Spitzer named in plot to smear rival

Prosecutors considered trying to indict Eliot Spitzer for official misconduct for his role in the so-called Choppergate affair but decided not to after the former New York governor resigned in a prostitution scandal, according to a report released Friday by Albany Dist. Atty. David Soares.

The highly anticipated report was an about-face from one Soares’ office released in September clearing Spitzer of any wrongdoing. The latest showed that Spitzer, a Democrat, was deeply involved in the effort to embarrass state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Republican, by releasing travel records compiled by the New York State Police in May and June.

Spitzer denied any involvement in the affair in statements to reporters and to prosecutors in August. He was not asked for an interview with prosecutors for this report, sources said.

In a statement, Bruno criticized Soares for not bringing charges and blasted the September report “as cover for then-Gov. Spitzer and his administration.”

The 20-page report is based largely on the sworn testimony of Spitzer’s former communications director, Darren Dopp, who directed the gathering of data on Bruno and resigned in July after Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo’s office revealed the efforts. Dopp was granted immunity for his testimony.

“If Dopp’s testimony is credited, then former Gov. Spitzer’s answers were not truthful,” the report said. A Spitzer spokeswoman declined to comment.

Had Spitzer remained in office, prosecutors would have put the matter before a grand jury, the report said. But the law would not allow the prosecution of a former public official for public misconduct.