Official: No Special Favors for Spitzer Donor

ALBANY — Of all of Governor Spitzer's political donors, perhaps none was as helpful as Richard Fields, the gambling mogul who pumped $200,000 into Mr. Spitzer's campaign coffers and shuttled the candidate to fundraisers across the nation on the developer's Gulfstream jet.

After Mr. Spitzer was elected, the question remained: How would Mr. Spitzer return the favor? The answer, according to a Spitzer official, is the governor will not.

"Time will tell whether Fields means anything to us. I think you're going to find out pretty quick the answer is no," the official told The New York Sun. "He was a means to get from point A to point B at one point during the campaign. And later on, he wanted to be helpful in a campaign context."

Said the official: "I am positive we won't be talking about Fields in three months or six weeks."

The official's comments do not bode well for Mr. Fields, who is depending on support from the administration on two major business ventures with millions of dollars at stake.

Mr. Fields is a lead investor in Excelsior Racing Associates, one of three groups competing for the exclusive rights to operate the Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park, and Aqueduct. He is also a lobbyist for the Oneida Indians of Wisconsin, one of a number of tribes seeking state approval to build casinos in the Catskills.

The official would not elaborate on Mr. Spitzer's position on the horseracing franchise and the development of an Oneida casino. A spokesman for Excelsior Racing Associates, Howard Wolfson, said, "Richard certainly isn't expecting anything in return for his contributions to Governor Spitzer." He defended Excelsior's racing bid, saying, "The case we are making is a case on the merits."

In November, a state commission formed by Governor Pataki recommended that Excelsior, whose other partners include a New York Yankees general partner, Stephen Swindal, and an investor and former Democratic candidate for comptroller, William Mulrow, be awarded the racing franchise, which has belonged to the New York Racing Association since 1955.

Empire Racing Associates, a forprofit venture, came in second place in the scoring. The New York Racing Association, which is suing the state on the claim that it owns the racetrack land, finished a distant third.

Albany leaders, who are expected to make a decision on the franchise before the end of the year, have said they are not bound by the commission's recommendations. The Democratic speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, told the Sun last month that he favors starting over with a new bidding process.

Mr. Fields, a former adviser to Donald Trump, was one of Mr. Spitzer's biggest campaign contributors, donating $200,000 to his campaign through his various business entities. His assistance to the campaign emerged as a campaign issue in August when campaign records showed that Mr. Spitzer received discounted trips on a private jet belonging to Mr. Fields that shuttled the candidate to fund-raising stops in Arizona and Ohio. Following federal standards, Mr. Spitzer reimbursed Mr. Fields at a first-class commercial rate that was significantly less expensive than private air transportation.

Mr. Spitzer's Republican opponent, John Faso, criticized the trips, saying they created a conflict of interest. The state lobbying commission launched an investigation into Mr. Fields to determine if the trips violated lobbying rules. Soon after, Mr. Spitzer, who was never accused of any legal wrongdoing, announced that going forward he would pay for the full cost of such flights.

Last month, it emerged that Mr. Spitzer and his wife also flew on private jets belonging to Mr. Fields to attend a July fund-raiser hosted by the developer in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Mr. Fields contributed $200,000 to the campaign before the July 18 event.

Mr. Spitzer's January 15 campaign filings showed that the campaign returned more than $100,000 to Mr. Fields to cover expenses, including the plane rides, catering, and entertainment, that exceeded the maximum amount that each of Mr. Fields's companies was allowed to contribute.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Spitzer said the governor did not reimburse Mr. Fields sooner because he had not been billed for the expenses.