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If only Spitzer had fessed immediately, maybe with an aw shucks line about going too far in an effort to protect taxpayers, he might have survived the hooker thing and in a few months been rid of Joe Bruno without lifting a finger. Imagine the scatological fun Spitzer and his aides could have had chortling over the reheated FBI probe!

News of the Bruno investigation initially broke in early 2006. Details emerged in drips and drabs. Feds in the Northern District of New York (upstate is their beat) were said to be looking at Bruno's home based consulting firm Capital Business Consultants, as well as real estate deals involving Bruno, some family members, and buddy Jared Abbruzzese, part owner of Evident Technologies a nano-tech company in the Capital Region. Also at issue was half a million dollars in state funds Bruno funneled to Evident through the quasi-public Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC).

The ESDC is neither fish nor fowl; less accountable to the public than an actual government agency and less subject to market realities than private enterprise. These features, combined with the power to dispense billions in federal and state funds, bond for debt, grant extensive tax breaks, override local land use laws, and take private property through eminent domain, makes the ESDC one of New York's most powerful honey pots. Its boosters claim the ESDC is a revitalizer bar none. Critics see it as a culture-of-corruption breeder that turns public servants into Pez dispensers and gives the competitive edge to those willing to curry political favor by any means necessary.

After the initial flurry it seemed as if the FBI investigation of Bruno was going nowhere. Conspiracy freaks suspected a fix. (Incredible what wacky stuff folks spin when living in politically airless places.) Then, in early 2008, a flurry of subpoenas were delivered to various Capital Region union locals. Including Teamsters Local 294 and Laborers Local 190. (Note to history buffs: many colorful tales re Laborers Local 190 and alleged upstate mob figures and actual Albany pols can be found via search engines.) Seems the feds were seeking records related to union pension fund investments placed with Wright Investors' Service in Milford, Connecticut. The New York Times in an 02/04/08 article (Investigation Into Bruno Broadens ) claimed that a number of trustees of the pension funds invested with Wright had long time political relationships with Senator Joe Bruno. Bruno was employed by Wright and its parent the Winthrop Corporation until late 2007. Bruno signed on with Wright/Winthrop in the mid 1990s after becoming Senate Majority Leader. Job title at Wright? Business development agent. Duties and salary unknown. The New York State legislature doesn't put much store in disclosure.

Allegedly, the records of financial consultants serving as middlemen for the union pension fund investments are also being examined. According to The New York Sun (Probe of Bruno Extends to Smith Barney Broker 03/06/08 ) one broker is employed at the Albany office of Smith Barney, a division of Citigroup. Job title: Vice President Wealth-Management. Until recently said VP was listed on the website of the Eastern Contractors Association (ECA) as a member of the group's board of directors. The ECA is a trade association for all segments of the regional construction industry.

On June 24th Joe Bruno made his announcement about resigning as Senate Majority Leader and not seeking re-election. Just hours earlier the FBI had visited his offices and departed with some 30 boxes of records dating back to the mid 1990's. If that isn't hot enough for you the Justice Department is said to be considering having federal agents and prosecutors from the Southern District of New York join the jamboree originally launched by feds in the Northern District. Sadly, Glenn T. Suddaby , the U.S. Attorney for the great Northern, may not be in on the denouement of the case he's worked on for so long. Suddaby is up for appointment as a federal judge. Southern District feds goin' north could include Boyd Johnson from the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan. His beat is public corruption. Credits include the ongoing investigation of X Governor Eliot Spitzer's money-laundered hoedowns.

Speaking Spitz, as state attorney general he seemed clueless when it came to public corruption. There he was, in the belly of the beast, and all he seemed to see were the Evil Ones on Wall Street and clouds of factory smoke drifting in from the Midwest. And though he often inveighed against predatory lenders, organized mortgage fraud rings working inner city nabes in the Capital Region did so under his nose.

For about a week after news of the Spitzer scandal broke nobody knew for sure if he was going to resign. There was speculation that his attorneys were attempting to cut a deal in which the governor's resignation would be traded for no prosecution. When Senator Bruno resigned a similar story went round. The Daily News reported that Bruno's attorney had made a feeler call to the feds to see if Bruno's resignation could help make the investigation go away. His attorney denies the allegation and resents the alligators.

As said, Bruno and Spitzer weren't pals. But there does seem to be an inexorable connection between the two men. Sure, one is a downstate Democrat and the other an upstate Republican and they give the impression they detest each other. But you know the old saying about the line between love and hate. It wouldn't be a total surprise to wake up one morning and discover Spitzer and Bruno had hijacked a state-owned helicopter and flown off together to some fed-free paradise in the sun.

After Spitzer resigned, top aide Darren Dopp testified to Albany County D.A. David Soares that Spitzer said he wanted the travel reports "shoved up his [Bruno's] ass with a red hot poker". The language cited by Dopp is consistent with accounts by other people of other tirades by Spitzer.

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BloggerNews.net would like to thank and congratulate our Blogger of the Month for the month of June 2008 – Nancy Reyes for her long standing (and Outstanding!) contributions to BloggerNews.net!

Nancy is a long time contributor to Blogger News, and writes on a variety of subjects from her home in the Philippines.

Having been with Blogger News since almost the begining and contributing a multitude of great stories on a wide variety of topics, Nancy has been a fantastic asset to the BNN team.

Nancy previously worked as a physician, focusing on family practice, and is now retired and lives with her large extended family.

UPDATE: Simon Barrett interviews Nancy Reyes ... Click here to read the interview.

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