Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Your honor: You have now heard the evidence in this matter. I submit to the Court that the
proof adduced at this hearing unmistakably shows that Governor David Paterson violated
sections §§ 73(5) and 74(3)(d), (f) and (h) of the Public Officers Law relative to the acceptance
of gifts and receipt of benefits by state officials. I submit that the evidence shows that the
Governor solicited and accepted a gift and received a material benefit for himself, two
members of his staff, his son and his son’s friend, by obtaining and using five coveted tickets
to Game One of the World Series.
The proof unmistakably shows that the Governor was not on official business—he played no
role whatsoever at the game—no ball thrown out—no mention of his presence. This was not
only Lon Trost’s testimony, the Governor himself admitted the same thing. In sum, no state
business whatsoever. While the Governor contends that the nature of the event itself called
for him to be there, the applicable law and opinions of the Commission clearly indicate
otherwise.
And if the Governor wasn’t there on official business then neither was his aide, David
Johnson. And the Governor in his testimony clearly indicates his belief that neither Mr.
Leuning, nor the Governor’s son, Alex nor his son’s friend, Jeremy, were there on official
business either. This admission, in and of itself, absent unprovoked payment for the tickets,
establishes the violation of the applicable sections of the Public Officer’s Law.
Likewise it is clear that the nature of the tickets which the Governor received was more than
a gift—the mere fact that the Governor received these coveted tickets constituted an
impermissible benefit to the Governor and others. No one from the public could have gotten
these five seats near home plate at the time and in the manner which the Governor obtained
them. The Governor essentially said so in his testimony as did the representatives of the
Yankees here today.
But notwithstanding the fact that Governor recognized the nature of the tickets as being a
benefit, the Governor still requested the tickets and fully enjoyed the benefit of those tickets
for himself, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Leuning, Alex and Jeremy. Payment for these tickets even if
made without provocation, can not vitiate the benefit which the Governor received simply by
being able to obtain the tickets.
The truth is that Mr. Kauffmann’s testimony clearly establishes that the Governor never
intended to pay for any of the tickets that he received, just as he had not paid for tickets
under similar circumstances on Opening Day.
The truth is that had it not been for the provocation of a reporter’s inquiry, there never
would have been payment for any of those tickets.
The sad truth is that the Governor intentionally misled the Commission through his testimony
about his intention to pay, intentionally misled the Commission about his writing a check,
and intentionally misled the Commission about giving that check to Mr. Johnson.
This palpable and patent misstatement of the truth by the governor is not only indicative of
his intention not to pay for the tickets and to have received the benefits which the tickets
conferred, but of his intention to deceive the Commission and ultimately to deceive your
honor¶.
That intention is further compounded by his failure to appear at this hearing, which is a
further indication of his lack of sensitivity to ethical considerations by which he should be
guided. Simply put, the Governor is supposed to set the ethical standard by which all state
employees should conduct themselves. I submit that he has sadly and widely missed the
mark in doing so.
As such, I suggest that the maximum monetary penalty be imposed for that failure and the
violations of the Public Officers Law which that failure constitutes. We respectfully request
permission to submit a full briefing to the Court relative to our suggested findings and
penalty and we thank the court for its time and patience during this proceeding.