including the involvement of the State Police. For these reasons, I am resigning my position as Commissioner of the Division of Criminal Justice Services and Deputy Secretary of Public Safety effective today.”
In another development, the lawyer for the woman in the domestic violence case is standing by his claim that Paterson called his client the day before a Feb. 8 hearing was scheduled. The Paterson camp has said the woman initiated the brief call. She did not show up for the hearing the next day and the case was dropped.
Late Update: The Times has posted a transcript of the court proceeding in which the woman accused the state police of harassing her. Read it here.