US & World

ALBANY, N.Y. (CBS) ― A new report just released by the Albany district attorney finds that former Gov. Eliot Spitzer was intimately involved in a plot to discredit his political rival, Senate Republican leader Joe Bruno.

If Spitzer hadn't been forced to resign in shame because of his involvement in a prostitution ring the "Troopergate" scandal could have done him in.

But Albany District Attorney P. David Soares says he can't bring criminal charges against Spitzer because he is no longer a public official.

But Soares said Spitzer was the one who ordered the dirty tricks scandal.

He says the former governor played a key role in the plot to discredit Bruno by releasing his travel records.

This was revealed in testimony given to the D.A. by Spitzer's former communications director, Darren Dopp.

Dopp told the D.A. Spitzer reviewed the travel records before they were released to the press, and then ordered him to release the records in a profanity-laced exchange, knowing full well it could embarrass Bruno and perhaps expand an already existing federal probe.

The D.A. admitted that Dopp could have faced criminal charges had he not been granted immunity. Soares said he let Dopp off to bring closure to the Troopergate mess. Political plotting and games are not in the best interest of New York State, he said.

Gov. David Paterson moved to put Spitzer's Troopergate scandal behind him Monday by naming a new state police superintendent. The scandal occupied a good part of Spitzer's first year in office and so it was probably no coincidence that the first agency head replaced by Paterson was a man at the center of the controversy.

"The superintendent appointment is probably the most important appointment in our government," Paterson said Monday.

Paterson accepted the resignation of the now former top gun Preston Felton, who was head of the state police when two aides were accused of misusing state police records to embarrass Bruno and documenting his use of state aircraft during trips that involved GOP fundraisers.

"It is my great pleasure to introduce my nominee to become the superintendent of the New York State Polie, Harry J. Corbitt," Paterson announced during the morning news conference.

Corbitt, who retired from the state police in 2004, implied it was sad that Felton's prior career in the state police was tarnished by the Troopergate scandal.

"I don't have intimate knowledge about Troopergate, I only know what I read in the paper," he said. "I do know that whenever politics and police mix, it's a bad mixture."

Republicans were delighted with Paterson's move.

"I think it's a great move. I think it's a move that shows he wants to do what's right for the state police and what's right for people of New York," said Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn). "They thought they were electing a white knight and he became a court jester."

Pundits said it was a smart move by the governor to enhance his working relationship with the Senate majority.

"It could well be a peace offering to Joe Bruno. It's also an effort to try to calm waters that are still roiling about issues of gubernatorial conduct," said Baruch College professor David Birdsell. "It takes a bone of contention between him and the Legislature off the table."

SPITZER'S ROLE

Sources told CBS 2 HD earlier this week that Soares was poised to issue a report by the end of the month that would detail Spitzer's detailed involvement in Troopergate. Sources said that contrary to his public statements, the former governor was directing the efforts to embarrass and discredit Bruno.

If his involvement with a prostitution ring didn't topple him, Spitzer's involvement in Troopergate might have led to his downfall.

"There were no violations of the law, there were judgment errors that were egregious," Spitzer said last summer when he was busy denying any personal involvement in the move to bring down Bruno.

"In my view, it's time to move on," Spitzer had said.

But sources told CBS 2 HD that members of the Spitzer administration told Soares that the governor was deeply and personally involved in the scandal.

"He called all the shots," one administration official told CBS 2 HD.

One aide speaking to Soares was Dopp, Spitzer's communications director. He was given immunity from prosecution and apparently divulged the depth of Spitzer's involvement.

"This was a politically-charged case from the get-go, and my view is that when someone is in the political crosshairs of this type of investigation, the only way to stay out of harms way is not to talk to anyone or talk with immunity. There's just too much that could go wrong," said Michael Koenig, Dopp's lawyer.

Republicans close to Bruno believed that Soares' report would be damning for Spitzer, especially the internal administration e-mails that were turned over.

"We thought he would be severely injured and if not would have to step down because of the e-mails that were circulated, not only from him, but from his entire inner circle," said Golden. "We believed that they were so damaging that everybody would have had to clean house including himself."

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)