The picture of Senators Chuck Schumer and Joe Bruno raised alot of eyebrows in upstate New York. Bruno has been publicly under Federal investigation for 3 years and the US Attorney for the Northern District investigating him, Glenn Suddaby, was waiting to become a Federal Judge in the NDNY and needed to clear the US Senate Judiciary in order to do so.

Bush nominates Suddaby for judgeship
Posted by Mark Weiner December 11, 2007, Syracuse News-Standard
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President Bush today nominated U.S. Attorney Glenn T. Suddaby, Central New York's top federal law enforcer, to serve as a federal judge in Syracuse.

Suddaby's nomination to the post of U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of New York had been expected since September, when Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, predicted a swift confirmation.

Schumer voiced his approval again today.

"Glenn Suddaby has a deep respect for the rule of law and is an accomplished professional with an impressive career in law enforcement," Schumer said. "He holds the rule of law over ideology, and I congratulate him on his nomination."

Rep. James Walsh, R-Onondaga, agreed Suddaby is a good choice.
Walsh said Suddaby will "bring the same fairness and thoughtfulness to the federal bench, and I am pleased to have recommended his name to the White House for this important post."

Flurry of testimony in Bruno probe; Federal prosecutors seen tying up loose ends
By JAMES M. ODATO, Capitol bureau, Times Union
Last updated: 6:40 p.m., Friday, November 28, 2008
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ALBANY - Federal investigators pursuing a criminal probe of former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno have called people familiar with details of his activities to testify before a grand jury here in recent weeks.
The actions of the United States Attorney for the Northern District's office suggested to at least one of the parties subpoenaed that prosecutors in the roughly three-year-old case are authenticating documents produced by witnesses for the FBI.

Several subpoenas were issued in recent weeks and shortly before the November elections, according to recipients and people close to individuals receiving the orders, which required secret testimony at the U.S. Courthouse in Albany.

Jack Werk, a thoroughbred horse expert from California, said Friday he flew here in September to testify. He said his request to appear before the grand jury came more than a year after he produced documents and other information for the federal probe.

He declined to discuss his testimony. He has told the Times Union previously that he prepared an analysis for a proposed thoroughbred horse transaction involving Bruno and former New York Racing Association trustee Earle Mack, an avid horseman whose wealth grew from downstate real estate holdings. Mack sold Bruno two breeding mares for Bruno's breeding business in Brunswick. Offspring later sold well above the sums Bruno paid for the mares. Mack purchased one of the yearlings.

Also, lobbyists and former public officials have been called to testify, according to people close to those witnesses.

Paul Holstein, a spokesman for the FBI, said his office would have no comment. Bruno's lawyer, William Dreyer, did not respond to a message left at his office. Bruno has said he has done nothing wrong.

A person familiar with the probe said it appears the federal government is building toward a climax in the case.

Mack had secured Werk to write a letter confirming that the sale of the mares to Bruno was fair to the buyer.

A previous subpoena to Werk showed the FBI's broad interest in horse deals involving Bruno and his friends dating to Jan. 1, 2001.

Documentation sought from Werk involved 15 related people, business entities or horses, including Bruno and his breeding farm. Those named include Bruno associate Jared Abbruzzese and his partner Wayne Barr, both of whom are Capital Region businessmen and thoroughbred owners. Barr was a Bruno appointee on the New York Racing Association board until last year. He had replaced Mack as an NYRA trustee. Bruno had also appointed Mack.

The subpoena also sought information about: - Bazaguma, a partnership controlled by Abbruzzese and named after his four children;

- Weatherwatch Farm and Weatherwatch Equine Training Center, which are owned by Abbruzzese or his wife, Sherrie;

- Jerry Bilinski, Bruno's close friend and a veterinarian from Columbia County;

- Bilinski's Equine Medical Center in North Chatham; Barr's Willow Rock Stables;

- Mack and Mack's Rising Son Farm;

- Ladies Night In and You're The Top, the two mares Bruno got from Mack.

