Turns out Bill White, who abruptly quit as president of the Intrepid Sea Air & Space Museum yesterday, has been under investigation in Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's state pension-fund probe. White had been at the museum for 20 years, and said stepping down wasn't an easy decision, but gave no details as to why he was leaving.
According to the NY Post, the investigation of White is ongoing, and probers were trying to determine his connection with soliciting campaign contributions for ex-state Comptroller Alan Hevesi in exchange for the right to manage $447 million in state pension funds. Last year Cuomo subpoenaed Bill White & Associates, and returned a campaign contribution given by him.
Upon his resignation yesterday, White was offered a retirement benefit, but in an email to museum trustees he wrote, "I have decided not to accept an agreement and retirement benefit offered to me. The proposed agreement required me, forever and in perpetuity, to refrain from ever speaking publicly about my 20 years [at the museum]." He noted that the retirement benefits offered were "better given and dedicated to the important purposes of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and its efforts to assist our wounded warriors suffering from traumatic brain injury and their families." A museum rep says the Cuomo probe has nothing to do with White stepping down.
