Former Aide To N.Y. Governor To Return To State Payroll After Scandal

Monday, August 27th 2007, 9:23 pm

By: News On 6

ALBANY N.Y. (AP) _ New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer will end the unpaid suspension of a staffer allegedly involved in a scandal in which state police were used to track the whereabouts of a political opponent, a spokesman said Monday.

Darren Dopp, Spitzer's longtime communications director, will return to the state payroll on Tuesday, but will use vacation time before resuming work, Spitzer spokesman Jeffrey Gordon said.

Gordon wouldn't say how long Dopp would remain off the job. It wasn't clear whether he would take his old job.

Dopp, who refused comment Monday, was accused of being part of a plot to embarrass state Senate Republican Majority Leader Joe Bruno this spring.

According to a state attorney general investigation, Dopp and another Spitzer aide tracked how Bruno used state aircraft and a state police driver. They planned to release the records to a reporter, the report concluded.

They were not accused of violating the law, but the report found policies designed to protect public officials' safety were broken for political gain.

Bruno had used a state helicopter and a state police driver on trips to New York City in which he mixed meetings with lobbyists with Republican fund raisers.

The state Ethics Commission recently tightened travel rules, saying officials now will have to strictly account for their time on state aircraft and reimburse the state for any portion of a trip that isn't for a ``bona fide'' public purpose.

Dopp was suspended without pay since Cuomo issued his report on July 23. The other aide was demoted. The state Ethics Commission and the Albany County district attorney continue to investigate.

Albany County Republican Chairman Peter Kermani said returning Dopp to the payroll is a ``shocking disappointment to the people.''

``Richard Nixon was forced to resign from office for utilizing public resources for his own personal, political gain,'' Kermani said. ``Governor Spitzer appears to have done the same thing, including a failed cover up attempt.''

Spitzer had immediately apologized to Bruno and said Dopp and the other aide operated alone and out of a zeal to reform abuse of state aircraft, which has been a longtime concern.