The federal investigation involves many aspects of Bruno's public and private life. The former Republican leader, now leading a consulting company in Latham and registered as a lobbyist, had operated his own consulting business, served a Connecticut investment house and bred horses during his tenure in the state Senate. Besides the horse transactions, federal prosecutors have been interested in union funds from New York labor groups invested with Wright Investors Service of Milford, Conn., a firm that employed the senator for more than a decade. The probe has also looked at land deals involving Bruno and economic development grants he arranged.

In July, Bruno stepped down from the Senate after 32 years in office.

James M. Odato can be reached at jodato@timesunion.com or 454 5083.

4 Spitzer Staffers May Have Broken Law in Bruno Probe
By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press | July 24, 2008
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ALBANY - The state Public Integrity Commission today charged four former state officials - but not Governor Spitzer- with misusing state police to discredit the governor's political foe, the first charges to come out of the year-old scandal that paralyzed state government.

The commission found insufficient evidence to charge anyone else but harshly criticized Mr. Spitzer and his administration for a lack of cooperation in the investigation despite public promises to cooperate fully. The Spitzer administration claimed executive privilege and sought to withhold 109 documents "without legitimate basis," according to the panel's report released today.

The report also complained that the executive chamber created "numerous improper obstacles" to the investigation by withholding documents and gradually releasing information over 10 months.

The Spitzer administration's "spurious claims of privilege unnecessarily and improperly delayed the commission's investigation," a lack of cooperation that was "flatly at odds with its duty to assist the commission's investigation and the promises of Mr. Spitzer that the administration was cooperating fully," the report said.

By not charging Mr. Spitzer, the commission drew sharp criticism from former Lobbying Commission chair, David Grandeau, whose panel was replaced by the Public Integrity Commission.

"The whitewash is continuing," Mr. Grandeau said today. "It's been a year of making sure Eliot doesn't get blamed."

A spokeswoman for Mr. Spitzer said the report "makes clear there is no evidence that he violated the Public Officers Law.

"Indeed the report confirms what Governor Spitzer has said throughout: that he understood the information to be public and accordingly its release was proper and obligatory. He is saddened by the toll this investigation has taken on public servants who were simply trying to do their jobs," Brandy Bergman said in a written statement.

Mr. Spitzer resigned March 17 of this year after he was identified in a federal prostitution investigation.

The commission found former Spitzer aides Darren Dopp, Richard Baum, and William Howard and the former state police head, Preston Felton, conspired to smear then-Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno by releasing his travel records to a reporter. At issue were trips by Mr. Bruno in May and June to New York City on days he met with lobbyists and attended Republican fundraisers.

If found to have violated the code of ethics in Public Officers Law, Mr. Dopp could face a $10,000 fine. He has since left state government.

Mr. Felton, who was acting state police superintendent, faces two ethics violations that could each carry a $10,000 fine. Now retired, he was accused of working with Mr. Dopp to compile, and in some cases recreate, records of Bruno's travel on state aircraft operated by state police. Mr. Dopp was Mr. Spitzer's communications director.

The state police records access officer testified that travel itineraries of a state official were usually withheld on the theory that releasing them could endanger the life or safety of the official.

Mr. Baum, Spitzer's secretary, and Mr. Howard, a top public security aide, settled their cases by accepting charges that carry no penalty. Both have left state government.

"I will contest the charges because I do not believe I did anything wrong in releasing public records at the request of the media and at the specific direction of the governor," Mr. Dopp said in a prepared statement. "I can and will refute the commission's claims and look forward to doing so in the appropriate forum."

Mr. Howard declined comment on the report. Mr. Felton had no published telephone number and couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

"This settlement allows Rich to avoid lengthy and expensive legal proceedings and move on to a new chapter in his life ... the commission concluded that Rich did not respond to e-mails or ask enough questions of subordinates," Mr. Baum's attorney, Steven Reich, said in a written statement.

