Sources tell the Times that investigators have obtained more explicit details regarding recent allegations that Governor Paterson tried to pressure an ex-girlfriend of his top aide into dropping legal action after he allegedly assaulted her. Yesterday the Times reported that besides personally speaking with the accuser, Sherr-una Booker, and having the State Police repeatedly contact her, Paterson also allegedly instructed his press secretary and another state employee, Deneane Brown, to try and hush the woman. Now sources say Brown, who was close friends with Booker, has told investigators that Paterson ordered her to express this message to Booker: "Tell her the governor wants her to make this go away." (A day after speaking with Paterson, Booker essentially went away.)
Paterson denies telling Brown to "make this go away" and yesterday spent the day sequestered in the Executive Mansion with top state Democrats, telling his side of the story, which is that he only contacted Booker because she reached out to him to complain that she was being pestered by NY Times reporters. "There's a misconception, as [Paterson] sees it," State Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs told the press. "From his perspective, it's [his side of the story] got validity. He's got to get that out and let it be judged. I made the point that there shouldn't be any more shoes to drop, and he said there would not be."
In an editorial today, the Times declared that Paterson "has failed to account for his actions. If he can show that he did no wrong, he must do so fully and immediately. If not, he should resign." And now Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who, as you may recall, was appointed by Paterson, has joined the chorus calling for his head. "At the end of the day, if the allegations of abuse of power are true, then the governor will be unable to govern and he will have to step down," Gillibrand told NY1. "Domestic violence and abuse of power have no place in our society, and certainly no place in our government."
Those present at yesterday's Paterson pow-pow described the mood as sober, yet desperate. One source tells the Post, "It had a tragic quality to it. In his own unique way, he was begging to survive."
