The Paterson saga continues: summing up today's news

Remember last week's big let-down of a story about New York Governor David Paterson, whose aid David Johnson allegedly beat up women? Remember how the blogosphere pooh-poohed the allegations, whining that the story's incredible build up belied a minor scandal? Well, things have changed. Several key details have come to the fore about an incident last Halloween, in which Johnson menaced a woman he was seeing, ripping her costume off, smashing her against a dresser, and later preventing her from reaching a phone to call for help. Paterson claimed to have known nothing about the attack, saying it was a "bad breakup."

But, it turns out, Paterson did know about the attack. The woman, who was twice granted orders of protection against Johnson, claimed in court "the State Police had been harassing her to drop the matter," according to another article in the Times. And Paterson himself spoke with her on the phone the day before she was scheduled to appear in court to acquire another order. "She did not show up the next day, resulting in the dismissal of the case."

Another top aid to Paterson, Public Safety Deputy Denise O'Donnell, was so disgusted by what may have been unlawful contact between state officers and a victim of domestic violence, that she resigned today, saying "it is particularly distressing that this could happen in an administration that prides itself on its record of combating domestic violence," according to the New York Daily News.

Johnson, for his part, has been suspended without pay pending the results of an investigation by the state attorney general. And now, Paterson may not run for reelection. The Village Voice is calling for his immediate resignation, saying it would be a wise tack for the governor to take, just like his philandering predecessor, Eliot Spitzer. "There's nothing sympathetic about a slugging sidekick, especially one who's driven a blind and reckless governor down so many dark alleys that the governor decided to take a trip down one for him. Now that Paterson's attempt to suppress a police complaint against constant companion David Johnson is unraveling, it's time for the governor Eliot Spitzer gave us to do a Spitzer. Spitzer had the good sense, within hours of his exposure, to quit. That may have saved him from indictment."

Amid the calls for Paterson's resignation, the Times' Public Editor, Clark Hoyt, is dying to know the name of the woman in the Halloween incident. "There remains another intriguing journalistic question: The Times agreed not to name the woman involved in the Halloween incident because, the article said, she works in a public hospital and feared retaliation. But as a central figure in a scandal engulfing the Paterson administration, she is a natural object of intense curiosity. And with Johnson suspended, Paterson weakened and the attorney general investigating, she would seem to be in a pretty secure position. Will The Times name her? 'I think we are open to reconsidering that,' [managing editor Jill] Abramson said."

Here's The Lady Finger's two cents on that last issue. Please, New York Times, don't cajole this woman into revealing her name. She's already been doubly victimized by Johnson, and later the State Police and Paterson. A Paterson indictment doesn't rely on the public knowing her name. And there's no need to throw her to the media hounds. -TLF

*UPDATE*

Paterson will not resign, according to this article. But he will not seek re-election either.