The commission said evidence shows Mr. Baum, who was Mr. Dopp's boss, was aware of efforts to get information about Mr. Bruno's travel. However, the commission report adds: "Baum received (and ignored) e-mail communications" that showed there was a plot to generate negative publicity about Bruno to Spitzer's benefit, even though the governor's aides had already concluded Bruno wasn't violating state policy on the use of state aircraft.

Mr. Dopp and Mr. Felton could request a public hearing to contest the findings. If more evidence comes out of those hearings, more charges could be brought, including against Mr. Spitzer, the commission said.

The commission, created as part of Mr. Spitzer's early government reforms, found Mr. Dopp and Mr. Felton used the state police to serve Mr. Spitzer's and their own interests in a way that compromised the agency.

Mr. Felton must have "believed, or should have known," that the documents State Police collected on Mr. Bruno would be provided to the media, according to the report.

"Such misconduct erodes public confidence in the integrity and independence of the state police," stated the commission, the majority of which were appointed by Mr. Spitzer.

Mr. Dopp and the other aides had insisted they were following the legitimate request of a reporter for public information. Mr. Dopp has in recent months insisted Mr. Spitzer directly ordered the release of the travel data on Mr. Bruno, who has since retired.

The panel found a Spitzer e-mail about Mr. Bruno in May 2007 that stated: "He is making personal attacks and I am really (going to) go after him at some point."

However, Mr. Spitzer testified that he meant his intention was to "reveal the hypocrisy of what he (Bruno) was saying in his personal attacks against me and my wife."

Mr. Spitzer testified he never saw the travel records provided by Mr. Dopp to the reporter.

In his testimony to the commission, Mr. Dopp "does not indicate Spitzer ordered the documents' release, but instead states Mr. Spitzer said the documents had to be released because according to Dopp they were public documents.

"According to Dopp, Spitzer and Baum relied on Dopp's judgment that the documents were public documents subject to disclosure," according to the 68-page report.

But the commission appears to let the former governor off the hook, at least for now.

"The failure to supervise subordinates, without more, does not violate the Public Officers Law," the commission stated. "Similarly, the release of information or documents to the media about a political opponent, without knowledge that such information was confidential or improperly compiled or created (here, through the State Police), does not violate the Public Officers Law."

In 2007, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's investigation of the case found improper conduct by Mr. Spitzer aides, but no crime. Months later, Albany County's district attorney, P. David Soares, after first finding no crime or even a scheme, re-interviewed Mr. Dopp and announced that Mr. Dopp appeared to be following Mr. Spitzer's direct orders.

AP Writers Valerie Bauman and Michael Virtanen contributed to this report from Albany.

Bruno Draws Tough Obama-Spitzer Parallels
By RUSSELL BERMAN, Staff Reporter of the Sun | September 5, 2008
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MINNEAPOLIS : No longer in office, Joseph Bruno clearly feels free to speak his mind. At a New York delegation breakfast here yesterday morning, the recently retired state Senate majority leader went after his one-time nemesis, Eliot Spitzer, and even compared Senator Obama to the disgraced former governor.

Mr. Bruno said Mr. Spitzer won a landslide victory in 2006 because of an effective marketing campaign and that he duped New Yorkers before showing himself to be a "despot" once in office. Berating the reporters covering his speech for falling for Mr. Spitzer's charisma, he warned that Mr. Obama could be the same kind of failed leader, and he called the Democratic presidential nominee a "wimp."

"Who was more articulate than he?" Mr. Bruno said of Mr. Spitzer. "Who was more charismatic ...? Who had the best Hollywood ads on TV that money could buy? And you know what, for those of you in the press, don't forget it. Articulate. Fancy. Dancey. Prancey. All those kinds of things that made him ? 70% of the vote. Broke a record, okay? Why? Marketing. Selling. Think about it. What that for real? Was it? Hell, no. His real personality came out."

