ALBANY— The State Commission of Investigation will examine previous and current probes into whether two of Governor Spitzer’s aides attempted to sabotage a political opponent with the help of the state police, the agency chairman, Alfred Lerner, said yesterday.

Meanwhile, Governor Paterson — who replaced Mr. Spitzer after he was connected to a prostitution ring and resigned in disgrace — has asked Attorney General Cuomo to investigate the state police to determine whether politics has inappropriately interfered with their work.

State statute gives the Commission of Investigation broad authority to look into potential corruption, fraud and mismanagement in government.

The commission won’t evaluate whether the Democratic Spitzer administration acted illegally or unethically when state police were asked to collect Senate Republican Majority Leader Joseph Bruno’s travel records. Instead, it will review investigations by the Albany County district attorney, P. David Soares, state Inspector General Kristine Hamann, and the state Commission on Public Integrity. The commission’s investigation could eventually branch out to other agencies that probed the scandal, including the attorney general’s office.

“We are concerned that the multiplicity of investigations has been somewhat dysfunctional,” Mr. Lerner, who was appointed by Governor Pataki, a Republican, said. “As a result of that, we thought it would be appropriate for us to determine whether these processes could be improved. It’s no secret that many people in this state have lost confidence in these investigations.” Mr. Spitzer has denied he directed the gathering of any documents concerning Mr. Bruno’s flights and said he didn’t order the release of any documents to the news media.

Last week, Mr. Soares issued a report saying Mr. Spitzer may have lied when he told investigators he wasn’t involved and that Mr. Spitzer could have been indicted had he not resigned. Mr. Spitzer’s former communications director and one of the aides implicated in the plot, Darren Dopp, told Mr. Soares that Mr. Spitzer was directly involved with the release of the records. Those new revelations seem to contradict a report Mr. Soares issued in September, saying no one in the Spitzer administration acted improperly and he found no evidence of a plot to discredit Mr. Bruno.

Ms. Hamann was also criticized for not conducting a full investigation into the matter, relying instead on information from Mr. Cuomo’s office and reaching the same conclusion as the attorney general: there was misconduct, but no violation of laws. At the time, Ms. Hamann, who was appointed by Mr. Spitzer, said going further with the investigation would create a potential conflict of interest.

The Public Integrity Commission still hasn’t completed its now nine-month old investigation. Mr. Spitzer appointed the commission’s chairman, executive director and a majority of its members.

Separately, Paterson officials would not be more specific yesterday about why the governor sought the investigation by Mr. Cuomo into the state police, first reported yesterday by the New York Post.

“There have been complaints and anecdotal evidence of political interference into the state police,” Mr. Cuomo said. “The governor wants a state police force that is beyond reproach and is totally free of any political interference, and that’s why he asked me to undertake the investigation.”

Mr. Cuomo said his office will talk to people in every troop and won’t limit the investigation to state police employees. He wouldn’t say who else he might interview.

“We will fully cooperate with any inquiry the attorney general may conduct into these matters,” a spokesman, Lieutenant Glenn Miner, said.

The State Trooper’s Police Benevolent Association released a statement yesterday discounting the likelihood that state police have been influenced politically — a complaint Mr. Cuomo said he has heard from state lawmakers.

The PBA also rejected the notion that troopers on Mr. Spitzer’s security detail were involved in the prostitution scandal that ended his political career.