ALBANY – Flip-flopping Albany District Attorney David Soares was blasted yesterday for “a second cover-up” because his new report on the Dirty Tricks Scandal left many key questions unanswered.
Soares, whose first report on Sept. 21 falsely found that then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer wasn’t part of the plot to use the State Police against Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, conceded in the second report that not only was Spitzer involved, but that the DA may have sought Spitzer’s removal from office if the disgraced ex-governor hadn’t resigned March 12 in the wake of a high-priced-hooker scandal.
One of the most glaring omissions in Soares’ latest report is an explanation of why his first report – which came in the wake of The Post’s exposé and a confirming report from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo – was so spectacularly wrong.
Bruno’s spokesman John McArdle asked, “Where’s the explanation for why Soares got it wrong?”
Bruno, who in the past accused Soares of covering up for Spitzer, said he wanted to know why the district attorney didn’t present evidence of criminal activity to a grand jury – since Soares said several crimes had likely occurred.
“I feel it was a serious mistake not to present this information to a grand jury and proceed with prosecution, as there was clearly evidence of criminal conduct,” said Bruno.
A top Democrat close to the scandal said, “Either Soares was repeatedly lied to when he prepared the first report, was covering up the scandal when he did, or he is incompetent.”
Another Democrat – reflecting a view by some members of Gov. Paterson’s administration – called Soares a “boob who was conned by Eliot (Spitzer),” adding his latest report is part of “a second cover-up.”
Soares, who refused to discuss the report publicly, concluded Spitzer repeatedly lied about his aggressive involvement in the scandal.
He also found that former top Spitzer aide Darren Dopp – granted immunity in exchange for detailed testimony – may have committed two criminal acts, and that former Spitzer chief counsel David Nocenti, may have committed a crime as well by notarizing a false statement.
Other questions that Soares, a Democrat and onetime Spitzer political ally, failed to answer:
* Who ordered the State Police to keep and manufacture sensitive stop-by-stop tracking records during Bruno’s travels in New York, which formed the basis of the initial false claims against Bruno?
* What did Dopp – who under oath told Soares last month a harrowing tale of a manic Spitzer telling him to sic the State Police on Bruno and “shove it up his ass with a red-hot poker” – tell Soares last summer that led the DA to initially conclude Spitzer had done nothing wrong?
* If Dopp lied to Soares back then, why wasn’t he charged with official misconduct or another criminal offense?