He continued: "Gets elected. Something snaps. Something goes out in his mind. The real person comes out. What did he do? Think about it. Once he was in office, he became like a despot."

Mr. Bruno then brought the house down with a ribald joke involving Mr. Spitzer and prostitutes.

He did credit Mr. Spitzer's downfall for helping Republicans in the state. "You know what? He will do more to deliver the Republican Party in New York State to victory than anyone else, and that's the late governor, Eliot Spitzer," Mr. Bruno said to laughs.

Mr. Bruno said Mr. Obama is campaigning the same way as Mr. Spitzer, but that Americans don't really know him. "Everybody says: Man he's articulate. What a presence. How bright. Good ol' American. Stand-up guy. Yeah, Yeah. He's all of those Hollywood things that they can project. What has his life been about?" he said, criticizing Mr. Obama's lack of experience and his history of voting "present" in the Illinois state Senate.

"That's the wimpiest way anyone can vote," Mr. Bruno said of the "present" votes. "So he's a wimp. That's the way he's led his life."

Asked about his comments after the speech, Mr. Bruno said he wasn't referring to anything specific about Mr. Obama's past, but saying that he presented the same risk as Mr. Spitzer. "Well, that's the whole danger that's out there for the public. Just look at Eliot Spitzer," he said.

The Obama campaign did not return requests for comment.

A major supporter of Bruno and the horse racing contract is Capital Play, a franchise whose public relations spokesperson is Austin Shafran, who works for Hank Sheinkopf, major democratic lobbyist:

Capital Play Plan to Turn Aqueduct into Destination Location, Supported by Major Unions and Key Minority Business Organization
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NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
Capital Play announced today it has received support from a number of different sectors that will greatly benefit from its proposed development at Aqueduct Racetrack. In addition to Union support, Capital Play has received support from local community based groups and individuals.

Peter Ward, President of the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council, said today, "We are very pleased to have entered into an agreement with Capital Play for their VLT and development proposal at Aqueduct. We strongly support their application with the State of New York and know they will be a tremendous asset to the working people of New York, funds for education and the greater Queens and New York City community."

Edward J. Malloy, President of the Building & Construction Trades Council: The Capital Play team is made up of "reputable individuals who are committed to supporting working men and women...and are
committed to building their Aqueduct VLT and Mixed Use Facility using only union labor in accordance with agreements reached with the member unions of the New York State Building and Construction Trades
Council."

As recently as June 17, Capital Play also received endorsement from one of the most well respected Queens-based community organizations - Association of Minority Enterprises of New York, Inc
(AMENY). For nearly three decades, AMENY has served thousands of members of the minority and women owned business community by providing training and technical assistance to enhance the economic
viability of disadvantaged communities.

"AMENY, serving 33 years as a MWBE state wide advocate organization has come to the conclusion that the Capital Play team shows the strongest sensitivity to the importance of specifically programming their project to ensure that the maximum practicable level of inclusion of Minority and Women Owned businesses is achieved," stated James Heyliger, President of AMENY. "We therefore urge and
encourage your support for the designation of that team as developer/operator of a new facility at Aqueduct."

Capital Play, Ltd, a New York-based company, is composed of Mohegan Sun, Extell Development and Plainfield Asset Management and has been putting forward the best plan for the State of New York since
mid-2007.

"We have been a team that has been together since before last summer and we have worked hard to show the people in Queens and the rest of the State, that our team will bring the greatest returns -
both financially and community-based - to the people of New York State," said Karl O'Farrell, President and CEO of Capital Play. "We look forward to Governor Paterson, President Bruno and Speaker Silver
selecting us as we know and have said from the beginning of this process, that Capital Play can bring the best in the world to New York!"

