Spitzer’s Office Denies Threat To LMDC Head
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A spokesman for state attorney general Eliot Spitzer yesterday denied that the attorney general had threatened John Whitehead, who is the chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and a former chairman of Goldman Sachs. In a commentary entitled “Scary” in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Mr. Whitehead said Mr. Spitzer threatened him over the phone in April. The threats, he said, followed the publication of his Journal op-ed “Mr. Spitzer Has Gone Too Far,” which was critical of the attorney general’s handling of the investigation of AIG and its chief executive, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, who was forced out in March.
A spokesman for Mr. Spitzer, Darren Dopp, said yesterday that the attorney general and Mr. Whitehead engaged in a “spirited conversation” following April’s op-ed, but that no threats were made.
“If a threat were made, well, why wait seven months to say anything about it?” Mr.Dopp said. “It’s part of the Greenberg hit back against Mr. Spitzer initiative. They are close friends and allies. Greenberg put him up to the original op-ed and then encouraged him to do it again now. The Journal is only too happy to do it.”
In May, the attorney general filed suit against AIG and Mr. Greenberg for fraud. Mr. Greenberg says he is innocent.
In yesterday’s Journal, Mr. Whitehead recounted Mr. Spitzer’s remarks:
“This is what he said: ‘Mr. Whitehead, it’s now a war between us and you’ve fired the first shot. I will be coming after you. You will pay the price. This is only the beginning and you will pay dearly for what you have done. You will wish you had never written that letter.'”
Mr. Spitzer is running for governor as a Democrat. Mr. Dopp said that Mr. Spitzer was unavailable to answer questions yesterday because he was “solving the transit strike.” According to Mr. Dopp, in last April’s telephone clash, Mr. Spitzer criticized Mr. Whitehead’s leadership of the LMDC, the agency in charge of rebuilding ground zero. “Eliot said, ‘John, you really should stick to your day job. You’re not doing a very good job at it and you should stick to it.'”
Mr. Whitehead did not return a message left with his office late yesterday afternoon.
