Police Lawyers, Spitzer Aides Met Before Troopergate Report

Days before Attorney General Cuomo released a report alleging that the Spitzer administration and the state police coordinated a political hit on the Republican Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, two top state police lawyers met for three hours with two senior aides to the governor, according to records.

On July 18, the state police's chief counsel, Glen Valle, and deputy counsel, Darren O'Connor, met at the executive chamber with Peter Pope and Sean Maloney, two Spitzer aides who were deputized as special counsels during Mr. Cuomo's investigation.

Executive chamber records show that Messrs. Valle and O'Connor signed in at 2:12 p.m. and departed at 5:06 p.m.

Sources say Mr. Cuomo's report was nearly complete by then and that the governor's office, police officials, and the attorney general's office were engaged in a series of tense negotiations about what charges the report would contain and what disciplinary measures the administration would accept. On July 23, Mr. Cuomo's office published the report, which claimed that two aides to the governor, the communications director, Darren Dopp, and the governor's liaison to the state police, William Howard, sought to discredit Mr. Bruno by gathering and publicizing records from the police about his use of the state air fleet and police vehicles during fund-raising trips to New York City.

The governor apologized and suspended Mr. Dopp, who left the administration to take a job in the private sector. Mr. Spitzer has since insisted that his administration did nothing improper.

The attorney general's office concluded that the Spitzer administration did not commit a criminal offense, but allegations by Senate Republicans that the governor's office had stonewalled investigators sparked further inquiries by the Commission on Public Integrity, the Albany County district attorney, and a Senate investigative committee.

Sources say the commission and the district attorney, David Soares, are examining whether Messrs. Pope and Maloney and the governor's counsel, David Nocenti, pressured Mr. Dopp not to talk to Mr. Cuomo's investigators but instead to sign a two-paragraph statement denying criminal wrongdoing and acknowledging misjudgments.

In discussions with investigators for Mr. Soares and the integrity commission, Mr. Dopp has claimed that Messrs. Pope and Maloney warned him that Mr. Cuomo could not be trusted and that the attorney general aimed to charge several administration officials with criminal misconduct unless he cooperated, a source said.

Spokesmen for the state police and the governor's office declined to comment about the meeting.