Capital Play
Austin Shafran, 212-725-2378 / 917-417-3711

Spitzer Aides Charged in Troopergate Probe
Former Governor Is Not Linked to the Scandal
By JACOB GERSHMAN, Staff Reporter of the Sun | July 25, 2008
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Three senior aides to a former governor, Eliot Spitzer, and a former state police superintendent violated state ethics laws by plotting against a former Republican majority leader of the Senate, Joseph Bruno, the state's top ethics body has concluded.

More than a year after the Spitzer administration was hit with allegations that it improperly used the state police to dig up travel records that could prove damaging to the former Senate leader, the State Commission on Public Integrity handed down the first formal charges related to the scandal.

It did not find evidence linking Mr. Spitzer to the scandal.

The commission, seven of whose 13 members were appointed by Mr. Spitzer, accused the former governor's communications director, chief of staff, and a senior homeland security aide, as well as a former head of the police, of creating records and monitoring Mr. Bruno's travel "on a real time basis" in an effort to catch him misusing state aircraft privileges.

Its report was a year in the making and was delayed by what the commission described as "numerous improper obstacles" placed in front of it by the Spitzer administration, which turned over key documents to the body only after the commission threatened it with a court order.

Mr. Spitzer's communications director, Darren Dopp, and the superintendent, Preston Felton, who has since retired, were each fined $10,000, while the other two aides, the chief of staff, Richard Baum, and a police liaison, William Howard, settled by agreeing to the charges but not paying any penalty.

Mr. Dopp, who has accused the ethics panel of making him a scapegoat and has maintained that he had followed proper procedure, is contesting the charges, which may lead to a public hearing before an administrative judge.

"The commission's investigation was compromised from the beginning and after a year has produced a report that is more concerned with validating the improper conduct of the commission staff than getting at the truth," Mr. Dopp said in a statement.

The report does not substantially conflict with conclusions drawn more than a year ago by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. His office spent three weeks examining the same issue, and also determined that senior aides to the governor had enlisted the help of the state police superintendent to uncover records showing that Mr. Bruno was using state aircraft to fly to fund-raisers in New York City.

Administration officials turned over the records to the Albany Times-Union under the pretense of a Freedom of Information request, and advised a reporter on how to proceed with writing an article critical of Mr. Bruno. Further investigation showed the lawmaker was not guilty of wrongdoing.

The commission's findings seem to reinforce Mr. Cuomo's allegation, bringing to light e-mail messages between the state police and Spitzer aides discussing with great detail Mr. Bruno's movements in New York City.

Significantly, Mr. Cuomo and the ethics body did not implicate Mr. Spitzer, an outcome that comes as a disappointment for Mr. Bruno and Senate Republicans, who openly suspected that the former governor was concealing his involvement in the plot against the Senate leader.

The scandal, which is known as Troopergate, was a defining moment of Mr. Spitzer's brief tenure and his turbulent relationship with state lawmakers. It was later overshadowed in March when Mr. Spitzer resigned from office amid a prostitution scandal. Mr. Bruno, who is facing an unrelated federal ethics violation, retired from the Senate this month.

With the primary players gone, the most significant political implication of the report lies with the investigators more than politicians.

For months, largely behind the scenes, Albany County's district attorney, David Soares, who conducted two criminal investigations of the Spitzer administration, and the executive director of the commission, Herbert Teitelbaum, have been locked in a battle over their handling of the cases.

Mr. Soares, who is running for re-election, has contended that Mr. Teitelbaum interfered with his probe by improperly communicating with Spitzer officials, while the district attorney has come under scrutiny for his office's own close dealings with the Spitzer administration.

Questions about the ties between investigators and Spitzer aides is under review by the New York State Commission of Investigation.

The commission, which released thousands of pages of testimony and transcripts, included an e-mail exchange dated July 23 from a press aide to Mr. Soares requesting that the Spitzer administration's press office review a press release announcing that the district attorney was clearing the administration of any criminal wrongdoing.

"DA Soares asked me to run this by you prior to our releasing it," the e-mail message to Mr. Spitzer's communications director, Christine Anderson, from Richard Arthur states. "Since we're getting pounded by the press, we would like to get this out soon. Thanks."

