Albany Investigators Request Second Interview With Dopp

Investigators for Albany County's district attorney, David Soares, have requested a second interview with Governor Spitzer's communications director, Darren Dopp, a key figure in the state police scandal.

Mr. Dopp's lawyer, Terry Kindlon, said his client would submit to a second round of questioning later this week. Albany investigators first interviewed Mr. Dopp three weeks ago.

The request could portend a worrisome development for Mr. Spitzer, who is trying to recover from charges that senior administration officials used state police to gather damaging information about the Senate Republican majority leader, Joseph Bruno.

The investigation by Mr. Soares, who is determining whether the governor's committed a crime in connection with the plot against Mr. Bruno, was thought to be near completion.

Spitzer officials have said they are confident that Mr. Soares will not find any evidence of criminal activity.

Mr. Spitzer last week restored Mr. Dopp's $175,000-a-year salary after suspending him without pay for more than 30 days. He has not said whether Mr. Dopp, who is using vacation time, would return to his old job.

Senate Republicans accused the governor of trying to keep Mr. Dopp silent about his knowledge of which officials were aware of the scheme.

Mr. Kindlon also said that Mr. Dopp is submitting a sworn statement to the New York State Ethics Commisison, which is investigating possible ethics violations. He said the commission has not demanded that Mr. Dopp testify in person before investigators.

"To me it sounds like there's something he doesn't want to talk about," a spokesman for Mr. Bruno, John McArdle, said.