ALBANY, N.Y. — A New York state ethics panel is reviewing a request from three watchdog groups asking for an investigation into whether the governor’s office leaked personal information about Caroline Kennedy when she was under consideration for the U.S. Senate, the New York Public Integrity Commission’s spokesman Walter Ayres said Friday.
The confidential information was leaked in January after Kennedy dropped out of contention for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vacant Senate seat.
New York Gov. David Paterson initially said a Kennedy campaign staffer leaked unsubstantiated claims that she faced possible tax, nanny and marital problems.
After more than week of denying involvement, Paterson said in February he took responsibility for the actions of one of his staffers who leaked information about the daughter of President John F. Kennedy.
"We are confident there were no violations of the Public Officers Law with respect to this matter, and any investigation into these allegations will confirm that,” Paterson’s office said Friday.
At the time of the Jan. 22 leak, Robert Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open Government, said that if the information came from confidential questionnaires, it could have violated state privacy law.
The New York Public Integrity Commission said there’s no timetable for a decision on whether to investigate the case.
by the associated press
The confidential information was leaked in January after Kennedy dropped out of contention for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vacant Senate seat.
New York Gov. David Paterson initially said a Kennedy campaign staffer leaked unsubstantiated claims that she faced possible tax, nanny and marital problems.
After more than week of denying involvement, Paterson said in February he took responsibility for the actions of one of his staffers who leaked information about the daughter of President John F. Kennedy.
"We are confident there were no violations of the Public Officers Law with respect to this matter, and any investigation into these allegations will confirm that,” Paterson’s office said Friday.
At the time of the Jan. 22 leak, Robert Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open Government, said that if the information came from confidential questionnaires, it could have violated state privacy law.
The New York Public Integrity Commission said there’s no timetable for a decision on whether to investigate the case.
by the associated press