Ms. Anderson forwarded the message to several senior aides, including Peter Pope, a policy director who was acting as a special counsel, who wrote back to Ms. Anderson, "Would they add re: govs office, 'but the report shows no evidence of a crime.'"

Mr. Soares did not include that line in his statement.

Republicans said they were vindicated by Mr. Soares's second, more critical report, which strongly suggested Mr. Spitzer had lied about the role he played.

The district attorney's report contained what was seen as damning testimony from Mr. Dopp, who said the governor, overcome by a fit of rage, had ordered him to release Mr. Bruno's travel records to the Albany Times-Union and had personally reviewed the documents beforehand. In prior testimony, Mr. Spitzer said he had minimal involvement in the decision to release the records.

The ethics body's report doesn't contradict Mr. Soares but discounts the importance of Mr. Dopp's testimony. What matters, the commission said, is whether the governor was aware that the state police department was taking extraordinary measures to cooperate with the administration's effort to tarnish Mr. Bruno.

"The failure to supervise subordinates, without more, does not violate the Public Officers Law," the report said. "Similarly, the release of information or documents to the media about a political opponent, without knowledge that such information was confidential or improperly compiled or created (here, through the State Police), does not violate the Public Officers Law."

December 20, 2006
Bruno Is Subject of Inquiry by F.B.I.
By MICHAEL COOPER and DANNY HAKIM
ALBANY, Dec. 19 — The New York Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, one of the three men who effectively control state government, said Tuesday evening that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was looking into his business interests.

Mr. Bruno, 77, who will be the state’s top Republican when Gov. George E. Pataki leaves office in less than two weeks, offered few details about the nature of the inquiry, which he said he was announcing because it had been leaked to reporters.

He said that he has known of the inquiry since late spring, and that he recently retained a lawyer. He said the investigation “appears to be related to my outside business interests,” but added later that he was “not sure” if it involved any official actions he has taken as Senate leader. He said he was told that he was not a target of the investigation.

Mr. Bruno said he did not believe that the inquiry would affect his ability to serve as majority leader.

“I am guilty of nothing, so why would it impact my ability to do anything?” he said.

The F.B.I. refused to confirm or deny any investigation. But one law enforcement official who has knowledge of the investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity said that it focuses on Mr. Bruno and how his private business dealings may relate to his official position. The official said the investigation was still in the early stages.

Mr. Bruno’s statement rippled through Albany, where for the last 10 years he has held an iron grip on the fate of all legislation along with Governor Pataki and the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver. And the inquiry comes as Albany awaits the inauguration of Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat who ran for governor on a pledge to clean up the ethics of the capital, on Jan. 1.

Several Republican state senators said that they were unaware of the federal investigation when they re-elected Mr. Bruno as their majority leader just last month.

“Did we know?” asked one Republican senator, who spoke anonymously because of his close ties to Mr. Bruno. “We didn’t. Would it have changed things if we’d known? Maybe. I would have definitely had more questions if I’d known this.”

Governor Pataki, referring to the investigation, said on NY1 News, “Hopefully, the senator has done everything right, and that will be what the conclusion is.”

Mr. Bruno’s announcement of the inquiry made him at least the 10th state lawmaker to be investigated, indicted or convicted in recent years.

And it came as many in the Capitol were waiting to learn the fate of another top official, State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi, a Democrat, who could be indicted by an Albany County grand jury as early as Friday for using state workers as chauffeurs and personal aides for his wife, a law-enforcement official said.

Neither Mr. Bruno nor federal officials would say much about the investigation on Tuesday night. Mr. Bruno did say that the F.B.I. had issued subpoenas as part of it, and that he had gone to meet with the authorities.

“They’re going into background over the last five, six years and relationships and business interests,” Mr. Bruno said.

Mr. Bruno has a consulting business, Capital Business Consultants L.L.C., which has the same address as his home in Rensselaer County, across the Hudson from Albany.

Since selling his telecommunications equipment company, Coradian, in 1990 for about $10 million, Mr. Bruno has remained active in business, reporting income in most years from consulting arrangements as well as investments in real estate and stocks, according to financial disclosure reports he filed with the State Legislative Ethics Committee.

Mr. Bruno has also reported earning money in recent years from consulting work for a Connecticut investment firm, Wright Investors’ Service. The company’s president told The New York Sun in 2003 that Mr. Bruno was paid a part-time salary for referring clients to Wright, that Wright did not manage money for New York State, and that Mr. Bruno’s consulting did not involve his work as a senator.

Paul M. Holstein, a spokesman for the Albany office of the F.B.I., declined to comment on questions regarding Mr. Bruno last night. “We have no comment on any pending investigations or even about whether there is an investigation ongoing on Senator Bruno,” said Mr. Holstein, who is a supervisory special agent of and chief division counsel for the F.B.I. “We’re not going to confirm that there is an investigation.”

He referred questions about the matter to the United States attorney’s office in Syracuse. Officials there did not return calls for comment last night.

Mr. Bruno’s lawyer, William J. Dreyer, also did not return telephone calls or respond to e-mail messages last night.

A report in The New York Times on Saturday highlighted some of the ties between Mr. Bruno’s private and public interests. It found that in recent years, Mr. Bruno has steered state money to a business linked to Jared E. Abbruzzese, a wealthy investor in the Albany area, while also investing in a different company affiliated with Mr. Abbruzzese.

Mr. Bruno declined to say whether the inquiry was related to Mr. Abbruzzese.

He said Tuesday evening that he had decided to announce the federal investigation publicly because “I wanted to be upfront and assure that I have nothing to hide, and to avoid speculation, distortions or unfounded rumors.”

Al Baker, Mike McIntire and William K. Rashbaum contributed reporting from New York City.

January 21, 2008
Joe Bruno: The 'Top Dog' With the Suite Doghouse
Gothamist

Even while targeted in the Troopergate scandal, State Senate leader Joseph Bruno was living in high style. The New York Sun is reporting that Bruno enjoyed a 3,500 square foot, two-story penthouse suite at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, just weeks before the legislature selected the hotel chain to construct a luxury hotel in Albany.

On November 30, the nine-member board of the Albany Convention Center Authority, which includes a member appointed by Mr. Bruno, voted to begin negotiations with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, of which Sheraton is a subsidiary, as operator of a 400-room hotel to be built in downtown Albany near the senate leader's district.

The board's decision to begin negotiations with Starwood rather than four other hotel operators came on the recommendation of a special authority task force led by the owner of Jack's Oyster House in Albany. Mr. Bruno regularly dines at the upscale restaurant, which provides him a private back table, at the expense of his campaign account.

The duplex suite in question normally runs guests about $5,000- 10,000/night (but who really pays rack rate, right?) and Bruno reports he/the state GOP paid only $900-1,000/night. The hotel's manager said the chain's VIP club manager upgraded Bruno, a frequent customer, "That night, he probably was the top dog."

The generous discounts Sheraton gave Bruno for the 45th-floor suite were not reported to the elections board as an in-kind campaign contribution, as might be required. On the other side of the aisle, Caesars Entertainment company gave Assembly leader Sheldon Silver a heavily discounted suite in a Las Vegas hotel in 2004 - while the company was lobbying to open gaming operations in NY. Ceasars paid a $25,000 fine while not admitting guilt of any wrongdoing.

Recently the executive director of the Public Integrity Commission received a $15,000 a year raise, and thus pushed off his career transition to become a lobbyist. Bruno criticized the raise in the middle of an investigation looking at Gov. Spitzer's investigation of his use of state aircraft. On the other hand, maybe the executive director of the Public Integrity Commission could use another raise...

Bruno's Bust, by thelexiphane at flickr